It's a real treat to see Kenneth in conversation with someone who is on his wavelength, and of course Stephen intellectually holds his own... A longer conversational set up would have been brilliant.
@@kelman727 I know what you mean but I'm not so sure. Consider the dictionary definition of 'euphemism': _"A mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing."_ Personally, I consider God to be way more potentially unpleasant than unconsciousness.
Very congregational. Not to insult him, but I suspect Fry is not nearly as atheistic as he likes to imagine he is. Unless on his stone is inscribed: "All dressed up and no place to go." His tweed likely will have been "run in" by then.
I remember crying my eyes out when Kenneth Williams died. I was about 9 and had been practically raised on Carry On films, and that was my first real experience with death. Such a talented man, yet such a sad life.
Sad we don’t have many articulate british gentleman anymore. It’s all so low brow and vulgar these days. At least we still have Fry, who’s a delight to listen to.
@@hanniffydinn6019 I don't see many people with wit and class on TV or out in the real world these days come to think of it. Jacob Rees-Mogg maybe the last of his kind.
Stephen Fry reached 9 years old and then turned 43 the following year! I never really had him on my radar until I binge-watched series A of QI and watched his Mycroft Holmes in Game of Shadows, now I consider him the daddy of English broadcasting talent.
molly6106 It is not a ‘fashion sense’ it is class uniform. Fry is dressed as a member of the upper classes. A country gent. Most of his friends from boarding school and university will hVe dressed and probably do still dress like this. Nothing original in his dress, it just costs a bit more than most have to spend .
@@LeonDonnelly23 actually, although I agree with the basis of your argument, the lapel, shirt, and tie are all 80's style. An interesting fact about how Fry gets his ties, but I have forgotten it...
How fascinating to see 2 men similar in many ways, but to contrast their lives based on circumstance - Williams lived mostly in a time where homosexuality was vilified (& even illegal til 1967) & had a bully of a father. During Fry's lifetime things improved (but clearly have a ways to go, as reflected in some comments here...). While both suffered depression, it seems fair to say that Stephen gets more respect (& is paid accordingly) & has more chance for happiness than poor Kenneth ever did.
honestly, i don't think they were similar. Ken was clever but funny, Stephen was clever but smug (and kind of unfunny. well, i guess the comedy of Fry and Laurie or Blackadder is certainly not in my taste).
@@johnj.anthonymcquade6876 Yeah, in the absence of express opinions from others, all you can assess is your own attitudes. You can march, protest, speak out, but actually a lot of acceptance is advanced by just being accepting in everyday life. If that comes naturally or is innate in someone, then being accepting takes no effort at all. It's simple really if the vast majority of people were like that. It's easier than getting exorcised about differences that don't actually matter for all intents and purposes and produce no victims. Just live your life and let people be.
@@naly202 I think smugness by him is a put-on persona. He genuinely comes over as a lovely person as ive seen him in quite a few programs....loads of QI episodes. An acquaintance of mine met him at a party and said he and Hugh Laurie were very pleasant people.
I just came across this by accident...Stephen being interviwed by the brilliant Kenneth Williams..I bet this is something he'll never forget..excellent post!
amazing to see both of them together having a conversation, They are 2 people you would have imagined had never met and were from different generations of actors/comedians. I honestly never knew they had crossed paths, its a true one of those moments you think if only such and such were able to have met due to one being dead or both, its never going to be possible but here I can see that moment I never believed had happened or would ever!
It is quite spooky. I was alive in the '80s and might even have seen this interview at the time, although it wouldn't have meant much to me as a child, and it wouldn't have stayed in my mind. Finding out about it now, all these years later, now that I am more interested in the history of British comedy, it seems quite jarring. On an intellectual level, I know that they were both alive in the '80s, but they occupy such different spaces in my mind that to see them together still feels unreal.
I have not encountered many famous folk but Kenneth Williams appeared from a taxi outside Capital Radio in London whilst I and a colleague were dealing with work on the building next door. I spied Stephen Fry heading in my opposite direct in Holborn. On both occasions I did not interfere with their day.
Hmm… I listened, rather than watched, and what I got from KW was a great (and largely successful) effort at restraint from upstaging his guest. You hear him thinking ‘no, don’t tell a story here, no matter how great it would be - ask a question, ANY question!’ But I could be projecting this on to KW.
