User:UpDown/Misc
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| Felicity Kendal | |
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| Born | Felicity Ann Kendal 25 September 1946 Olton, Warwickshire, England |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Spouse(s) | Drewe Henley (1968–79) Michael Rudman (1983–90) |
Felicity Ann Kendal, CBE (born 25 September 1946) is an English actress who is well known in the United Kingdom for her television career.
Born in 1946, Kendal spent much of her childhood in India, where her father managed a touring rep company. First appearing on stage aged 9 months, Kendal appeared in her first film, Shakespeare Wallah, in 1965. Returning to Britain that year, Kendal struggled in her career until 1975, when she started playing Barbara Good in The Good Life, the BBC sitcom. This made Kendal a household name, although later sitcoms where she was the lead did not achieve the popularity of The Good Life. In 2003, Kendal first played Rosemary Boxer in Rosemary & Thyme, a murder mystery drama that aired for three series until 2007.
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[edit] Early life
Felicity Ann Kendal was born in Olton, Warwickshire in 1946.[1] Her parents, Geoffrey and Laura, owned a Shakespearean theatre company that toured Britian and Ireland.[2] After World War II, the family moved to India, where they continued to tour.[2][1] Her father's original surname was Bragg and his stage name Kendal came from his Cumbrian home town Kendal.[2] Kendal is a distant relative of Melvyn Bragg, the television presenter and life peer.[2] Felicity Kendal had an older sister, Jennifer.[2]
She first appeared on stage aged 9 months in A Midsummer Night's Dream.[2] Her first speaking role came when she was 9 years old and played Macduff's son in Macbeth in a Bombay convent.[2] In 1946, Kendal appeared in Shakespeare Wallah, a Merchant Ivory film based on her family.[2]
[edit] Early career
At the age of 17, Kendal moved back to Britain, against the wishes of her father.[2] She initially found work hard to get, but in 1967 made her London stage debut in Minor Murder.[1][2] Her first years as an actress in Britain were difficult, however, her first television role was in a 1966 episode of The Wednesday Play "The Mayfly and the Frog".[1][2] Following this Kendal had supporting roles in other television programmes, such as Man in a Suitcase, The Woodlanders, The Persuaders! and Edward the Seventh, in which she played Princess Vicky, Queen Victoria's eldest daughter.[1][2]
[edit] Television fame
In 1975, Kendal got her first main character role, that of Barbara Good in The Good Life. The writers, John Esmonde and Bob Larbey, had seen Kendal and Penelope Keith performing together in The Norman Conquests.[2]
The role of Barbara Good made Kendal and her three co-stars Richard Briers, Penelope Keith and Paul Eddington household names and allowed them all to get their own series after The Good Life ended.[1] From 1981 to 1982, Kendal played Gemma Palmer, a woman who changes her life after her boyfriend (played by Stephen Moore) sleeps with her best friend, in Solo, a BBC1 sitcom written by Carla Lane.[3] In her next sitcom, The Mistress, which aired from 1985 to 1987, Kendal played Maxine, a florist who is having an affiar with a married man.[3] Many viewers disliked seeing Kendal playing someone sleeping with someone else's husband, after her previous roles playing likeable and innocent women.[4] Kendal's last sitcom role was that of Nancy Belasco, an insolvent American who moves to Cambridge after her husband's death, in Honey for Tea.[3] This aired in 1994.[3]
In 1978, the year The Good Life's last episode aired, she played Dorothy Wordsworth in Ken Russell's two-part Clouds of Glory.[1]
During this time, she appeared on stage in Clouds (1978), Hapgood (1980) and Ivanov (1989).[1] For Ivanov, Kendal won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for "Best Actress".[1]
Kendal and Rudman had one son, Jacob Henry, who was born on 1 October 1987.[5] When her marriage with Michael Rudman broke down, she had a relationship with the playwright Tom Stoppard, and divorced Rudman in 1990.[2][REF DIVORCE] Kendal and Rudman are now back together.[2]
In 1992, Felicity Kendal played Helena Cuthbertson in The Camomile Lawn, the TV series based of the book of the same name.[1]
Son Charley by actor Drewe Henley.[2]
[edit] Since 2000
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Pickering, David. Kendal, Felicity. The Museum of Broadcast Communications. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Edge, Simon. "Felicity Kendal: Happy with the Good Life", Sunday Express, 12 December 2007.
- ^ a b c d Lewishohn, Mark (2003). Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy. London: BBC Worldwide. ISBN 0563487550.
- ^ Felicity Kendal. Memorable TV (2002-07). Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
- ^ London Times, Births and Christenings, 1983-2003. Ancestry.co.uk (2008). Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
