Kay Hammond
Quick Facts
Biography
Dorothy Katherine Standing, Lady Clements (18 February 1909 – 4 May 1980), better known under the stage name Kay Hammond, was an English stage and film actress.
Family
She was born in London, England as Dorothy Katherine Standing, the daughter of Sir Guy Standing and his wife, Dorothy Hammond (Dorothy Plaskitt). Her grandfather was Herbert Standing (1846–1923) and her uncles were Wyndham, Percy and Jack Standing, as well as Herbert Standing Jr., father of Joan Standing.
Career
She studied at RADA and first appeared on the London stage in 1927. Her most famous role was that of Elvira in Noël Coward's Blithe Spirit, which she played in the original stage production. She reprised her role in the 1945 film version opposite Rex Harrison, Margaret Rutherford and Constance Cummings.
She appeared as a guest of Roy Plomley on Desert Island Discs on 25 February 1951.
Personal life
Hammond's first husband was baronet Sir Ronald George Leon. Their sons were John Ronald Leon (the actor John Standing) and Timothy George Leon. Her second husband was the stage actor Sir John Clements.
Death
Kay Hammond died in Brighton, aged 71, from undisclosed causes, on 4 May 1980. She was cremated and her ashes scattered in the memorial garden at Downs Crematorium, Brighton, East Sussex
Selected filmography
- Children of Chance (1930)
- Fascination (1931)
- Almost a Divorce (1931)
- Night in Montmartre (1931)
- Carnival (1931)
- Out of the Blue (1931)
- A Night Like This (1932)
- Sally Bishop (1932)
- Money Means Nothing (1932)
- The Third String (1932)
- Nine till Six (1932)
- The Umbrella (1933)
- Yes, Madam (1933)
- Sleeping Car (1933)
- Bitter Sweet (1933)
- Britannia of Billingsgate (1933)
- Two on a Doorstep (1936)
- Jeannie (1941)
- Blithe Spirit (1945) as Elvira Condomine
- Call of the Blood (1949)
- Henry V (1953)
- Five Golden Hours (1961)