Both legends in there own lifetime. Kenneth Williams, like Fry, quite awkwardly out of their comfort zones but still highly entertaining. I was worried Ken would upstage him with his longevity of Anecdotes, but he gave Fry a good amount of air time and respect.
i never knew that kenneth williams died before i was born, i honestly feel like i've grown up with him around me, my whole family is such a huge fan of the carry on shows
Stephen was in the Upper VI at my school - finishing off his A Levels after a spot of bother while at his former school. Wherever he went, a hush descended as we all became aware of his height, beauty, and the awkward discomfort that he emanated. His image is burnt into my memory, even tho he wasn't famous at the time. Slightly infamous, perhaps. Years later I would see him on his own, waiting for someone at the Groucho Club, and he still radiated a discomfort with himself. I hope he is happy, now. He lives quite near me in Norfolk.
Had the pleasure of a small chat with fry while working at the kings lynn morrisons store. I said mr fry, thanks for all the laughs and education you have given me over the course of my life. He replied, thank you, that's ok but can you show me where the potatoes are! I loved his answer. He was friendly with a lady I worked with who had very severe depression. He would sit with her on her break, if he was able and just listen to her. Great man
@@ushoys, he had untreated bipolar disorder. And he spent a couple of months at a juvenile detention center for credit card theft, so he's actually got a little street cred for having been in prison.
Lovely clip , so British , and to here them talk about greats like Olivier , Tracy and Gielgud is a fascinating insight into their acting methods and prep work. Good stuff.
Yes but the same tired joking about the antipodes makes me vomit a bit. Can't they just stop hassling and realise they also created this. Which is a wonderful legacy. Personally I believe one of their best. Built on something they really should apologise for in a way. Cruelly treating many people who were so poor they couldn't eat. Of course bad ones too but. Sorry feel a bit about this clap trap. Worked in London in the early 80's and it was a very tired trope they kept bringing out. Not helped by some of our own artists who made money from a bunch of people able to laugh vicariously at their own
At the time of watching this I have just spent a full week following the last days of the Trump and I cant tell you how fantastic and healing watching this truly "British" piece was
It's all a facade. It doesn't reveal any of his inner turmoil, of which I'm sure there is plenty. I see someone quite shy from the way he makes this facade so strong.
This is fascinating to me. This is a year before him and Hugh's first 'A Bit' episode - a one-off 1987 Xmas special. It's truly great to see this: thank you very much! This is the kind of "citizens archive" use of UA-cam that makes it so wonderful: people using what they can to keep these kind of clips available to all who are interested. Really is only as good as the work put into it, so thank you for your efforts!
Thanks for uploading this, if only Stephen Fry appreciated himself as much as we do, he has such extraordinary talent on so many levels and is incredibly gracious and humble to work with. What an incredible opportunity to see these remarkable and original men together. Ken's death was such a tragic waste, had he been brave enough to have surgery for his gastric ulcer and had the opportunity to live without excruciating pain which undoubtedly contributed to his depression he might still be alive.
donkey To be strictly accurate, Kenneth Williams was born and raised and lived and died in England, so he was English (although, because of his family name, he thought he might have had Welsh ancestry going far enough back).
Of course, Fry, if I am not mistaken, is not English, which is the crazy thing. Fry is European-Jewish if I can recall. He spoke about it before, you know, how he rather forged himself an Englishman. Obscenely English, all the same.
@@TheClassicWorld Stephen Fry is about as English as it's possible to be, although his grandparents on his mother's side were originally from Hungary, moving to England in 1927.
It was a few years back, I was walking to my polytechnic of central london faculty building and kenneth and his mate breezed past me on a quiet pavement, I turned, thinking wow! That was him, and he'd turned as well..
@@ruzziasht349 I mean, considering that was when he was a teenager and it was followed by him getting his shit together first in his studies and then in building a respectable career and life, it doesn't really change much.
Bloody Hell Stephen looks young there. Ahh, Kenneth Williams. Poor man had a tough life. Comedians always seem to have a bad run in their personal life.
@@Red_Beard2798 I've personally known quite a few comedians / entertainers / funny people and they've all been bipolar (or, as we used to say, manic-depressive). Some of them are unbearably miserable when not making us laugh.
