John Fahey born 28 February 1939

John Aloysius Fahey (February 28, 1939 – February 22, 2001) was the "Father of the American Fingerstyle Guitar," who spent the last twenty years of his life in Salem, Oregon. During his career, he recorded more than forty albums, appeared on numerous others, wrote articles and liner notes, and produced many recordings and videos. He was a Grammy Award winner, and in 2003 was ranked thirty-fifth in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time." 

John & his mother

Fahey was born in Washington, D.C. to musical parents. His father, Al, played the concert harp, and his mother, Jane, played the piano. Fahey was a colourful figure from the time he became an accomplished guitarist in his teens. In the 1950s, Fahey began to combine various styles of music he had heard on recordings, including the picking patterns and vocal styling of blues musicians and the abstract and dissonant music of such classical composers as Charles Ives and Béla Bartók. His musical statements ranged from banjo-like celebrations to dreamy, folk-like meditations. Fahey called his style "American Primitive." In his later years, he would dismiss this early work as "Cosmic Sentimentalism." 

Already a collector of rare early blues and country music, he made his first album in 1959, ascribing part of it to the pseudonymous "Blind Joe Death." Only 95 copies of the LP were pressed, making it a coveted collector's item today. (In the 1960s, Fahey would re-record the material for wider circulation.)  With degrees in philosophy and religion from American University, Fahey moved to California to attend graduate school. He received a master’s degree in folklore from UCLA in 1966, writing his thesis on blues master Charley Patton. His book on Patton was published in 1970. 

Fahey paved the way for the development of a distinct style of music known as American fingerstyle guitar. He introduced psychology and spiritualism into his music and was a pioneer of what came to be known as "New Age" music. Fahey’s compositions also embraced musical elements of other cultures, and he discovered and promoted musicians such as Bukka White, Leo Kottke, and George Winston. A pioneer in alternative or “indie” music, he formed Takoma Records in the late 1950s, naming the company after his childhood home of Takoma Park, Maryland. The company was one of the earliest independent labels to successfully challenge the corporate music model. 

                             Here's "Night Train To Valhalla"

                    

Fahey remained consistently popular on a cult level through the mid-'80s. His most commercially successful efforts, oddly, were probably his Christmas albums, which are among the more interesting holiday records of any genre. For a time he ran the Takoma label, where he was instrumental in starting the career of Leo Kottke (who owes much of his stylistic inspiration to Fahey), as well as promoting lesser-known talents like Robbie Basho. 

He was a catalyst in other subtle ways, helping to form Canned Heat by introducing Al Wilson (who played on a Fahey album in 1965) to Bob Hite, and rediscovering Delta bluesman Bukka White with his friend Ed Denson. Fahey sold Takoma to Chrysalis in the mid-'70s, but continued to record regularly, and also tour (though his live performances were erratic). 

In June 1981, John and his third wife Melody moved from Los Angeles to Salem, a city he said reminded him of the town where he grew up. In 1986, he contracted Epstein-Barr syndrome, a long-lasting viral infection that, combined with diabetes and a continuing drinking problem that had begun in the mid-1970s, sapped his energy and resources.

After he and his wife separated in 1990 and divorced in 1992, Fahey lived in a hotel room. Although the Epstein-Barr virus was finally overcome, the mid-'90s found him living in poverty in Oregon, where he paid his rent by pawning his guitar and reselling rare classical records. When he could no longer pay for medical care, he moved into the Union Gospel Mission in downtown Salem.  

In spite of these hardships, Fahey’s last years were filled with creative pursuits that included painting, composing, and collecting records. The appearance of a major career retrospective on Rhino, Return of the Repressed, in 1994 boosted his profile to its highest level in years. He recorded with the John Fahey Trio and in 1995 started Revenant Records with an inheritance from his father's estate. In 1997, he returned to active recording with City of Refuge and was planning a Revenant definitive package of Charley Patton's work when he died in Salem following sextuple-bypass surgery on February 22, 2001, at the age of 61. 

