Category: Felicity Kendal

  • Felicity Kendal discusses loss and the need for emotional expression

    Felicity Kendal discusses loss and the need for emotional expression

    Felicity Kendal has spoken about how she is coping with the death of her husband Michael Rudman more than a year after it was a revealed he had passed away.

    Michael, who won a prestigious best revival Tony award for his Broadway production of Death of a Salesman, died in April 2023 aged 84.

    Speaking candidly about how she is coping, Felicity, 77, told the The Times that it has been ‘f***ing shit’ losing her partner of 50 years.

    During the conversation, Felicity spoke honestly about her experience with death and claimed that there is ‘too much of a stiff upper lip’ surrounding death. 

     Felicity said: ‘People say, are you OK? Of course I’m not. He just f***ing died on me. Some days I am very good. Sometimes not so good. Mostly, I am getting through. Stupid things set me off. It’s very strange. You can’t tell ahead what it’s going to be…’

    Felicity Kendal discusses loss and the need for emotional expression

    Felicity Kendal has spoken about how she is coping with the death of her husband Michael Rudman more than a year after it was a revealed he had passed away (pictured 2023)

    Michael, who won a prestigious best revival Tony award for his Broadway production of Death of a Salesman, died in April 2023 aged 84 (pictured together in 2008)

    Michael, who won a prestigious best revival Tony award for his Broadway production of Death of a Salesman, died in April 2023 aged 84 (pictured together in 2008)

    The Good Life star gave examples including realising she only needs six eggs rather than a dozen, reading poetry and shouting out ‘I love you’ to an empty house, as when she misses Michael the most.

    She said: ‘If anything, I suppose I would like to say that it is good to talk about these things. There’s a lot of stiff upper lip with death. People avoid it or say things like, ‘I’m sorry you lost your husband. 

    ‘I actually hate that. It’s as if you have lost the cat. I haven’t lost Michael; he is dead. We are all at one point or another going to have to deal with similar things, so let’s be open about it.’

    The theatre director met Felicity in 1974 while he was married to Veronica Bennett. 

    The couple later married in 1983 after the actress divorced her first husband of 11 years, actor Drewe Henley. 

    The American star described the secretive romance in his book, I Joke Too Much.

    Recounting the first time he saw Felicity he wrote: ‘I can’t say I fell in love with her that day, but I certainly felt differently about her than I did about her co-stars Tom Courtenay and Michael Gambon.

    ‘I had been directing actors since the early Sixties at the National Theatre, in the West End and on Broadway, among other places.

    Speaking candidly about how she is coping, Felicity, 77, told the The Times that it has been 'f***ing shit' losing her partner of 50 years (pictured together in 2010)

    Speaking candidly about how she is coping, Felicity, 77, told the The Times that it has been ‘f***ing shit’ losing her partner of 50 years (pictured together in 2010) 

    ‘Soon afterwards I offered Felicity a role in a play I was directing in the West End.

    ‘The production went well and when, some time later, we began dating we decided to keep our relationship a secret.

    ‘This was quite difficult: I was now directing her in a play at the National Theatre, we both had children and my daughters, Amanda and Katy, spent every weekend with me. Still, I swore the girls to secrecy.’

    The couple were married for seven years but divorced in 1991 when Felicity sensationally left him to begin a relationship with playwright Sir Tom Stoppard, who also left his wife Miriam.

    Despite their divorce, Felicity and Michael rekindled their relationship in 1998 and remained together, despite not remarrying. They have one son together called Jacob.

    Speaking of her love life in 2019, she said: ‘I didn’t ever have affairs. I just went from one person to another, maybe overlapping a little bit.

    During the conversation, Felicity spoke honestly about her experience with death and claimed that there is 'too much of a stiff upper lip' surrounding death (pictured July 2024)

    During the conversation, Felicity spoke honestly about her experience with death and claimed that there is ‘too much of a stiff upper lip’ surrounding death (pictured July 2024)

    ‘I wouldn’t recommend infidelity to anybody, ever, it’s basically lying – and lying is never a good idea. But we all lie and most of us, at some point… are unfaithful to a partner.’

    Two years before his death, Michael had fought for his life after contracting Covid in 2021. 

    He was treated for two weeks in intensive care, in what Felicity described as a ‘scary time’.

    Speaking of the ordeal, she said: ‘I think I can speak for a lot of people about the fear being huge, and the frustration being a real hardship.

