Kay Kendall

She was born Justine Kay Kendall McCarthy, at Stanley House, Hull Road, in Withernsea, a coastal resort in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Kendall's father was Terrence "Terry" McCarthy (a.k.a. Terry Kendall), the vaudevillian son of music hall star Marie Kendall. Kay's mother was the former Gladys Drewery.

She had two elder siblings, Terrence Justin "Terry" Kendall McCarthy (born 1923) and Patricia Kim "Pat" Kendall McCarthy (a.k.a. Kim Kendall, born 1925). By her father's second marriage to his professional dancing partner, Dora Spencer, she had a younger half-brother, Cavan Spencer Kendall McCarthy (a.k.a. Cavan Kendall) (1942-1999). Young Justine attended various schools, including St Leonard's (Brighton), St Margaret's (near Oban, Scotland), and the Lydia Kyasht Dancing Academy (London).

Her first major screen role was in the 1946 musical London Town, notable for being one of the costliest flops in British film history. She co-starred with Clark again in the drama film Dance Hall (1950), and was featured in a quick succession of minor films before achieving fame in Genevieve (1953).

She followed this up with the even more popular first film in the Doctor series, the comedy Doctor in the House (1954) with Dirk Bogarde. She was under contract to the Rank Organisation but unhappy with the parts offered, turning down Value For Money (1955), As Long As You're Happy (1955) and Doctor at Sea (1955).

She did appear in the drama Simon and Laura (1955) with Peter Finch; the comedy Abdulla the Great (1955) with Sydney Chaplin and Gregory Ratoff; and the epic historical film The Adventures of Quentin Durward (1955), with Robert Taylor and Robert Morley. In October and November 1957, she appeared in two episodes of the short-lived American television series The Polly Bergen Show. and also starred as herself in Series 3 episode 17 of The Phil Silvers Show on 17 January 1958.

In 1958 Kendall won a Golden Globe Award for her performance as Lady Sybil Wren in Les Girls – probably one of the best-known films of her career – the story of three showgirls in postwar Paris (with Mitzi Gaynor and Taina Elg). The following year she starred opposite Harrison in the comedy The Reluctant Debutante.

Kendall died in 1959, aged 32, soon after completing her last film, the comedy Once More, with Feeling! (1960), starring opposite Yul Brynner.

Critical assessment

"As they say about crime victims, Kay Kendall was in the wrong place at the wrong time", wrote Rhoda Koenig, a critic, in The Independent in 2006. "In her case, the crime was a waste of talent. One of the most delightful of British actresses [...] few of her films gave her a chance to shine. A natural screwball heroine, Kendall was born too late for the 1930s comedies in which she would have been the equal of the scatty but scintillating Carole Lombard or Claudette Colbert, and too soon for the naughtiness and absurdity of the 1960s .... Kendall was beautiful and funny. She was a true comedienne, unafraid to compromise her ladylike appearance with pratfalls, pop eyes and comic drunk scenes. Kendall could get away with such antics without looking vulgar.”

Early in her career, Kendall had a lengthy romance with actor Sydney Chaplin, the second son of actor Charlie Chaplin by his second wife, actress Lita Grey. She also had affairs with a Swedish prince and grocery heir James Sainsbury and reportedly had a romance with the future Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

In 1955 she starred opposite Harrison in The Constant Husband, and an affair soon followed. Harrison was married to actress Lilli Palmer at the time. However, when he learned from Kendall's doctor that she had been diagnosed with myeloid leukaemia, he and Palmer agreed to divorce so that he could marry Kendall and provide for her care. Kendall was never told of her illness and ended up believing she merely had an iron deficiency. As for the divorce, Palmer said she was not upset because she had a lover too. Palmer and Harrison planned to remarry after Kendall's death, but Palmer ended up falling in love with her companion, actor Carlos Thompson, and married him instead.

Kendall was buried in the churchyard of St John-at-Hampstead Church, Hampstead, London.

In September 2013 her final resting place was restored by the Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America.

Kendall's grave in October 2016

Legacy

Her life is explored in the biographical book The Brief, Madcap Life Of Kay Kendall (2002) by Eve Golden and Kim Elizabeth Kendall.

Withernsea Lighthouse is situated a stone's throw from where Kendall once lived. No longer in use as a lighthouse, it has been turned into a museum and has many items associated with her life and times.

The Kay Kendall Leukaemia Fund supports scientific research into leukaemia.

On 6 September 2014, a blue plaque commemorating Kay Kendall was erected by the Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America and unveiled at her former home in Withernsea to mark the 55th anniversary of her death.