Felicity Kendal

Born in Warwickshire in 1946, Felicity Kendal is a British theatre and television actress. Best known for starring in 1970s sitcom The Good Life, she made her musical theatre debut in 2021 in Anything Goes.

Growing up near Shakespeare’s home of Stratford-upon-Avon, Kendal’s childhood was influenced by the Bard from an early age. In fact, Kendal made her stage debut at just nine months old, brought on as a baby in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. As a child, she lived in India with her family due to her father’s career as a theatre tour manager. Clearly inspired by what she’d seen, a performing arts career was in the stars for Kendal.

Arguably, Kendal’s break came in the 1970s, cast as Barbara Good in The Good Life. Running for four series, Kendal became one of Britain’s leading actresses. Once The Good Life finished, Kendal’s West End career inevitably rose to prominence too, starring in Tom Stoppard plays including The Real Thing, Hapgood, Arcadia and Indian Ink.

Recent theatre credits include Lettice and Lovage at the Menier Chocolate Factory, alongside Maureen Lipman. London Theatre praised her work in Lettice and Lovage as “so consistently watchable." Kendal has also starred in Hay Fever at the Duke of York’s Theatre and Relatively Speaking at the Wyndham’s Theatre.

In 2021, Kendal made her musical theatre debut as Evangeline Harcourt in Anything Goes. She will now star in Noises Off at the Phoenix Theatre.