The Brief, Madcap Life of Kay Kendall

The Brief, Madcap Life of Kay Kendall

The Brief, Madcap Life of Kay Kendall

The Brief, Madcap Life of Kay Kendall

Paperback(updated edition)

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Overview

Comedic film actress Kay Kendall, born to a theatrical family in Northern England, came of age in London during the Blitz. After starring in Britain's biggest cinematic disaster, she found stardom in 1953 with her brilliant performance in the film Genevieve. She scored success after success with her light comic style in movies such as Doctor in the House, The Reluctant Debutante, and the Gene Kelly musical Les Girls. Kendall's private life was even more colorful than the plots of her films as she embarked on a series of affairs with costars, directors, producers, and married men. In 1954 she fell in love with her married Constant Husband costar Rex Harrison and accompanied him to New York, where he was starring on Broadway in My Fair Lady. It was there that Kendall was diagnosed with myelocytic leukemia. Her life took a romantic and tragic turn as Harrison divorced his wife and married Kendall. He agreed with their doctor that she was never to know of her diagnosis, and for the next two years the couple lived a hectic, glamorous life together as Kendall's health failed. She died in London at the age of 32 with her husband by her side shortly after completing the filming of Once More with Feeling!.

This book was written with the cooperation of Kendall's sister Kim and includes interviews with many of her costars, relatives, and friends. A complete filmography and rare photographs complete this first-ever biography of Britain's most glamorous comic star.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780813180731
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Publication date: 06/29/2021
Edition description: updated edition
Pages: 236
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Eve Golden is the author of numerous theater and film biographies, including Jayne Mansfield: The Girl Couldn't Help It, Anna Held and the Birth of Ziegfeld's Broadway, and John Gilbert: The Last of the Silent Film Stars.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Updated Edition x

Foreword to the Updated Edition Kim Kendall Campbell xii

Foreword xiii

How this Book Came to Be Maraday Wahlborg

Prologue 1

Chapter 1 "If anyone suggested anything, she was game for it." 5

Chapter 2 "Of course, there was nobody in London." 14

Chapter 3 "That's Kay Kendall and she's supposed to be in the chorus!" 18

Chapter 4 "We're going to take a chance with you." 28

Chapter 5 "You have no talent. Find some nice man and get married." 35

Chapter 6 "I need someone to look after me, wifey." 43

Chapter 7 "We made ourselves ill with laughter." 48

Chapter 8 "People think I'm the gayest thing on two legs, but I get awfully depressed at times." 53

Chapter 9 "Come on, come on, getcher autographs here!" 59

Chapter 10 "I have two hired Jailers looking for you at this very moment." 66

Chapter 11 "You stupid, long-nosed English actor!" 66

Chapter 12 "It's about the worst case I know." 80

Chapter 13 "I am not thinking of matrimony either with Mr. Harrison or anybody else." 86

Chapter 14 "My career is still important, but it's not that important." 95

Chapter 15 "I won't be any good at it! She needs a strong person." 105

Chapter 16 "It is Kay Kendall who shines brightest … a constant pleasure and surprise." 110

Chapter 17 "I just wanted that sense of being at home-my first real home. 118

Chapter 18 "They were just lost, they were so deeply in love with each other." 123

Chapter 19 "Diggy, I think I'm dying … and they won't tell me." 133

Chapter 20 "If you think I'm coming here to die, you're wrong!" 141

Chapter 21 "No one was ever born into the world with such a bright genius for living." 152

Filmography 159

Notes 169

Bibliography 183

Acknowledgments? 185

Index 187

Illustrations follow page 82

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