To judge by his diaries I'd say that Kenneth was sincerely disappointed and embittered with himself and people around him for his life as a "comedian"...he seems to have despised himself for having to live on (and support his mother) on what he could make in comic roles. He saw himself first and foremost as a serious actor (cf his early and much praised role as the Dauphin) and was ashamed of his failure to make a worthwhile living thereby. Add to that his repressed sexuality, the horrific gap between himself and his father, and the continuing strangeness of his relationship with his mother....small wonder he seems to have had strained and confused relationships even with professionals around him...I always felt he was at heart a very sad man...
I randomly typed into UA-cam "Kenneth Williams and Stephen Fry" because they both just happen to be two of my favourite people in the whole world... and this came up.. I was like.OMG THEY DID AN INTERVIEW WITH EACH OTHER! :D
'You should try acting, it's so much easier' - Hahahaha *eyes watering with mirth*
12 років тому+42
Dude, here is a 28 year old successful TV actor and writer. Of course he is to be a little bit smug. Have you seen him lately?! Not so much. As you get older, you get a little more refined. But I disagree, he comes across quite well.
This interview was surprising, Kenneth's respectful distance and relative seriousness, he just throws questions in and let's Stephen tell his stories... I expected two funny guys overacting but this is quite the opposite
I think it was great to see Kenneth actually talking in a normal voice to Stephen. Kenneth has about four or five voices that he pulls out at the drop of a hat and it’s always a kind of act which is a very funny act, however I felt he was more real than usual in this video. And of course at the end when he speaks to the camera and the audience out comes another of those voices and the act is on again.
very surprising that kenneth managed to keep quiet throughout this. as someone who is famous for always having something to say he makes a very good interviewer
What a fantastic double treat of vast wit and intelligence in this clip...and Stephen..well, he is so fine and attractive now in 2019 but when he was 28 he was positively stunning..and with beautiful Kenneth too..just wonderful.
Perhaps self-conscious rather than entirely nervous, as though he were still trying to work out how to inhabit his own self in public. Enjoying the awareness of his own brilliance and oddity, without ever quite relaxing about it. He still has some of that quality today. Mind you, it was only about ten years before this interview that he was in prison!
I didn’t know Kenneth had been an interviewer. I wish I’d been aware at the time, or he’d gone on longer. He was so clever and needed to spread his wings
Kenneth Williams is always funny when he's the one being interviewed. He used to host a morning phone in show for Radio London which could be very entertaining. He seemed at home talking to ordinary people as much as fellow entertainers. I bet he was a bit of a laugh down at the pub...As I believe Sid James could be too.
he has always been amazing. his manner suits him now he is more mature in years, but put a pin in the timeline of his life and i would immortalise him at any point.
As I was thinking , he always did seem older than his years as a young man with the intelligence , wisdom and talent of someone much older with many more years experience in entertainment and writing .
@@Babsza I am continually amazed at Stephen Fry's knowledge and intellect. Earlier I watched a short clip of him speaking in a debate on the topic 'The catholic church is a force for good in the world'. He took took the opposing view and his arguments and reasoning were so strong that a poll taken from the audience proved he had won over those who previously thought the church was a force for good... Stephen is just staggeringly intelligent and his wit is extraordinary, I have laughed and laughed while watching clips from QI where he does impressions and accents, just have to marvel at how accurate he is.
Oh yes, I too love that sketch! As a fan of both Mr Fry & Harry Potter, I must also say that I absolutely adore his readings of the series. Just wonderful.
I listened avidly to all Stephen Fry's audiobooks of Harry Potter. His accents and voices were brilliant, just loved them. It was a sad day when I heard the last chapter of the last book...
It's very odd to think that Stephen Fry was ever 28
he was never 28. This video is proof of that!
@@scratchfg212 He's not a very convincing 28yo, and he's supposed to be an actor.
I’m 28 now and don’t buy it for a second...
He's two years older than Kenneth as there.
28, going on a 108
An aging legend and an emerging legend... What a wonderful pair!
Both these legends would correct your appalling misspelling of the word ageing.
@@SpeccyMan No they wouldn't, they're too nice ;-)
(*Both *of* these legends)
@@SpeccyMan "Aging" is just the American/Canadian way of spelling it, I'm sure the legends will understand :))
@@SpeccyMan Maybe Fry would. But Williams was not so expensively educated and didn't find writing so easy.
