If you had asked Charles Hawtrey what his family history was, he would have told you that
he was the son of the celebrated Sir Charles Hawtrey, the light comedy actor-manager and
he would have regaled anecdotes about him. This was not true. Charles Hawtreys youth
is a little known subject.
What we do know of him, though, is he first trod the boards in
1925 and this makes him the Carry Oner with the longest showbiz record. When he came to
the Carry On stable with Carry On Sergeant, he had already made a name for himself in
revues, pantomimes, stage and most notably, in films in the Will Hay comedies.
He was born in 13th November 1914 in
Hounslow, London and his early years
were spent in Italia Conti acting school and he was soon appearing in junior roles. One of
his earliest film roles goes back to the 1930s when he appeared in the silent film
Marry Me, but his first London roles on the stage including Bluebell In Fairyland and
Where the Rainbow Ends.In the 30s and 40s he
appeared on stage in classic pl
ays, revues and pantomimes including The Taming Of The
Shrew, but he will be remembered for this stage of his career as the elderly schoolboy
sidekick in the Will Hay films like Good Morning Boys and The Goose
Steps. He later on
used this schoolboy image to appear in TVs The Army Game.
Throughout the Carry Ons, he has played virtually the same role
as a bespectacled, weedy, eager beaver who skips through life with a child-like
unawareness. In Nurse, we see him in bed, locked into his earphones conducting to the
music, laughing loudly at a comedy or weeping into his pillow, totally oblivious to the
world around him. In Constable, he is a trainee policeman in virtually the same character.
Cabby sees his role increased but not altered, playing the aptly named Pint Pot.
Camping see him epitomise his Carry On persona as Charlie
Muggins, a lone camper who inadvertently pitches his tent on an army firing range only to have it blown away, to which he comments, "I know I shouldnt have eaten those
radishes!" This sums
up his innocence and ignorance to the situations as he continues
his camping journey with no tent. As Private Widdle of the 3rd Foot and Mouth
Brigade in Up The Khyber, it is him alone, through his actions, who brings the wrath of
the natives down on the British. Standing at the Khyber Pass gate, he is confronted by
Bungdit Din and attempt to halt him with a backward-pointing gun and then proceeds to ask
Bungdit Din to "wait a minute", while he corrects the gun.
Hawtrey could never by confused
as a sex symbol with his camped up voice and just when you think hes going to embark
on a love affair, the script flips him over and he is fact sharing a night watching
television or having a game of cards. He does sometimes escape the typecasting and he is
put into an unlikely role as the lecherous Sir Roger De Lodgerly, or the Great Tonka but
that is still not really changin
g his character because the situations and the character
he is put in is for comic effect.
Out of all the drag roles that have been played in
the Carry Ons he seemed most at ease and the one with whom it seemed to work best.
On 24 October 1988, Hawtrey collapsed
outside The Royal Hotel in Deal, shattering his femur, and was rushed to
Hospital. He was discovered to be suffering from peripheral vascular
disease, a condition of the arteries brought on by a lifetime of heavy
smoking. Hawtrey was told that to save his life, his legs would have to be
amputated. He refused the operation, allegedly saying that he preferred 'to
die with his boots on', and died 3 days later, aged 73, in a nursing home in
Walmer, near Deal. It was claimed that on his deathbed he threw a vase at
his nurse who asked for an autograph. He was cremated and his ashes were
scattered in Mortlake Crematorium, close to Chiswick in London. Just nine
mourners attended; no friends or family were there.