Product Description

Born in the East End of London just before the war, Barbara Windsor made her first stage appearance at the age of 13. From her early roles as the original Carry On dolly bird to her current hit as Peggy Mitchell in the award-winning BBC drama EastEnders, her spectacular success in theatre, film and TV has made her a British icon - the Cockney kid with a dazzling smile and talent to match. Here, for the first time, she talks in depth about the people and events that have shaped her career: her lonely childhood, her doomed marriage to Ronnie Knight, her legendary affairs, how she has never let her fans down whatever her personal anguish. This is the heart-warming story of a courageous woman and consummate performer who has always made sure the show goes on.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #392130 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 709 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review

I always felt I was more than just a busty blonde with a giggle and a wiggle.

Barbara Windsor is forever enshrined in the national psyche as a cheeky Cockney, the blonde bombshell star of that quintessentially British creation, the Carry On film. Windsor's career in showbusiness has spanned an incredible 50 years--from her first appearance in pantomime at the age of 12, to soap-star matriarch behind the bar at the Queen Vic in Eastenders.

Windsor (born Barbara Deeks; the name-change came in 1952, Coronation year, and was "particularly apt") grew up torn between her rowing parents who nevertheless instilled in her a passion for film-going. Aware that her looks and cheeky air would get her work, Windsor secretly deplored being eternally typecast as a "bimbo in white stilettos" and saw herself instead as a "theatre comedy actress". Her comic talent and sheer capacity for hard work led her, after years of damp dressing rooms and end-of-the-pier shows, to an enduring status as an icon of sorts, her ultimate accolade being made an OBE in 2000.

Yet Windsor is almost as famous for her private life as she is for her public achievements, and she is exceptionally candid about her affairs--most notoriously with fellow Carry On star Sid James, though there was an occasion over some salt-beef sandwiches with jazzman Ronnie Scott ("I felt he had taken me on more for my bosom than for my singing"). There were also her abortions, her friendships with some of the biggest stars of the 60s--Kenneth Williams and she were so close that he came on her honeymoon--and she has always held a rather dubious affection for the Krays. Her first husband, Ronnie Knight, became Britain's most wanted man after his involvement in a robbery, her second sold his story to the tabloids after their marriage ended; she has recently married her third husband after a turbulent relationship. "I'd always been a grafter, not a whinger; always got out there and done it when the chips were down", writes Windsor and we never expect anything less of her.

The enjoyable and slightly scandalous All of Me is written in the best British tradition of self-deprecation, hard work, laughter and tears--with a touch of sauciness thrown in. Just like a Carry On film, in fact. --Kate Weaver

About the Author
Born in 1957, the only child of a snobbish, hard-to-please mother, and a cheery, but unambitious father, Barbara began her showbusiness career at the age of 7 when she won numerous talent contests with her adult voice and her flamboyant performances. Since then her life and career have encompassed night-club singing, musicals, associations with gangsters, back-street abortions, the Carry-on films, a husband who became Britain's most wanted man, and now, a hugely-acclaimed role in Eastenders. Barbara will be getting married in the summer of 2000.

Customer Reviews

A Good, Quick Read
I am an American (and not a very old one at that) so I never saw the "Carry On" films. I first "met" Barbara Windsor when she toddled onto the screen as the second Peggy Mitchell on EastEnders. Hearing her referred to as a national treasure by many EE fans I thought that I would give the book a go. I'm not sorry that I did.

Overall, it was well-written in a colloquial way, however I wish that her editor had cleaned up a few things from spelling ("OK" for "okay") to facts (contrary to Miss Windsor's belief, there actually have been 2 full-scale wars fought on American soil - the Revolutionary War and the Civil War). Whatever weaknesses the book has, she seems likable and tells an interesting story.

Because I never saw her as the big breasted "Carry On" girl, I had no preconceived notions about who or what she is. I was ready to accept her at her word. From her unhappy, often unstable, childhood through her many abortions, affairs, and marriages she comes alive through the pages. She relays her life's experiences with a great deal of enthusiasm and wit, albeit with too much naivete to be believed. (If she really had no idea that Ronnie Knight was a gangster, how come she had Freddie Foreman's home phone number?) She seems to be attempting painful honesty about some things (abortions, affairs) yet glosses over other events (Knight's source of income, why she allowed her affair with Sid to continue.)

I have read several other television autobiographies (Martine McCutcheon's and Mike Reid's come to mind) and Miss Windsor seems to have put in the most effort to recall details and express herself clearly. If there are things that she chooses to fudge . . . well, they don't harm the book that much. And having liked her before, I like her better now for having read it.

Doing so was a quick, easy, interesting way to pass beach hours.

Delightfully engaging
I received "All of Me" in my Christmas stocking because I am a big Carry-on fan. I was naturally taken back by the vulgar pink book cover. Once reading however, I could not put it down. She has had a brilliant career spanning 40 years and she tells many interesting stories about the plays and films in which she appeared. She is very open and honest, especially about her love life and reveals many scandalous liaisons! It is hard not to grow very fond of her as you read the book and I will never look at her on Eastenders in the same way again.

warts and all (almost)
Whilst promoted as a no holds bar autobiography, I came away with the distinct feeling that Miss Windsor has been fairly selective on content. Except for one sentence towards the end of the book there is no reflection on the unusual number of terminated pregnancies. Perhaps, after all, we don't have a right to look into another's soul. Having said that however, Miss Windsor can do little wrong in my eyes. I found the book "unputdownable"!