@@lucasmele4303 Ooh Matron
Sometimes on UA-cam you come across a gem. Two awesome conversationalists. Gold. Pure pure gold
That was an excellent way to spend 9 mins of my life .
Never has there ever been anyone like Kenny Williams. Maestro.
It's a real treat to see Kenneth in conversation with someone who is on his wavelength, and of course Stephen intellectually holds his own... A longer conversational set up would have been brilliant.
i'm pretty sure they're not.
It was light
This is the dandiest clip in history.
I think even Oscar would have approved!
@@martinmcdonald4207
Definitely 😊
No, it's not. The dandiest clip ever is a recent interview with Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart.. 👊🏻
These two old darlings really knew how to pile it on; didn't they? God bless Kenneth where ever he is and love remains.
Kenneth Williams was an excellent interviewer. And Stephen Fry an excellent interviewee. This was utterly charming!
"He's since been gathered to god". What a great way of sayind "died"
'Specially from an atheist.
blackmore4
Euphemism...
@@kelman727 I know what you mean but I'm not so sure. Consider the dictionary definition of 'euphemism': _"A mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing."_ Personally, I consider God to be way more potentially unpleasant than unconsciousness.
@@blackmore4 Wait till you meet Satan 😄
Very congregational.
Not to insult him, but I suspect Fry is not nearly as atheistic as he likes to imagine he is.
Unless on his stone is inscribed:
"All dressed up and no place to go."
His tweed likely will have been "run in" by then.
I remember crying my eyes out when Kenneth Williams died. I was about 9 and had been practically raised on Carry On films, and that was my first real experience with death. Such a talented man, yet such a sad life.
Sad we don’t have many articulate british gentleman anymore. It’s all so low brow and vulgar these days. At least we still have Fry, who’s a delight to listen to.
@@hanniffydinn6019 I don't see many people with wit and class on TV or out in the real world these days come to think of it. Jacob Rees-Mogg maybe the last of his kind.
Dave Dogge Jacob Rees-Mogg? Really?
He died on my 18th birthday. I was sad as I was a fan.
Dave Dogge
What?
Stephen Fry reached 9 years old and then turned 43 the following year! I never really had him on my radar until I binge-watched series A of QI and watched his Mycroft Holmes in Game of Shadows, now I consider him the daddy of English broadcasting talent.
Lovely comment, Terrance. I too, enjoyed binge-watching QI during lockdown.
Love the fact that Stephen frys fashion sense hasn't changed what so ever.
molly6106 It is not a ‘fashion sense’ it is class uniform. Fry is dressed as a member of the upper classes. A country gent. Most of his friends from boarding school and university will hVe dressed and probably do still dress like this. Nothing original in his dress, it just costs a bit more than most have to spend .
Maybe it's because he lives in Norfolk 🤔
@@LeonDonnelly23 well said
@@LeonDonnelly23 there appears to be a rather large chip on your shoulder 🥴
@@LeonDonnelly23 actually, although I agree with the basis of your argument, the lapel, shirt, and tie are all 80's style. An interesting fact about how Fry gets his ties, but I have forgotten it...
How fascinating to see 2 men similar in many ways, but to contrast their lives based on circumstance - Williams lived mostly in a time where homosexuality was vilified (& even illegal til 1967) & had a bully of a father. During Fry's lifetime things improved (but clearly have a ways to go, as reflected in some comments here...). While both suffered depression, it seems fair to say that Stephen gets more respect (& is paid accordingly) & has more chance for happiness than poor Kenneth ever did.
honestly, i don't think they were similar. Ken was clever but funny, Stephen was clever but smug (and kind of unfunny. well, i guess the comedy of Fry and Laurie or Blackadder is certainly not in my taste).
very valid points. Still a lot of hypocrisy in the UK and barriers put up my media now more than ever towards people who are different.
@@karimtabrizi376 like who
@@johnj.anthonymcquade6876 Yeah, in the absence of express opinions from others, all you can assess is your own attitudes. You can march, protest, speak out, but actually a lot of acceptance is advanced by just being accepting in everyday life. If that comes naturally or is innate in someone, then being accepting takes no effort at all. It's simple really if the vast majority of people were like that. It's easier than getting exorcised about differences that don't actually matter for all intents and purposes and produce no victims. Just live your life and let people be.