During the later years of his life, Fahey painted a series of abstract paintings. Many of these were exhibited from July 10 to September 12, 2010, at The East Village, New York, presented by John Andrew and Audio Visual Arts (AVA).The exhibit featured 55 paintings, ranging in size from 6.75" by 9" to 22" by 29". The "sale sheet" for the exhibit listed prices from $750 for smaller works to $3,000 for the large paintings. 

The Fahey discography is dauntingly large and diverse; the neophyte is advised to start with the two-disc Return of the Repressed, but those who wish to dig deeper will be very pleased with Takoma's extensive reissues, which started to appear in the late nineties.

(Edited from Oregon Encyclopedia, AllMusic & Wikipedia)

Chuck Wayne born 27 February 1923

Chuck Wayne (February 27, 1923 – July 29, 1997) was an American jazz guitarist. He came to prominence in the 1940s, and was among the earliest jazz guitarists to play in the bebop style. Wayne was a member of Woody Herman's First Herd, the first guitarist in the George Shearing quintet, and Tony Bennett's music director and accompanist. He developed a systematic method for playing jazz guitar. 

Chuck Wayne was born Charles Jagelka in New York City to a Czechoslovakian family. As a boy, he learned banjo, mandolin, and balalaika which he played in a Russian balalaika band. When his mandolin began to warp, he reportedly tossed it into the furnace and bought a guitar. To earn a living, Wayne worked as an elevator operator.  In the 1941 he played with Clarence Profit. 

After military service (1942 -4) he worked on 52nd Street with Joe Marsala's band. During the mid 40’s he became involved with the bop movement and played on several important early recordings with Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Harris. Bill Crow writes that Wayne was one of the first jazz guitarists to learn bebop. Two examples with Gillespie are Groovin' High" and "Blue 'n' Boogie." 

Wayne was a member of Woody Herman's First Herd (1946-7) and worked with Coleman Hawkins, Red Norvo, Bud Powell, Jack Teagarden, George Shearing (1949 – 52), Lester Young, and Barbara Carroll. During the 1950s, he worked as a freelance in New York, and from 1954 -1957 he touted with Tony Bennett. He also played with Gil Evans, Brew Moore, Zoot Sims, and George Wallington. Wayne also wrote and performed the music for a production on Broadway of the play Orpheus Descending by Tennessee Williams (1957). 

                              

Thereafter he was employed as staff guitarist for CBS in 1959 and from that time he has appeared frequently on television and continued to play occasionally at clubs and accompanied vocalists. He was also an accomplished banjo player and he included a banjo piece on his recording Tapestry. From 1972 -1976 he performed and recorded with Joe Puma and Tal Farlow, and in the mid 80’s he was active as a teacher at Westchester Conservatory of Music, White Plains, New York. 

His CD Alberta Clipper was released in 1990's. He was also an accomplished banjo player and he included a banjo piece on his recording Tapestry. He died of emphysema in Jackson, New Jersey, July 29, 1997,aged 74. 

Wayne's distinctive single string style stood out on his early bebop recordings -- a style marked by clear articulation, blazing speed and wonderful melodic structures. In Wayne's later playing he mastered a method of playing chord melody with a pick and three fingers on this right hand. This style dominates his later recordings, but can also be a heard on his early 1957 album String Fever. 

Wayne wrote "Sonny" in honour of Sonny Berman. Years later, Miles Davis took the song, renamed it "Solar", and claimed he wrote it. Wayne's "Butterfingers" and "Prospecting" have been incorrectly attributed to Zoot Sims. 

(Edited from The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, Wikipedia & Classical Jazz Guitar) 

Jimmy "Orion" Ellis born 26 February 1945

Jimmy Ellis (February 26, 1945 – December 12, 1998), who used the stage name Orion at times in his career, was an American singer. His voice was similar to Elvis Presley's, a fact which he and his record company played upon, making some believe that some of his recordings were by Presley, or even that Presley had not died in 1977. Ellis appeared with many artists, including Loretta Lynn, Jerry Lee Lewis, Tammy Wynette, Ricky Skaggs, Lee Greenwood, Gary Morris, and the Oak Ridge Boys. 

