Kay Kendall

Kay Kendall (1927-1959) was a British film actress and comedienne. The comedy Genevieve (1953) brought her widespread recognition and she won a Golden Globe for the musical-comedy Les Girls (1957). Kendall died of leukaemia, at the age of 32. She was married to Rex Harrison.


Italian postcard by S.A. Poligrafica Sammarinese, no. 025d.


British postcard in the Greetings series, London. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Organisation.


British autograph card by J. Arthur Rank Organisation.

A pitch-perfect screen performance

Kay Kendall was born Justine Kay Kendall-McCarthy in 1927 in Withernsea, Yorkshire, England. She was the second daughter of a theatrical couple, Terrence "Terry" McCarthy and Gladys Drewery. Her grandmother, Marie Kendall, was an Edwardian music hall legend. Kay studied ballet for six years in London. Kendall left school at the age of 12 to appear in revue.

Two years later, she toured English music halls in a double act with her sister Kim Kendall. During the war, she toured with ENSA singing and dancing, before switching to acting. From her mid-teens, she worked as an extra for Ealing Studios but soon graduated to bigger bit parts. At seventeen she landed a major role in the ambitious musical London Town (Wesley Ruggles, 1946) starring Sid Field. The film is best known for its massive box office failure.

Kendall returned to the theatre and bit parts in films. She co-starred with Petula Clark and Diana Dors in the drama Dance Hall (Charles Crichton, 1950). Unusually for an Ealing production of the time, the film tells the story of the four women and their romantic encounters from a female perspective, presumably the input of screenwriter Diana Morgan. After It Started in Paradise (Compton Bennett, 1952) she secured a Rank contract.

Her appearance in the comedy Genevieve (Henry Cornelius, 1953) brought her widespread recognition. Dylan Cave at BFI Screenonline: "Many film actors spend a career looking for a defining moment; a screen performance so pitch-perfect that their name is indelibly stamped on the public consciousness and stardom is assured. Kay Kendall had such a moment in one of British cinema's most parochial films. Her vivacious Rosalie Peters in Genevieve (d. Henry Cornelius, 1953) secured her future as a star, but now unfairly summarises the extent of her fame."

Kendall followed this with the even more popular comedy Doctor in the House (Ralph Thomas, 1954), the first film in the Doctor series with Dirk Bogarde. She was under contract to the Rank Organisation but was unhappy with the parts offered. She appeared with Peter Finch in the comedy Simon and Laura (Muriel Box, 1955), satirising the early days of BBC Television. Then followed the comedy Abdulla the Great (Gregory Ratoff, 1955) with Sydney Chaplin, the second son of actor Charlie Chaplin, with whom she had an affair. Her first big-budget film was the historical epic The Adventures of Quentin Durward (Richard Thorpe, 1955) with Robert Taylor.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. D 330. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Organisation.


British postcard in the Film Star Autograph Portrait Series, no. 62 Photo: J. Arthur Rank Organisation.

An instinctive comedienne with a real clown sense

Kay Kendall began a romantic relationship with actor Rex Harrison after they appeared together in the comedy The Constant Husband (Sidney Gilliat, 1955). Harrison was married at the time.

According to legend, he learned of Kay's leukaemia from her doctor and divorced Lilli Palmer. He married Kay in 1957, agreeing with the doctor never to tell her the reason for her failing health.

Prolific in British films, Kendall achieved some popularity with American audiences and won a Golden Globe Award for her role as Lady Sybil Wren in the musical-comedy film Les Girls (George Cukor, 1957), the story of three showgirls in postwar Paris with Mitzi Gaynor and Taina Elg.

The following year, she and Harrison starred together in The Reluctant Debutante (Vincente Minnelli, 1958). They lived the good life up until the end. In 1959 Kay Kendall died of leukaemia, at the age of 32. Her last film, released posthumously, was the comedy Once More, with Feeling! (Stanley Donen, 1960), with Yul Brynner.

Wikipedia cites Stanley Donen: "She was completely unpredictable. She was an instinctive comedienne with a real clown sense. No one has had it since Carole Lombard – and Kay was a better actress." Kendall's gravesite is in the churchyard of St John-at-Hampstead Church. Kendall's life is recounted in the 2002 biography 'The Brief, Madcap Life of Kay Kendall' by Eve Golden and Kim Elizabeth Kendall.


Yugoslavian postcard by Sedma Sila. Photo: Morava Film, Beograd (Belgrade). 'Kay Kennedy' is a misspelling of Kay Kendall.


Vintage postcard, no. 14. Photo: M.G.M. Kay Kendall in Les Girls (George Cukor, 1957).

Sources: Dylan Cave (Screenonline), Find A Grave, Wikipedia and IMDb.