Drambuie loving Charles Hawtrey was a legend of British cinema and became a household name in the ultra low-budget Carry On movies.

Acting is a funny old game. How many actors leave drama colleges with high hopes of playing Hamlet but end up on the BBC talking to a puppet and singing a song about the alphabet? Unachieved ambitions can eat away at a person. Alec Guinness cursed the role of Obi Won Kenobi even though it made him a mega star to a whole new generation. He felt playing a Jedi took away from his true legacy as a star of British cinema. Carry On regular Charles Hawtrey also suffered from demons of regret. His camp double-entandre may have made UK cinema goers wet themselves with laughter but they turned this gifted actor into cliché. The character became more famous than the actor and Hawtrey’s previous achievements were pushed aside. All the public wanted was the funny stick insect with the granny glasses. Hawtrey had wanted so much more than that. A heavy drinker for a large portion of his adult life, Hawtrey blocked out his bitter regret with copious amounts of booze. Let Charles Hawtrey’s life be a lesson to us all. Don’t attempt something if you are not willing to fail.