@@naly202 I think smugness by him is a put-on persona. He genuinely comes over as a lovely person as ive seen him in quite a few programs....loads of QI episodes. An acquaintance of mine met him at a party and said he and Hugh Laurie were very pleasant people.
I just came across this by accident...Stephen being interviwed by the brilliant Kenneth Williams..I bet this is something he'll never forget..excellent post!
Kenneth Williams was a legend.
No, is a legend.
And like all the others, wil still be remembered when the recent pretenders are long gone and forgotten.
amazing to see both of them together having a conversation, They are 2 people you would have imagined had never met and were from different generations of actors/comedians. I honestly never knew they had crossed paths, its a true one of those moments you think if only such and such were able to have met due to one being dead or both, its never going to be possible but here I can see that moment I never believed had happened or would ever!
It is quite spooky. I was alive in the '80s and might even have seen this interview at the time, although it wouldn't have meant much to me as a child, and it wouldn't have stayed in my mind. Finding out about it now, all these years later, now that I am more interested in the history of British comedy, it seems quite jarring. On an intellectual level, I know that they were both alive in the '80s, but they occupy such different spaces in my mind that to see them together still feels unreal.
I have not encountered many famous folk but Kenneth Williams appeared from a taxi outside Capital Radio in London whilst I and a colleague were dealing with work on the building next door. I spied Stephen Fry heading in my opposite direct in Holborn. On both occasions I did not interfere with their day.
I'm thinking of Hitler Working class and Churchill upper
You can see the true respect and love Kenneth has for Stephen.
The man himself can see himself in some elements particularly in intelligence .
Or maybe Kenneth just had a little man-crush on Stephen
Hmm… I listened, rather than watched, and what I got from KW was a great (and largely successful) effort at restraint from upstaging his guest. You hear him thinking ‘no, don’t tell a story here, no matter how great it would be - ask a question, ANY question!’ But I could be projecting this on to KW.
I fell in love with Kenneth via You Tube. His presence is a growing joy and an education. He lives still.
I love him I loved the carry on movies he was in
@@juliegriffiths9089 ooo matron.....
@@celtictillidie67 Matron was a good character
@@juliegriffiths9089 ua-cam.com/video/eNNhuvox43I/v-deo.html
@@celtictillidie67 they all have good characters but in my opinion some are better than the others
Two highly intelligent wits.
Great to see both together.
Oscar Wilde would've loved this.
I wonder did they know each other were gay?
@@thoskel1 of course they did, gee whizz man.... use your imagination.
Both legends in there own lifetime. Kenneth Williams, like Fry, quite awkwardly out of their comfort zones but still highly entertaining. I was worried Ken would upstage him with his longevity of Anecdotes, but he gave Fry a good amount of air time and respect.
THEIR lifetime
Wow this an amazing interview, a real treat for British comedy lovers. 👍💛
What a legend he is - He made my day in the Carry On films!
How delightful to see these two fabulous men in conversation. Thank you for sharing this.❤
Two brilliant minds... Great interview.
This is fantastic. Two brilliant people. ❤
I could have listened to them for much longer. I wish there was more.
Wonderful to see someone dominate a conversation with Kenneth Williams! Both fantastic raconteurs
i never knew that kenneth williams died before i was born, i honestly feel like i've grown up with him around me, my whole family is such a huge fan of the carry on shows
Thanks so much for uploading two of our national treasures together. Mind Fry probably was quite unknown then.But still his humour exhuded from him
all of 28. and timeless Kenneth. Truly, One from the Vaults.
Class, pricless stuff in 2023 love these guys...Kenneth Williams was a genius.❤
Stephen was in the Upper VI at my school - finishing off his A Levels after a spot of bother while at his former school. Wherever he went, a hush descended as we all became aware of his height, beauty, and the awkward discomfort that he emanated. His image is burnt into my memory, even tho he wasn't famous at the time. Slightly infamous, perhaps. Years later I would see him on his own, waiting for someone at the Groucho Club, and he still radiated a discomfort with himself. I hope he is happy, now. He lives quite near me in Norfolk.
What kind of 'bother' at his former school?
@@ushoys Not sure - he was expelled from 2 schools - think the details are in his 'Moab' autobiography.
@@sillysausage2244 Ah yes, from his days working developing heavy bombs.
