WELSH actor Michael Sheen will be getting plaudits for his portrayal of Tony Blair in Stephen Frear's The Queen from many a TV critic this week.
But 24 hours after Sunday's premiere, he was back on our screens - albeit tucked away - as another well-known British figure.
You could argue that Kenneth Williams was another King of Spin, finding excuse after excuse for his tawdry Carry On connections as he viewed the ensemble cast of Joan Sims, Barbara Windsor, Hattie Jacques et al (with the exception of Sid James) as the extended family he so craved.
Sheen played Williams in Fantabulosa, based on the very readable (and recommended) Kenneth Williams Diaries, a great lump of a book which chronicles the final 40 years of the tortured soul's life.
This BBC4 adaptation pulled no punches in showing the seedier side of London's gay community in the 1950s and 1960s. There was a welcome lack of the impenetrable Polari (the carnival-style code speak which enabled gay men and lesbians to speak freely without fear of reprisal) and showed Williams to be a somewhat pathetic figure, who only truly existed at the very centre of a crowd's attention.
Although a couple of years separates the films, Sheen's distinct performances in both must make him one of our hidden acting treasures. To convince as both a homely, family man-styled Blair on Sunday night, then as a scrawny, camp grotesque the next takes some doing.
So convincing, in fact, that this morning I found myself reading Mr Williams' Diaries on the train into work once more. Fascinating stuff.
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HaigFaithful wrote...
My mate lent me the Diaries a few years back, and I had to dip in and out of them rather than reading the whole lot.
I remember a bit about him flashing at a woman in the dressing room on the Carry On set. It was all very innocent and childish, and had me chuckling for ages.
Posted by: HaigFaithful | September 4, 2007 3:00 PM