James Hughes Bell was born in either Pascagoula, Mississippi, Orrville, Alabama,[or Washington, D.C., United States, into a single parent home. His birth certificate states the mother was a secretary named Gladys Bell, and the father was Vernon (no surname). Aged two, he moved with his mother to Birmingham, Alabama, where he was put up for adoption and, aged four, was adopted by R. F. and Mary Faye (nee Hodges) Ellis. He attended Orrville High School, where he excelled in baseball, football and basketball. After winning a state fair competition, his first professional performance was in a Demon's Den nightclub in Albany, Georgia. Ellis entered Middle Georgia College on an athletic scholarship, then transferred to Livingston State University. 

At the start of his music career, Ellis sang in nightclubs and, in 1964, released a single, "Don’t Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch," for a small Georgia label, Dradco. His vocals closely resembled those of Elvis Presley, and in 1969 Shelby Singleton, who had acquired the rights to Sun Records' back catalog, other than Presley's recordings for the label, released a single of Ellis' recordings of Presley's early songs, "That's All Right (Mama)" and "Blue Moon of Kentucky". The label credited the recordings simply to "?", and it was rumored that they were alternate takes from Presley sessions (despite featuring an electric rather than string bass). 

After Presley died in 1977, Singleton revived the hoax by releasing singles that overdubbed Ellis' voice onto known Sun recordings by Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and others, including a version of "Save the Last Dance For Me,"  on which there was simply a credit to "Friend". The records were endorsed as genuine Presley recordings by the song's co-writer Doc Pomus, the music journalist Roy Carr, and the TV show Good Morning America which undertook a voice comparison test of the song against Presley's voice. Around the same time, Ellis released another single under his name, "I'm Not Trying To Be Like Elvis", and an album, By Request — Ellis Sings Elvis. 

                              

In 1978, writer Gail Brewer-Giorgio published a novel, Orion, about a leading popular singer – based on Presley – who faked his death. Singleton then persuaded Ellis to start appearing as "Orion", wearing a small mask with dyed hair and in similar clothing to that worn by Presley. His album Reborn, showing the singer emerging from a coffin, was released on gold-colored vinyl on the Sun label in 1978. 

Some listeners believed that Orion was, in fact, Presley, who had supposedly faked his death. Orion had several hits on the country music chart, including "Am I That Easy to Forget" (1980), "Rockabilly Rebel" (1981), and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" (1981). He also recorded several albums for Sun between 1979 and 1981 and built up a substantial live following, still wearing his mask.

While performing at the Eastern States Exposition, Ellis took off the mask and swore to never wear it again. Unfortunately, despite the fact that most of the songs he recorded were not covers of Elvis songs, he could not escape the uncanny similarities between their natural voices. At one point he even released the single "I'm Trying Not to Sound Like Elvis." During his time with Sun, Ellis/Orion cut over 11 albums and toured with the Oak Ridge Boys, Jerry Lee Lewis, and other stars like Dionne Warwick. As Jim Ellis, he released an album in 1987 and continued to tour North America; interestingly, he resumed wearing his mask.  He also started to run a store in Selma, Alabama, with his girlfriend Elaine Thompson. 

On December 12, 1998, Ellis was murdered during a robbery in his store, Jimmy's Pawn Shop. Jeffrey Lee was convicted of the murder of Ellis and Ellis's ex-wife Elaine Thompson, who was working as an employee at the store, and the attempted murder of employee Helen King. The jury recommended Lee be sentenced to life without parole, but the judge sentenced Lee to death. Lee's appeal against the sentence was refused by the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on October 9, 2009, and a writ of certiorari was denied by the Supreme Court of the United States in April 2018. 

In 2015, film-maker Jeanie Finlay released a documentary film,about Ellis' life and career, Orion: The Man Who Would Be King. The film won the Discovery Award at the British Independent Film Awards 2015. It was released theatrically in the US by Sundance Selects on December 4, 2015. 

(edited from Wikipedia & AllMusic) 

Ralph Stanley born 25 February 1927

Ralph Stanley (February 25, 1927 – June 23, 2016)  was an American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing. Stanley began playing music in 1946, originally with his older brother Carter Stanley (August 27, 1925 – December 1, 1966) as part of The Stanley Brothers, and most often as the leader of his band, The Clinch Mountain Boys. He was also known as Dr. Ralph Stanley. He was part of the first generation of bluegrass musicians and was inducted into both the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honour and the Grand Ole Opry. 