Had the pleasure of a small chat with fry while working at the kings lynn morrisons store. I said mr fry, thanks for all the laughs and education you have given me over the course of my life. He replied, thank you, that's ok but can you show me where the potatoes are! I loved his answer. He was friendly with a lady I worked with who had very severe depression. He would sit with her on her break, if he was able and just listen to her. Great man
@@ushoys, he had untreated bipolar disorder. And he spent a couple of months at a juvenile detention center for credit card theft, so he's actually got a little street cred for having been in prison.
Lovely clip , so British , and to here them talk about greats like Olivier , Tracy and Gielgud is a fascinating insight into their acting methods and prep work. Good stuff.
One of the funniest, wittiest men who ever lived...and Stephen Fry.
I must say that as an Australian, I was most pleased to hear Mr Fry's accent impressions.
He’s not bad right
Yes but the same tired joking about the antipodes makes me vomit a bit. Can't they just stop hassling and realise they also created this. Which is a wonderful legacy. Personally I believe one of their best. Built on something they really should apologise for in a way. Cruelly treating many people who were so poor they couldn't eat. Of course bad ones too but. Sorry feel a bit about this clap trap. Worked in London in the early 80's and it was a very tired trope they kept bringing out. Not helped by some of our own artists who made money from a bunch of people able to laugh vicariously at their own
Yes - one of the best non-Aussie Aussie
accents!
how incredibly british this clip is
At the time of watching this I have just spent a full week following the last days of the Trump and I cant tell you how fantastic and healing watching this truly "British" piece was
Eh, not enough tea!
how incredibly Gay you mean. What's British to you? Innuendos, Carry On films and twats doing impressions?
@@robmaddison8645 That is one aspect of older british comedy, yes
That's because it is a British clip....doh
In his autobiographies, Fry talks about how he hates his own smug look and that he always seems to come across that way. He has agonized over it.
I was thinking of that same thing when Stephen was introduced! Poor thing he looks so smug , I hope he never re-watches this.
It's all a facade. It doesn't reveal any of his inner turmoil, of which I'm sure there is plenty. I see someone quite shy from the way he makes this facade so strong.
They were both hiding in plain sight. Not an easy life for either of them.
A shame! There was nothing immodest about it, and he oozed with stature.
I'd be smug too in his position at that age
Reflects its time - will they laugh with me or at me. Brave men, both of them.
My God, two icons in one room... I never realised that such a meeting took place! Fantastic!
This is fascinating to me. This is a year before him and Hugh's first 'A Bit' episode - a one-off 1987 Xmas special. It's truly great to see this: thank you very much!
This is the kind of "citizens archive" use of UA-cam that makes it so wonderful: people using what they can to keep these kind of clips available to all who are interested. Really is only as good as the work put into it, so thank you for your efforts!
2 people I could listen to all day
Dear old kenneth, i feel was a bit out of his comfort zone being the host. He was always an entertaining guest. Fascinating character that he was.
Not certain he would appreciate the "old". Brilliant guest on shows slipping in and out of characters.
I wonder if Kenneth Williams got the sense he was in the presence of someone destined to become a national treasure like he was and still is.
“Nothing can be loved or hated unless it first understood.” ― Leonardo da Vinci.
Wow. There was a time when Stephen Fry was 28...
Anyway, that might be the greatest assessment of method acting ever.
Going to the library and writing great chunks out of a book great thanks Steven took me right back to my History of Art essays
The looks that Williams gives Fry are amazing.
I had no idea Kenneth Williams was so patriotic about his Welsh roots. Kenneth am Byth!
Thanks for uploading this, if only Stephen Fry appreciated himself as much as we do, he has such extraordinary talent on so many levels and is incredibly gracious and humble to work with. What an incredible opportunity to see these remarkable and original men together. Ken's death was such a tragic waste, had he been brave enough to have surgery for his gastric ulcer and had the opportunity to live without excruciating pain which undoubtedly contributed to his depression he might still be alive.
I love how Stephen Fry will always do somebody's accent, no matter how many times he has to keep coming back to it.
Anecdote city! Thanks for the upload.
So grateful to see this, I had no idea that Kenneth Williams had an interview show and I think this was a gem!
He was standing in for Terry Wogan
Could listen to these two chatting to each other for hours and never realised Stephen Fry was so tall. Great clip.
