Kay Kendall began her film career in the musical film London Town, a financial failure.
16 Facts About Kay Kendall
2.
Kay Kendall began a romantic relationship with actor Rex Harrison after they appeared together in the comedy film The Constant Husband and they were married in 1957.
3.
Kay Kendall was born Justine Kay Kendall McCarthy, at Stanley House, Hull Road, in Withernsea, a coastal resort in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
4.
Kay Kendall co-starred with Petula Clark again in the drama film Dance Hall, and was featured in a quick succession of minor films before achieving fame in Genevieve.
5.
Kay Kendall followed this film with the even more popular first film in the Doctor series, the comedy Doctor in the House with her friend Dirk Bogarde.
6.
Kay Kendall was under contract to the Rank Organisation but unhappy with the parts offered, turning down Value for Money, As Long as They're Happy and Doctor at Sea.
7.
Kay Kendall appeared in the drama Simon and Laura with Peter Finch; the comedy Abdulla the Great with Sydney Chaplin and Gregory Ratoff; and the epic historical film The Adventures of Quentin Durward, with Robert Taylor and Robert Morley.
8.
In 1958, Kay Kendall won a Golden Globe Award for her performance as Lady Sybil Wren in Les Girls the story of three showgirls in postwar Paris.
9.
Kay Kendall was an instinctive comedienne with a real clown sense.
10.
Kay Kendall was a true comedienne, unafraid to compromise her ladylike appearance with pratfalls, pop eyes and comic drunk scenes.
11.
Kay Kendall could get away with such antics without looking vulgar.
12.
Early in her career, Kay Kendall had a lengthy romance with actor Sydney Chaplin, the second son of actor Charlie Chaplin by his second wife, actress Lita Grey.
13.
Kay Kendall had affairs with a Swedish prince and grocery heir James Sainsbury and reportedly had a romance with the future Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
14.
Kay Kendall never was told of her illness and believed she merely had an iron deficiency.
15.
Kay Kendall's gravesite is in the churchyard of St John-at-Hampstead Church.
16.
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.