Carter and Ralph Stanley were born on a small farm in Dickenson County, Virginia, near McClure. Music was a part of their lives even in their early years, and they listened to the likes of the Monroe Brothers, J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers and the Grand Ole Opry on local radio. 

The brothers formed a band, the Lazy Ramblers, and performed as a duo on WJHL radio in Johnson City, Tennessee. World War II interrupted their musical career, but once both brothers returned from the United States Army, they resumed their musical pursuits. They formed their band, the Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys, in the month of November 1946 as the first band to copy the Monroe sound. Carter played guitar and sang lead, while Ralph played banjo and sang with a strong, high tenor voice. Additional members of this early band were Darrell "Pee Wee" Lambert on mandolin and Bobby Sumner on fiddle. Sumner was soon to be replaced by Leslie Keith. 

On December 26, 1946, the band began performing at radio station WCYB in Bristol, Tennessee as stalwarts of the famed Farm and Fun Time radio show. They made their recording debut in September 1947 for Rich-R-Tone Records which had been founded the year before. Their records sold well, "outselling even Eddy Arnold" regionally. Up to now, Ralph had been playing his banjo with two fingers on recordings and in concerts, but in 1948, he switched to the three-finger style (popularised by Earl Scruggs). In March 1949, the Stanley Brothers began recording for Columbia Records. During this time, Bill Monroe was not particularly fond of groups like the Stanley Brothers and Flatt & Scruggs who he believed "stole" his music by copying it; they were seen as "economic threats." 

                    

Financially hard times in the early 1950s forced the brothers to take a short break in their musical career. They began working for the Ford Motor Company in Detroit. Eventually, Monroe and the Stanley Brothers became friends, and Carter performed for several months with Bill Monroe in the summer of 1951. In August 1951, Ralph was involved in a serious automobile accident that almost ended his career. Following his recovery, Carter and Ralph reunited to front their Clinch Mountain Boys. 

As bluegrass music grew less popular in the late 1950s, the Stanley Brothers moved to Live Oak, Florida, and headlined the weekly Suwannee River Jamboree radio show on WNER from 1958 to 1962. The three-hour show was also syndicated across the Southeast. In 1966, the brothers toured Europe, and upon returning home they continued to stay together as a brother act until October 21, 1966 when Carter began hemorrhaging during a performance at a school auditorium in Hazel Green, Kentucky, and had to leave the stage. He died six weeks later on December 1, 1966. A heavy drinker, Carter died from cirrhosis at age 41. 

In 1967, Ralph revived the Clinch Mountain Boys and began emphasizing a more mature, rural sound, build around his distinguished tenor singing and simple-but-driving, "Stanley style," banjo playing. Among the musicians who have played in the revived Clinch Mountain Boys were Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley, Larry Sparks, Curly Ray Cline, Jack Cooke, Roy Lee Centers, Charlie Sizemore, Ray Goins, and Ralph Stanley II. He was known in the world of bluegrass music by the popular title, "Dr. Ralph Stanley", having been awarded an honorary doctorate in music from Lincoln Memorial University of Harrogate, Tennessee in 1976. 

A wider audience embraced Ralph's music in the '90s when he invited acclaimed artists such as Vince Gill, George Jones, and Bob Dylan to be guests on his albums. Ralph's career received a big boost with his prominent role on the very successful soundtrack recording of the 2000 feature film, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which featured the song "Man of Constant Sorrow" among others. He earned a Grammy award for his acapella performance of "Oh Death" from the award-winning soundtrack. 

Ralph joined the Grand Ole Opry on January 15, 2000 and maintained an active touring schedule. Aappearances in his later years included the 2012 Muddy Roots Music Festival in Cookeville, Tennessee, and the 2013 Fresh Grass Festival in North Adams, Massachusetts. In June 2013, he announced a farewell tour, scheduled to begin in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, on October 18 and extending to December 2014. He recorded one last album in 2014, Side By Side, with his son, Ralph II.  On June 23, 2016, Ralph Stanley died at age 89 as a result of skin cancer. 

