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All of Me: My Extraordinary Life
 
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All of Me: My Extraordinary Life (Paperback)

by Barbara Windsor (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 608 pages
  • Publisher: Headline; New Ed edition (14 May 2001)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0747266441
  • ISBN-13: 978-0747266440
  • Product Dimensions: 17.6 x 11 x 4.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 170,021 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
All Of Me was reviewed in the Express 1/9 'Barbara Windsor emerges from these pages as a personality both strong and sunny' Sunday Telegraph

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Customer Reviews

21 Reviews
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4 star:
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3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (21 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A Good, Quick Read, 26 Aug 2001
By Laura A. Cella (NYC. NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
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.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Delightfully engaging, 29 Dec 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: All of Me: My Extraordinary Life (Hardcover)
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.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars warts and all (almost), 4 Jul 2001
By A Customer
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"!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Stunning Memoir!
"All of Me" by Barbara Windsor is a fantastic book, written with pure honesty and emotion, a real page turner and perhaps the best memoir by a British actress ever put to paper. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Jake M

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb book.
This book is for anyone who likes any or all of the following: Autobiography's, Celebs, Carry on films, Theatre productions, Eastenders, Acting etc etc etc

This book... Read more
Published on 10 April 2007 by Fiona

5.0 out of 5 stars Dame Barbara Windsor please!
Babs is one of Britain's most notorius and famous celebrities. Her life story is better than any script around here or in tinseltown. Read more
Published on 9 April 2006 by Sylviastel

1.0 out of 5 stars Sad really
While most of the reviews have commented on Ms. Windsor's honesty, I got the feeling all through the book that the one person she isn't honest with is herself. Read more
Published on 21 May 2003

4.0 out of 5 stars A frank story of good times and bad
An interesting biography that seems to split the story of her life into what shes done as an actress and ( more importantly according to the author ) what was going on in her... Read more
Published on 12 April 2002 by Preston White

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
This book was amazing, written with total honesty. Barbara isn't all she seems, not just Peggy Mitchell. Read more
Published on 22 Mar 2002 by Mrs. Claire Millard

5.0 out of 5 stars This is one of the best books I have read in a long time.
Quick witted, sassy and full of style. Some woman, she gives a full account of her colourful life with nothing kept a secret from her reader. Read more
Published on 9 Jan 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars Jumping off the Page!
Having had the great pleasure of meeting Barbara Windsor and Scott Mitchell(ironic?) in the course of my working life. Read more
Published on 29 Dec 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Soap star's extraordinary life
As well as being a big Eastenders fan I have been in love with Babs ever since as a 17 year old I first set eyes on her in Carry On Doctor, so as soon as I saw this book I just... Read more
Published on 6 Oct 2001 by Mr. D. H. Mills

5.0 out of 5 stars Like chatting w/Babs on her couch- Cozy & deeply moving!!!!
I am an American and was introduced to Ms. Windsor by my British husband Philip two years via snapshot of her in "Our Story" by Reg and Ron Kray with a brief description... Read more
Published on 18 Jul 2001 by krista@smashbox.com

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