Kenneth williams charles hawtrey biography

At last - the definitive biography of Charles Hawtrey! From Wes Butters, Sony award winning broadcaster and author of Kenneth Williams Unseen, comes an extensively researched and compelling book almost fifteen years in the making, featuring scores of exclusive interviews, including Hawtrey's inner circle and surviving descendents, never-before-seen photographs, and private documents and correspondence. The result is the first definitive account of a life Hawtrey himself was keen to see evaporate into the mist of history. Years before, Hawtrey started out as a child actor in silent films, he was England's leading boy soprano and worked alongside a positive who's who of the thirties and forties. He had directed films and produced West End shows, starred in three hit TV series and was a prolific radio actor for the BBC. Yet he was never content and spent his life desperately searching for stardom and success, which, in his own de

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Charles Hawtrey (actor, born 1914)

English comic actor and theatre director (1914–1988)

For the earlier actor, see Charles Hawtrey (actor, born 1858).

George Frederick Joffre Hartree (30 November 1914 – 27 October 1988), known as Charles Hawtrey, was an English actor, comedian, singer, pianist and theatre director.

He began at an early age as a boy soprano, in which role he made several records, before moving on to radio. His later career encompassed the theatre (as both actor and director), the cinema (where he regularly appeared supporting Will Hay in the 1930s and 1940s in films such as The Ghost of St. Michael's), through the Carry On films, and television.

Life and career

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Early life

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Hawtrey was born in Hounslow, Middlesex, England, in 1914, to William John Hartree (1885–1952) and his wife Alice (née Crow) (1880–1965), of 217 Cromwell Road, as George Frederick Joffre Hartree. He took his stage name from the theatrical knight Sir Charles Ha