It's hard to name a star when the movies were such a good example of an ensemble cast more so than relying on one or two names but Kenneth Williams always stood out to me.
I think there was never one star. basically, the more regular team members there were, the better the films tended to be. you needed sid james, kenneth williams, joan sims, hattie jacques, charles hawtrey. and then if there was terry scott, bernard bresslaw, kenneth connor, peter butterworth, jim dale, barbara winRABor the closer it came to being an archetypal carry on.
I agree Jim Dale was invaluable to the series. allowed the regulars to be funny without worrying about carrying what little plot there was. Follow That Camel, Cowboy and Cabby are probably my three favourites, with Abroad as my favourite bawdier Carry On.
The reason there was never a star was that all the cast used to appear in a six or eight name group at the beginning. but in one of the films, there was a definite star with his own title card to himself. ten points if you know who it is
Surely the archetypal dirty old man Sid James powered the Carry-On innuendo. Honourable mention to Charles Hawtrey who only had to mince onto the screen.
My first guess would be Phil Silvers in Follow that Camel, but if so that's likely to be because he was a last minute addition after Sid James was unwell.
Fair enough.
Someone mentioned Peter Rogers before - we should also not forget Gerald Thomas the director and Norman Hudis and Talbot Rothwell who wrote the scripts - they were stars too.
I don't believe there to be 'a' star. Kenneth Williams, Sid James, Charles Hawtrey, Kenneth Connor, Joan Sims, Hattie Jacques et al are all deserving of star status.
I think it has to be Kenneth Williams. If someobody asked you to quote a line or a scene from an Carry On film it's likely to be one of his lines or a scene that he was connected with in a major way.
Considering his career was struggling so badly in the 60's I'm really surprised they didn't use Frankie Howerd more.
Bernard attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (on a scholarship), won the Emile Littler Award as the most promising actor and was considered the finest Shakesperian actor in his year.
Without them, the Carry Ons would have been complete failures and it is doubtful if any more would have been made after Carry On Teacher if they had not been in them.