The best interview I have seen in years!
Two bloody funny men. And brilliant. Quintessentially English.
He's Welsh
donkey
To be strictly accurate, Kenneth Williams was born and raised and lived and died in England, so he was English (although, because of his family name, he thought he might have had Welsh ancestry going far enough back).
Of course, Fry, if I am not mistaken, is not English, which is the crazy thing. Fry is European-Jewish if I can recall. He spoke about it before, you know, how he rather forged himself an Englishman. Obscenely English, all the same.
@@TheClassicWorld
Stephen Fry is about as English as it's possible to be, although his grandparents on his mother's side were originally from Hungary, moving to England in 1927.
Brilliant! Both of them!
Thank you for uploading.
He is only 28....I feel so old!
Excellent - thanks so much for uploading
Stephen Fry is just so beautiful here. Well he always is, but he's especially lovely in this video.
It was a few years back, I was walking to my polytechnic of central london faculty building and kenneth and his mate breezed past me on a quiet pavement, I turned, thinking wow! That was him, and he'd turned as well..
Only if you're a lawnmower.
British x 100,000,000.
How lovely do you imagine he was when doing bird for credit card fraud, especially when you consider he stole a family friend's card?
@@ruzziasht349 I mean, considering that was when he was a teenager and it was followed by him getting his shit together first in his studies and then in building a respectable career and life, it doesn't really change much.
28 years of age and he says "I think he's since been gathered to God."
An odd line for one so young. From the mouth of an atheist, too!
@@omp199 I think you may have missed the mildly satirical intent......
@@MrDorbel He says it at about 4:10. There's no hint of satire at that point. I think he just liked the phrase.
@@omp199 .....and a Jew.
@@davidwhite4874 How does that make a difference?
Two of our greatest. Shine forever guys
One must never stop acting. Every syllable of every word one utters must be savoured with the utmost thespian delight at all times.
I love Kenneth Williams face! :D
Both totally brilliant .
Bloody Hell Stephen looks young there.
Ahh, Kenneth Williams. Poor man had a tough life. Comedians always seem to have a bad run in their personal life.
Hilarity often comes from tragedy
@@Red_Beard2798 I've personally known quite a few comedians / entertainers / funny people and they've all been bipolar (or, as we used to say, manic-depressive). Some of them are unbearably miserable when not making us laugh.
To judge by his diaries I'd say that Kenneth was sincerely disappointed and embittered with himself and people around him for his life as a "comedian"...he seems to have despised himself for having to live on (and support his mother) on what he could make in comic roles. He saw himself first and foremost as a serious actor (cf his early and much praised role as the Dauphin) and was ashamed of his failure to make a worthwhile living thereby.
Add to that his repressed sexuality, the horrific gap between himself and his father, and the continuing strangeness of his relationship with his mother....small wonder he seems to have had strained and confused relationships even with professionals around him...I always felt he was at heart a very sad man...
Wow. This exists??? I've watched a lot of Kenneth Williams but I didn't know he hosted this and even met Stephen Fry.
Yes, he guest hosted for Terry Wogan quite a bit, and he was very good at it. Terry and Kenneth got on well.
The expression on Kenneth William's face, while Stephen Fry was describing the proffessor handing out pornography, was priceless!
wow what a great treat to find this clip on youtube! thank you for posting it ;)
Kenneth was fabulous:)
I absolutely love both of these men. Amazing to see both of them at the same time.
I randomly typed into UA-cam "Kenneth Williams and Stephen Fry" because they both just happen to be two of my favourite people in the whole world... and this came up.. I was like.OMG THEY DID AN INTERVIEW WITH EACH OTHER! :D
These two are just too divine to believe
That is an astonishing amount of tweed, corduroy, cardigan, clashing shirt and tie, and calf high sock for a single gentleman... :-/
'You should try acting, it's so much easier' - Hahahaha *eyes watering with mirth*
Dude, here is a 28 year old successful TV actor and writer. Of course he is to be a little bit smug. Have you seen him lately?! Not so much. As you get older, you get a little more refined. But I disagree, he comes across quite well.
dinnynosher &
A UA-cam post from 16 years ago! Amazing the stuff still floating around and coming up in the suggested clips.
