What a proposal! - As plaque is unveiled to Carry On Star Kenneth Williams, actress Sheila Hancock reveals how he asked her to marry him

Published: 25 June 2010
by ROISIN GADELRAB

CARRY-On actor Kenneth Williams once proposed to friend Sheila Hancock, the actress revealed yesterday.

She was speaking at the unveiling of a plaque to Mr Williams in Bingfield Street, off Caledonian Road, where he was born. Ms Hancock told neighbours: “He once asked me to marry him The fact that I was already married didn’t seem to matter. 

She added: “On the way here I was laughing to myself that Kenny would have been so tickled by this. Everybody thought he was awfully sad and there’s a possibility he may have killed himself. But he loved being on his own. There’s a difference between loneliness and solitude and he enjoyed his solitude.”

She said the actor would have been moved to find himself finally winning the establishment approval he craved. 

“The one sadness in his life was that the sort of work that he did he despised,” she said. “He thought he should be doing classical roles. I used to say: ‘Everyone can do that but no one can do what you do.’ 

“To have a plaque up would have been stupendous for him. He would have thought he’d crack­ed it. I hope he’s up there laughing but also proud.”

The actress, who grew up in her parents’ pub, the Carpenter’s Arms, in King’s Cross, described how in the 60s she would pick up Mr Williams on her Lambretta after work.

She said: “He loved London. I was one of the very few people allowed in his flat in King’s Cross. He used to keep it immaculate, very spartan, clean. He wouldn’t allow you to smoke in his house. He wouldn’t give me anything to drink in case I spilled it. We used to have chats long into the night.

“When we did Just a Minute [a radio programme] I was the only woman who would do it because he was so evil to them. He made Barbara Castle cry. He could be very tricky and he used to catch people out.”

As the Bingfield Street building where Mr Williams used to live was demolished in the 1970s, Ms Hancock unveiled a green plaque above 13-15 Bingfield Street, where his home once stood. 

Jack McGuane, who lives at no 15, said: “I met Kenneth a couple of times in the West End and once when he was having coffee in Highgate. We weren’t friends but we met on occasions. I never knew that one day I’d be allocated his home. It’s history.”

He added: “Cathy, my late girlfriend, knew him as well. She’d have loved to be here to see this.”

Mr Williams was born at 11 Bingfield Street on February 22, 1926. As a TV, radio and film star, he was best known for the Carry On films.

The plaque is part of an Islington Council-run scheme, set up to celebrate the borough’s history. Labour council leader Catherine West said that even in Australia, where she was brought up,  “Kenneth Williams was deeply a part of our TV watching. He was great fun and great laughs.”

Her Lib Dem predecessor as council leader, Councillor Terry Stacy, whose idea it was to honour Mr Williams with a plaque, said: “I’ve always been a great fan of Carry On movies. He’s a worthy person to commemorate.”