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Actress Felicity Kendal
Felicity Kendal is best known to the nation as playing Barbara Good in the hugely popular sitcom The Good Life, in which she plays the supportive wife to Tom, standing by his decision to quit work and become self-sufficient.
Felicity Ann Kendal was born in Warwickshire in 1946, before moving to India with her family where her parents ran a touring company that performed Shakespeare plays. At the age of twelve Felicity gave up on her education and became a full time member of the company, playing the role of Puck in a production of A Midsummer’s Night Dream.
It was her role in the film Shakespeare Wallah however that gave Felicity her big break, which is loosely based on her family’s story. Felicity later returned to England with the dream of attending drama school but found the industry hard to break into. After a number of stage appearances and TV roles, including The Mayfly and the Frog with John Gielgud, Felicity’s big break came in 1975 in the BBC sitcom The Good Life.
After seeing Felicity Kendal in a theatre production, Richard Briers took her The Good Life scripts to read. The combined desire to work with Briers and the brilliant writing left Felicity with little doubt over her acceptance to take the role of Barbara Good. The show was a massive success for the BBC and ran for three years, resulting in Felicity becoming a household name.
Felicity went on to star in a number of other BBC sitcoms including Solo, The Mistress and Honey for Tea. She also enjoyed a prestigious stage career during this time, appearing in many of Tom Stoppard’s plays.
Felicity has an extensive credit list to her name including Indian Ink, Humble Boy, The Camomile Lawn, Rosemary & Thyme, Doctor Who and also stared in the 2010 series of Strictly Come Dancing.
Credits
- Interviewed Guest
- Felicity Kendal
- Presenter
- Mark Lawson
- Director
- Anya Saunders
- Director
- Nicola Seare
- Producer
- Anya Saunders
- Producer
- Nicola Seare
- Executive Producer
- Eamon Hardy
