The Man Who Was Private Widdle cover art

The Man Who Was Private Widdle

Charles Hawtrey 1914–1988

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The Man Who Was Private Widdle

By: Roger Lewis, Stephen Fry - introduction
Narrated by: Justin Avoth
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Charles Hawtrey, the skinny one with the granny glasses, was everybody's favourite in the Carry Ons - but who exactly was he?

Up to now the man has remained a mystery. Examining Hawtrey's origins as a child star and as a performer in revue and the Will Hay films, this wonderful little book also looks at his career in radio and television, and then to the sad and slow decline of a belligerent recluse in Deal, on the Kent coast. The high camp exuberance of his acting gave way to bitterness and alcoholism - if you asked Hawtrey for an autograph he'd be more likely to call the police instead.

In The Man Who Was Private Widdle, Roger Lewis conjures this sense of doom and acute melancholy which is at the same time hysterically funny. The book opens out like a Chinese box to address such issues as the nature of fame, neglect, loss, sexual confusion, Drambuie, betrayal, Royal Marines bandsmen, and fine cambric knickers trimmed with lace and blue ribbon. Its moral would seem to be that you don't necessarily turn out as the person you thought you'd become. Hawtrey, born to play Shakespearean clowns or Restoration fops, ended up sacked from the Carry On films, wandering about the stage drunk on a provincial tour of Stop It Nurse!

Incorporating extensive research and exclusive interviews with the major players, The Man Who Was Private Widdle is a masterpiece of biographical investigation and a fitting testament to a quirky comic genius whose place in British cultural history is now assured.

For this new edition, Roger Lewis has written A Widdling Afterword, bringing the story and his reflections up to date, and Sir Stephen Fry has contributed an insightful and characteristic Preface, placing both Charles Hawtrey and Roger Lewis in the context of light entertainment and the biographical genre.©2026 Roger Lewis (P)2026 Hodder & Stoughton Limited Art & Literature Authors Entertainment & Celebrities Funny
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Critic reviews

(A) brilliant little biography
(A) pungent, opinionated and brilliantly intuitive biography of the saddest act in the history of British cinema
Lewis evokes Hawtrey's weird by wholly joyful persona in a monograph worthy of Ken Tynan
Roger Lewis s small but perfectly formed biography . . . like its subject, Lewis s book may be slim but it packs a surprising amount between its covers
This brief book rewards reading
Funny and engaging . . . Private Widdle has the joyous quality of a conversation that refuses to stay on topic . . . An intoxicating work of tragicomic relish
Waspishly funny and deeply touching
All stars
Most relevant
This is a beautiful, short biography of a lonely man. Hawtrey was a true eccentric. A man with a medium talent who managed to be brilliant in the Carry On films simply by being himself. The excellent t biography explores his genius and his mediocrity. It’s full of insight and is written with real panache. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Sparkling writing, wonderfully read

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I love the way Roger Lewis writes and this doesn’t disappoint, despite it being as short as CH, if not shorter.

Short but fascinating

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If you know very little about Charles Hawtrey it barely matters, such is the excellence of Roger Lewis's writing. His character studies are always absorbing and spark curiosity. Justin Avoth's narration is perfection. This is a much shorter book than Erotic Vagrancy of The Life and Death of Peter Sellers but no less pleasing. Brilliant.

A perfect pairing

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