The Stanley Brothers were inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honour in 1992. 

(Edited from Wikipedia & Fayfare’s Opry blog)

 

Jess Conrad born 24 February 1935

 Jess Conrad OBE (born Gerald Arthur James; 24 February 1936) is an English stage and screen actor and singer. As a boy he was nicknamed "Jesse" after American outlaw Jesse James; as there was already an actor named "Gerald James" in Actors' Equity, a drama teacher who was a fan of writer Joseph Conrad suggested the stage name of "Jess Conrad". 

Conrad was born in Brixton, South London and started his career as a repertory actor and film extra, before being cast in a television play, Bye, Bye Barney, as a pop singer. He was noticed by Jack Good, who included him in his TV series Oh Boy!. Conrad then was signed to Decca Records and had a number of chart hits, including "Cherry Pie", "This Pullover", "Mystery Girl" and "Pretty Jenny"; also recording for Columbia, Pye President and EMI. 

Between the late 1950s and mid-1960s, Conrad appeared in a number of films such as Serious Charge (uncredited), The Boys, Rag Doll, (filmed in 1960, and released in 1961); K.I.L. 1 and Konga as well as Michael Powell's The Queen's Guards. Conrad played Danny Pace in an episode of The Human Jungle called "The Flip Side Man" in 1963. 

During the 1970s, he spent some time in the stage shows Godspell and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and also featured in a cameo role in the Sex Pistols film The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. In 1977 no fewer than seven of Conrad's singles were included in the 'World's Worst Record' list, chosen by listeners to Capital FM DJ Kenny Everett's show, and "This Pullover", voted sixth worst song ever, later featured on The World's Worst Record Show, a 1978 LP dedicated to the songs voted for, together with two other Conrad recordings "Cherry Pie" and "Why Am I Living?" He also made an appearance in Are You Being Served as Mr Walpole, head of sporting equipment, in the episode "Memories Are Made of This". 

                              

Conrad also appeared in the 1984 TV series of Miss Marple, in the episode entitled The Body in the Library as Raymond Starr. He also starred in the 1993 film The Punk and the Princess. In the 1990s, Conrad made regular cameo appearances on Jim Davidson's revived version of The Generation Game on BBC1. In 1992, Conrad appeared in the Christmas Special of Big Break, also presented by Davidson and John Virgo. He was the "booby" prize of the show presented to actress Ruth Madoc. Contestants who failed to make the final of Big Break were often nearly given a box set of Conrad's hit singles. 

Since then, Conrad has appeared in a number of documentaries and television programmes, often offering stories of violent encounters with other famous people. In a BBC Arena documentary about the record producer Joe Meek, Conrad boasted of biting off part of the nose of the singer Heinz during a confrontation backstage at a package show in the early 1960s. Similarly, in Sex, Secrets & Frankie Howerd, he told of threatening to cut off comedian Frankie Howerd's ears when Howerd made undesired sexual advances to him in a dressing room. In 2005, Conrad had a guest role in the sitcom Last of the Summer Wine. 

In the 2009 film Telstar: The Joe Meek Story, Conrad is played by Nigel Harman. Conrad himself appears in one scene, depicting his backstage fight with Heinz and his biting of Heinz's nose. Conrad also plays the role of Larry Parnes in the film. In October 2022, he appeared in the BBC soap opera Doctors as Alan Yates. 

Conrad is a member of the show business fraternity the Grand Order of Water Rats, having served as "King Rat".He is also a Freemason and a member of Chelsea Lodge No. 3098, the membership of which is made up of entertainers. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours for charitable services. In 2018, he appeared in ITV's Last Laugh in Vegas. Conrad is married to Renee and has two daughters, Sasha and Natalie. 

(Edited from Wikipedia)

Jess Conrad performs rock'n'roll classic "Johnny B Goode" in 1983 for a Channel 4 TV charity show for the Stuart Henry Fund (Filmed in London).

