Felicity Kendal | |
|---|---|
 Kendal in 2024 | |
| Born | 25 September 1946 Olton, Warwickshire, England |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1947–present |
| Spouses | |
| Partner(s) | Tom Stoppard (1991–1998) Michael Rudman (1998; died. 2023)[1] |
| Children | 2, including Charley Henley |
| Parents |
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| Relatives | Jennifer Kendal (sister) |
Felicity Ann Kendal CBE (born 25 September 1946) is an English actress, working principally in television and theatre. She has appeared in numerous stage and screen roles over a more than 70-year career, including as Barbara Good in the television series The Good Life from 1975 to 1977. Kendal was born in Olton, England, but moved to India with her family from the age of seven. Her father was an English actor-manager who led his own repertory company on tours of India, and Kendal appeared in roles for the company both before and after leaving England. She appeared in the film Shakespeare Wallah (1965) which was inspired by her family.
Kendal made several television appearances, starting with Love Story in 1966, and made her London stage debut in Minor Murder (1967) at the Savoy Theatre. She was approached to appear in The Good Life while appearing in The Norman Conquests, and appeared in all four series. She later went on to star in the sitcoms Solo (1981–82) and The Mistress (1985 and 1987) which were scripted by Carla Lane. Later television work included The Camomile Lawn (1992), which as of 2022 it remained the most-watched drama ever on Channel 4. However, the poor reception to the 1994 sitcom Honey for Tea led Kendal to focus on stage rather than television work for some years. She co-starred with Pam Ferris on television in Rosemary & Thyme (2003–2006) as one of pair of gardeners and detectives.
Her stage career blossomed during the 1980s and 1990s when she formed a close professional association with Tom Stoppard, starring in the first productions of many of his plays, including On the Razzle (1981), The Real Thing (1982), Hapgood (1988), and Arcadia (1993). She also appeared in ten plays directed Peter Hall, from portraying Constanze Mozart in Amadeus (1979) to Esme in Amy's View (2006). She took her first role in a musical as Evangeline Harcourt in the 2021 London revival of Anything Goes at the Barbican Theatre. In 2023, she starred as Dotty Otley in Noises Off at the Phoenix Theatre and the Theatre Royal Haymarket. Many of her stage performances have been critically acclaimed. Kendal was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1995 New Year Honours for services to drama.
- ^ Nikkhah, Roya (2015). "Felicity Kendal: I'm happy with my ex-husband — but won't marry him again" Archived 12 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine, The Telegraph (London), 3 April 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2019.