Kenneth Williams on Parkinson - 17/02/73 (1/2)

I could watch this man all day. Just love him. So funny, so clever, what a wit!

Kenneth was decades ahead of his time.Predicted what was wrong with the times and 30+ years later many of the problems were resolved that he is stating in the interview.Why didn't people listen to him.He was a genius like John Lennon.

You can tell this was the 70s , a chat show host speaking up for the working man, the Tory press went out of there way to demonise the 1970s. Pieces of shits the lot of them.

Having read Kenneth's diaries it seems he was not impressed by his performance on this edition and regretted how he was.

lol..nobody can get a word in when he starts ...l love Kenny.

The irony of what ken is saying here. he bemoans the poor working man complaining of a job that is "monotonus and dreary" yet the carry ons which made his name were exactly that. He knew this as much as anyone trapped in a mind numbing job. Kenneth's genius was wasted on film and his, understandable, bitterness is clear from his diaries shame he was not a bit more compassionate in this exchange.

Kenneth is right. professionalism has nothing to do with how "fun" your job is. it's a question of integrity and dependability. acting is one of the hardest jobs of all, because however you feel, you must still give 100% every night

A great trio of guests!

Jesus , he doesn't half go on.

Professional = you do it even when you don't feel like doing it

Williams certainly hogged the conversation, but he made good points.

Kenneth were right even all those years ago.. Too many offices etc, built and not enough homes and it's the same today especially when we keep letting everyone into the U.K. Ours is only a very small island..

"They must accept their limitations, surely" As a factory worker of 20 yrs now in my 40s he's right...he is right

Fabulous man. So intelligent and entertaining. I would love to have met him and chatted over a bottle of wine.

The layout for early Parky was odd, with guests either side. Betjeman to Parky's right looks like Parky's Dad, as if he'd escaped the nursing home and had to wait quietly until the show was done so Michael could drive him back.

On a more serious note, it's very nice to see the corresponding diary entry in the description. It's somehow heartening to see that Kenneth felt an affection for Sir John. I'm not sure why it's heartening. Perhaps because Kenneth's diaries are just as likely to yield unflattering opinions of others. It's been many years since I read Kenneth's diaries. They really are a treat.

Kenneth's off in that comment about critics and I do know what he's driving at and the place inside him from which it comes. I've said it under an upload that features only this segment of interview, that if someone says something of value, then it is of value, regardless of their status or tenure. To my way of thinking, Kenneth's way of thinking could reasonably be viewed as elitist, especially at the cultural remove of nearly 50 years. Rather I would say that here Kenneth sacrifices salience for poetry and, in so doing, loses his rein on the logic of the point.

This in no way reduces Kenny's overall sentiment towards critics. Most are not particularly good at what they do because the role of theatre critic is not what any writer does primarily. It's more a sundry duty or task, given to a journalist as one of those things that papers devote a few column inches to. If theatre criticism were viewed as an ambition of the nascent writer/journalist, their work would be driven by their passion, as opposed to some bit of old crap they have to do in order to advance.

I am not scholarly. My familiarity with Sir John extends as far as a few poems, from Trains & Buttered Toast. When I hear him say that he views the sight of his name in cuttings with dread, it speaks to the idea that either knives come out even for the Poet laureate or worse, they are produced because of the Poet laureate.

He does go on a bit!

at least he talks proper english...these days i see and hear many white people who talk all sorts of street lingo....why

Who is that large bald man?

Kenneth speaking absolute sense! Parky one track minded

I loathe how he shuts Maggie Smith down nearly every time she opens her mouth. Acts so misogynistic and thinks he's the only intelligent person in the room. Maggie is fiercely intelligent and extremely gracious in how she tolerates his arrogance. He was a rabid elitist who seems to not understand that most people work to survive.
I went off him after seeing this.

You can certainly tell that Kenneth is drinking and eating this interview up with such grace. It’s fantastic to see a true genius at work with his peers. Maggie looks as graceful as ever.

Maggi's wig line is pretty obvious!

LOL Classic stuff ;)

Love kenny..so entertaining...no one could get word in lol...brilliant

A great academic and a truly wonderful entertainer . . . he is missed.

To all the people who complain Kenneth is talking over the other guests, you don't realize the other two guests have had their interviews, this is his segment not theirs.

KW seems nervous - probably because JB on the show.

Micheal Parkinson hasn't physically changed in 50 years!

I never noticed it before because one is so English and the other American but his verbal rhythms and rapidity so remind me of William F Buckley Jnr who also affected an upper class accent, was incredibly self aware, insecure and proud and at the same time very witty and charming. Go watch WJB with Germaine Greer, also in the early 70's. It is a delicious irony that they are both a 'Williams'! True he always sucks the oxygen out of the room while bringing a smile to all of his listeners but most importantly he really CARES a lot about poor people!

Kemneth used a word wrongly, though. He said augur when I think he meant arbiter.

Kenneth Williams shows you can rise above your circumstances in childhood if you are prepared to learn and not keep yourself down to certain social status. This well read and self educated man, the son of a cockney barber who lived above the shop as a child.

I love his voice, I love his mannerisms, the way he carries himself, the quintessential English gentleman who was Welsh

Insightful

Kenith seems to be taking over.

We have known the days...

Utterly wonderfully engaging and intelligent man.I could listen to him all day long,his IQ must have been off the charts

Brilliant

Kenneth's humanity coming out is nice to see.

gone ...... but not forgotten.

I love the way he suddenly drops the camp, gives a cockney "nar wot I mean?", the back into camp. He always was and will be a genius.

Nice seeing Kenneth going full Jonathan Pie for a change also.
I'm no socialist, but agree with everything he says.

Life is all memory and misery

I love how Kenneth recognizes Maggie as an inferior intellect and proceeds to cut her off and talk over her at every opportunity, even when Michael deflects to her Kenneth immediately continues cutting her off 😄

Criticism is valid it is after all only an opinion

Would have liked to hear Maggie..

I LOVE SKYSCRAPERS!