An interesting insight into a sad life ( )

An odd, little book, to suit the subject. Charles Hawtrey, best-known for his "Carry On ..." movies, comes across as an odd little man with some strange eccentricities.

The author Roger Lewis takes a strange angle with this biography; the timeline jumps around a lot, as Lewis's discussion about Hawtrey's latter alcoholism is followed by his earliest stage roles. And, oddly, he never discusses how Hawtrey came to be associated with the "Carry On ..." movies.

Nestled in with this is the occasional humorous reference to something not directly related to Hawtrey (including a humdinger attributed to Noel Coward). It seems Lewis had a number of anecdotes he wanted to use so shoehorned them in here. I can't help but think I would have enjoyed this a lot more had it been more structured. ( )

Slim biography of the English actor Charles Hawtrey, who was born in Middlesex on November 30th 1914 as George Frederick Joffre Hartree. Lewis is direct to the point of bluntness about Hawtry's sexuality, his alcoholism and his lonely terrible end. But he also remembers a talent, often wasted and undervalued, which shone out from numerous run-of-the-mill British comedy films from the 1930's to the 1970's.
Hawtry is best remembered for the 23 'Carry On...' films he appeared in, which made him a star, if relatively little money. They also typecast him in the eyes of producers. Very good biography. ( )