    ‘That feeling that you don’t know what state your loved one is in, and knowing you still can’t go and see them – it’s not like anything you’ve experienced before. It was just such a scary time. Michael is in his eighties.’ 

  • Felicity Kendal, 77, Stuns in White Linen Outfit at Wimbledon

    Felicity Kendal, 77, Stuns in White Linen Outfit at Wimbledon

    Felicity Kendal showed off her fresh-faced complexion as she arrived at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club for day 12 of Wimbledon on Friday.

    The 77-year-old actress cut a chic figure in a white linen waistcoat and flared trousers as she joined a slew of stars in SW19 for the men’s semi-finals.

    She teamed the matching co-ord with a navy blue pinstripe blazer and added inches to her frame with a pair of grey suede court heels. 

    Felicity further elevated the look with a layer of silver necklaces and sported a pair of ombre aviator shades. 

    She opted for a fresh-faced look for the outing and styled her locks in a voluminous blowout. 

    Felicity Kendal, 77, Stuns in White Linen Outfit at Wimbledon

    Felicity Kendal showed off her fresh-faced complexion as she arrived at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club for day 12 of Wimbledon on Friday 

    The 77-year-old actress looked incredible as she sat court-side of Centre Court cheering on the competitors alongside her son Jacob Rudman, 37

    The 77-year-old actress looked incredible as she sat court-side of Centre Court cheering on the competitors alongside her son Jacob Rudman, 37

    Felicity seemed in high spirits as she sat court-side of Centre Court cheering on the competitors alongside her son Jacob Rudman, 37.

    She also sat amongst several celebrities and royalty including Rami Malek, 43, Stanley Tucci, 63, Debbie Jevans, 64, and Prince Michael of Kent, 82.

    Felicity’s appearance comes after she said she cares more about looking ‘presentable’ than appearing younger than her years in a piece for The Times. 

    The actress previously made headlines in 2021 with her noticeably smooth visage, having shared her affiliation with filler and other anti-ageing techniques.

    Reflecting on her appearance, Felicity said: ‘Do I care about what I look like at 76? Not really. I like to look presentable, as my mother used to say, but that’s good manners, not vanity.’

    ‘I have talked about using Botox in the past and it seemed to cause such a fuss — as if it’s some shocking modern phenomenon. Humans have been preening themselves for thousands of years: tattoos, corsets, the dandies with their powdered wigs.’

    ‘People tell me I was a sex symbol in the Seventies but I never considered myself “beautiful”, I wasn’t in the same league as Julie Christie or Catherine Deneuve – don’t get me wrong, I’m perfectly happy with what I’ve got, but I didn’t get the job in because I had a face and body that electrified the screen.’

    Felicity added she feels modern times are ‘quite tame’ when it comes to women’s looks, adding that in the 1970s they were ‘not afraid’ of dressing up.

    She teamed the matching co-ord with a navy blue pinstripe blazer and added inches to her frame with a pair of grey suede court heels

    She teamed the matching co-ord with a navy blue pinstripe blazer and added inches to her frame with a pair of grey suede court heels

    She also sat amongst several celebrities and royalty including Rami Malek, 43, Stanley Tucci, 63, Debbie Jevans, 64, and Prince Michael of Kent, 82

    She also sat amongst several celebrities and royalty including Rami Malek, 43, Stanley Tucci, 63, Debbie Jevans, 64, and Prince Michael of Kent, 82

    Felicity's appearance comes after she said she cares more about looking 'presentable' than appearing younger than her years in a piece for The Times

    Felicity’s appearance comes after she said she cares more about looking ‘presentable’ than appearing younger than her years in a piece for The Times

    In 2021, Felicity caught fans’ attention during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, showcasing her youthful visage while discussing her latest big stage role in Anything Goes.

    The Good Life star previously revealed she is a fan of Botox, telling the Sunday Times magazine: ‘I do it every six months, then you don’t get the terrible little frown line.’ 

    However, the grandmother-of-two has since revealed she has given up Botox and instead relies on yoga, pilates and weightlifting to stay youthful.

    She told Good Housekeeping magazine: ‘There comes a point where you have to match bits of you with the other bits.’

    While she’s never had a face-lift, the actress has had fillers around her mouth. 

    Felicity explained: ‘Then there was a time when you’d think, I’m over 60, I can’t possibly wear a short skirt again because of my crinkly knees.’

    ‘Then you come out the other end and say, f*** it, I’ve got good legs, I’m going to put on tights and a short skirt.’