Austin Pitre born 23 February 1918

Austin Pitre (February 23, 1918 - April 8, 1981) was  a A Cajun music pioneer, Pitre claimed to be the first musician to not play the accordion standing up, rather than sitting down. Along with his band, the Evangeline Playboys, Pitre recorded Cajun dancehall hits such as the "Opelousas Waltz." 

Austin Pitre was born February 23, 1918 in the town of Ville Plate, Louisiana.  His parents were both musicians: his father was a fiddler and his mother played accordion.  Despite their poverty, they bought Pitre his first accordion when he was six, and he was playing weekend dances with his father by the time he was 11.  Pitre made his first fiddle from a cigar box and earned his first real fiddle by selling seeds from a catalogue.  Pitre learned many old fiddle tunes such as Cher Joue Roses (which he later recorded) from his father and was also influenced by Leo Soileau and the great creole fiddler Douglas Bellard.  His biggest influence on accordion was Amédéé Ardoin. 

 Pitre earned a reputation not only for his musicianship but for his showmanship as well.  With the strength gained from hard work, he was able to play the accordion standing up, without a shoulder strap for support.  He would play the accordion behind his back, behind his head and between his legs.  He was also an exacting bandleader who demanded perfection.  

By the age of 20, he had his own band named "Austin Pitre and the Evangeline Playboys," who were booked to play clubs within a fifty-mile radius. By the late 1940's Pitre was a well-established musician.  He played regularly at the Chinaball Club in Bristol and had a weekly radio program on KSLO in Opelousas.  He made his first records, including his theme Evangeline Playboy Special, with the Evangeline Playboys for the Feature label in 1948.  Later he recorded for the French Hits label, accompanied by fiddler Chuck Guillory and the Rhythmaires.  His creative musical mind brought him into the genius realm; a real master, leader and showman for Cajun music. 

                              

Beginning in the 1950s he recorded many songs for Swallow Records.  Among the first of these were Douglas Bellard's Les Flammes d'Enfer (released as Flumes Dans Faires) and Amédéé Ardoin's Opelousas Waltz, recorded with Harry LaFleur and the Louisiana Aces.  Released as a single, these songs became hits, assuring Pitre's continued popularity in the dance halls and making him a prominent figure in the post-war revival of traditional cajun music. 

He recorded with J.D. Miller in Crowley, Louisiana, Big Mamou Records in care of Floyd’s Record Shop, Harry Oster through Arhollie Record Company, and Sonet Recording Company.  

He had a broadcast for four years on Opelousas radio station KSLO. He also had a program on Eunice’s KEUN.  In the late 1960s to early 1970s, he played for the "Pete Ford Hour" on KLFY in Lafayette, Louisiana. Like most Cajun musicians, he also kept a full-time day job to support his family, operating an auto repair shop on Highway 190 between Elton and Basile.  

Pitre recorded and performed into the 1970's.  In June of 1972, Mayor J.E. Sudduth to Lake Charles, Louisiana presented Austin with a special award for being the first Cajun band to perform in the city’s new Civic Center. In 1973 and 1976 he played at the Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife in Washington, D.C.  In 1980 at the Louisiana Freedom Festival he was honoured for his contribution to Cajun music.  That year the Sonet label released an album of new recordings and Swallow released a collection of his old songs. March of 1981 saw Austin on tour for three weeks to different parts of the United States.  On April 8, 1981, Austin Pitre died at his home in Elton, Louisiana, at the age of 63. He is buried in the Mount Calvary Cemetery on Highway 190 east of Eunice, Louisiana. 

In 1997, Pitre was posthumously inducted into the Cajun French Music Association's Hall of Fame. That same year, Arhoolie released the CD Austin Pitre & His Evangeline Playboys - Opelousas Waltz which was a remaster of recordings that Pitre had made in 1971. 

Pitre's last wife, Dorothy, died March 14, 2014, and is buried next to him in Mount Calvary Cemetery. She was active in preserving his legacy as well as Cajun music in general. She was a disc jockey for KEUN for many years, hosted the weekly Rendezvous des Cajuns at the Liberty Theater in Eunice, Louisiana, and also worked at the Cajun Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Eunice where Austin Pitre's Monarch accordion can be seen. 

