| 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 low-budget 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 minor royalty, 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, shortly after completing the filming of
Once More
with Feeling!, her husband by her side. The Brief, Madcap
Life of Kay
Kendall 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 numerous rare photographs complete this first-ever
biography of
Britain’s most glamorous comic star.
Eve Golden is the author of several biographies of
actresses, Anna Held
and the Birth of Ziegfeld's Broadway, as well as a collection of essays
on
silent film stars.
|
Reviews:“Belongs in a
bygone age of romantic movies filled with dashing heroes and honorable
secrets.”—Wisconsin State Journal
“Considered to be a real life ‘Holly
Golightly’ by the British. A beautiful comedian everyone thought to be mad
as a
‘hatter.’ The book will tell you all about the woman and how she lived up to
her
reputation.”—Rainbo Electronic Reviews
“She was quite magic. Everywhere you went, people used to stop and stare
. . . she radiated.”—Roddy McDowell
“Kendall has a presence that went far beyond her limited screen
oeuvre.”—Washington Post
“Kendall’s life is filled with a sense of fun and mischief.”—Movie Review
Index
“The first biography of this beautiful, ambitious woman. Golden's writing
style is concise and evenly paced, and she uses firsthand information from
the actress’s family and friends. Although American audiences may not be
familiar with Kendall, this is an enjoyable read.”—Library Journal
Recommended in Vanity Fair’s Hot Type section of the August 2002
issue
“Golden grapples nobly with this captivating sprite and the difficulty of how
to assess Kendall’s potential greatness alongside her undeniably zestful
spirit.”—Sunday Times-London
“She was very easy, full of fun, beautifully inconsequential, flirtatious,
impertinent, and rakish.”—Rex Harrison
“She was a wonderful, instinctive
clown, probably the most
wonderful that we’ve ever had.”—Dirk Bogarde
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