This interview was surprising, Kenneth's respectful distance and relative seriousness, he just throws questions in and let's Stephen tell his stories... I expected two funny guys overacting but this is quite the opposite
I think it was great to see Kenneth actually talking in a normal voice to Stephen. Kenneth has about four or five voices that he pulls out at the drop of a hat and it’s always a kind of act which is a very funny act, however I felt he was more real than usual in this video. And of course at the end when he speaks to the camera and the audience out comes another of those voices and the act is on again.
It was a pleasant surprise. He knew how to handle Stephen.
@@curtismorris1347 Yes indeed you could see that initial fear in Stephens' eyes slowly melting as the conversation warmed.
very surprising that kenneth managed to keep quiet throughout this. as someone who is famous for always having something to say he makes a very good interviewer
From a time when interviews said something and were interesting.
ROGAN
And not there just to promote whatever movie they are there for like graham nortons guests are
Absolutely!!....
What a fantastic double treat of vast wit and intelligence in this clip...and Stephen..well, he is so fine and attractive now in 2019 but when he was 28 he was positively stunning..and with beautiful Kenneth too..just wonderful.
How I miss Kenneth Williams. How nervous Stephen Fry seemed but brilliant too.
Perhaps self-conscious rather than entirely nervous, as though he were still trying to work out how to inhabit his own self in public. Enjoying the awareness of his own brilliance and oddity, without ever quite relaxing about it. He still has some of that quality today. Mind you, it was only about ten years before this interview that he was in prison!
Loved Kenneth. Wonderful man
What a treat to see them together. I can see where Paul O'Grady took lessons, too!
Exactly my thought on O'Grady.
wow..great to see 2 comic icons together, i didnt even know they had met . thanx for upload.
I miss Kenneth Williams. :(
Such a shame Kenneth never realised how much we all loved him! Legend
I loved watching these two legends. Fry looked so cute but his eyes showed how rehearsed his anecdotes were.
I wonder what KW thought at the time.
Yup. I've seen Valerie Singleton do it less transparently (now here's one I prepared earlier)
i think there might be a line in KW's diary where he says he liked him.
Probably 'did the Barclay's' when he got home.
I didn’t know Kenneth had been an interviewer. I wish I’d been aware at the time, or he’d gone on longer. He was so clever and needed to spread his wings
Kenneth Williams is always funny when he's the one being interviewed. He used to host a morning phone in show for Radio London which could be very entertaining. He seemed at home talking to ordinary people as much as fellow entertainers. I bet he was a bit of a laugh down at the pub...As I believe Sid James could be too.
God i love Stephen, so wonderfully fantastic. This clip does get almost unbearably British about 3 minutes in, if not immediatly...its gorgeous :o) x
They are SO ENGLISH I love it. They amplify each others English Gentleman.
kenneth is welsh like he says if you actually listen
lovely thank you for the upload
he has always been amazing. his manner suits him now he is more mature in years, but put a pin in the timeline of his life and i would immortalise him at any point.
Absolutely hilarious. Thanks for this.
Stephen has always been a 100year old man in a younger mans body
As I was thinking , he always did seem older than his years as a young man with the intelligence , wisdom and talent of someone much older with many more years experience in entertainment and writing .
@@Babsza I am continually amazed at Stephen Fry's knowledge and intellect. Earlier I watched a short clip of him speaking in a debate on the topic 'The catholic church is a force for good in the world'. He took took the opposing view and his arguments and reasoning were so strong that a poll taken from the audience proved he had won over those who previously thought the church was a force for good...
Stephen is just staggeringly intelligent and his wit is extraordinary, I have laughed and laughed while watching clips from QI where he does impressions and accents, just have to marvel at how accurate he is.
Watching this because my birthday is 25th November, however, it is a good interview. Thank you.
Oh yes, I too love that sketch! As a fan of both Mr Fry & Harry Potter, I must also say that I absolutely adore his readings of the series. Just wonderful.
I listened avidly to all Stephen Fry's audiobooks of Harry Potter. His accents and voices were brilliant, just loved them. It was a sad day when I heard the last chapter of the last book...
Amazing at how Stephen kept looking away, back then.
Interesting interview turn around, and interesting that Stephen is an amazing story teller then when only in his late twenties
Interviews were in general A LOT more intelligent then than they are now😔😔.....
The most British conversation. All they need is a cuppa tea and scones,