(Edited from Pitre Trail & Wikipedia)

Kenneth Williams born 22 February 1926

Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was an English actor of Welsh heritage. He was best known for his comedy roles and in later life as a raconteur and diarist. 

The acting bug bit Kenneth Williams when, as a student, his English teacher suggested he try out for a school play. He found that he enjoyed it tremendously, but when he raised the possibility at home of becoming an actor, his father forbade it. Williams was eventually sent to art school in London in 1941. In 1944 he was drafted into the army, and although posted to the Royal Engineers, he managed to land a job in the Combined Services Entertainment unit, where he got a chance to act in shows that were put on to entertain the troops, and even designed the posters that advertised the shows. 

                              

After his discharge from the army he began to work as a professional actor, and traveled the country in repertory companies. It was in a production of "Saint Joan", where he played the Dauphin, that a radio producer saw him and hired him to do voice characterizations on a popular radio comedy show, "Hancock's Half Hour". He also appeared in the Kenneth Horne-starring radio series Beyond Our Ken and its Spiritual Successor Round the Horne in which his characters were Rambling Syd Rumpo, the eccentric folk singer; Dr Chou En Ginsberg, MA (failed), Oriental criminal mastermind; J. Peasemold Gruntfuttock, telephone heavy breather and dirty old man; and Sandy of the camp couple Julian and Sandy (Julian was played by Hugh Paddick). 

Paddick, Williams and Horne

Their double act was characterised by double entendres and Polari, the homosexual argot. Williams stayed in the series almost to the end, five years later. His nasal, whiny, camp-cockney inflections (epitomised in his "Stop messing about ... !" catchphrase) became popular with listeners. Despite the success and recognition the show brought him, Williams considered theatre, film and television to be superior forms of entertainment.

The Carry On team.

His penchant for wild, off-the-wall characters led to his being hired by the producers of the "Carry On" comedy series, where he performed in 26 entries in the long-running series. With its double entendre humour; and appeared in the series more than any other actor. The films were commercially successful but Williams claimed the cast were poorly paid. He was also  a regular on the BBC Radio impromptu-speaking panel game Just a Minute from its second season in 1968 until his death. 

Just A Minute

He frequently got into arguments with host Nicholas Parsons and other guests on the show. (Russell Davies, editor of The Kenneth Williams Letters, explains that Williams's "famous tirades on the programme occurred when his desire to entertain was fuelled by his annoyance.") He was also remembered for such phrases as "I've come all the way from Great Portland Street" (i.e. one block away) and "They shouldn't have women on the show!" (directed at Sheila Hancock, Aimi MacDonald and others). 

On television, he co-hosted his own TV variety series on BBC2 with the Young Generation entitled Meanwhile, On BBC2, which ran for 10 episodes from 17 April 1971. He was a frequent contributor to the 1973–74 revival of What's My Line?, hosted the weekly entertainment show International Cabaret and was a regular reader on the children's storytelling series Jackanory on BBC1, hosting 69 episodes. He also narrated and provided all of the voices for the BBC children's cartoon Willo the Wisp (1981). 

Williams  was a clown by choice, and an extremely gifted clown at that, who only appeared not to take himself seriously. He was a self-educated man with a passion for reading, mainly biography and history. He studied gothic calligraphy and illuminated manuscripts, and enjoyed Brahms and Schumann.  However, behind the scenes, Williams was facing problems in his personal life. Upon realizing as a young man that he was homosexual, he spent most of his life resenting and hating himself, due to being raised Methodist Catholic. 

Later in his life Williams developed a serious ulcer, and was given medication to combat the pain. On April 15th 1988, he was found dead in his bed; it was determined that in addition to his regular pain pills, he had apparently taken some sleeping pills the night before, and the combination of those and his regular medication proved fatal. Whether it was an accident or a suicide is debatable to this day. His diaries from his adulthood were collected up and published, and are loved by thousands of Kenneth Williams fans around the world. 

He was cremated at East Finchley Cemetery, and his ashes were scattered in the memorial gardens.

(Edited from Wikipedia & The Times)