She Was A Rising Star—With A Secret Diagnosis
Kay Kendall was the 1950s British starlet who made a big splash in Hollywood with Les Girls. Little did she know that her husband, Rex Harrison, was keeping a terrible secret from her—one that would cost her career. And her life.
1. She Was Born To A British Vaudevillian
Justine Kay Kendall McCarthy got her start far from Hollywood in the stately Stanley House in Withernsea, England. Born in May of 1927 in the restive coastal resort town, her father was Terrence “Terry” McCarthy, but his vaudeville audiences knew him better as “Terry Kendall”.
Show business was the family business.
2. She Had Big Shoes To Fill
Kendall’s father, Terry, wasn’t the only member of her family with a name in show business. In fact, he wasn’t even the most famous one. Kendall’s paternal grandmother, Marie Kendall, was the legendary music hall “comedian and actress”. With 50 years of stage experience, Marie gave her granddaughter a legacy to live up to.
3. She Couldn’t Keep Still
Growing up, despite her family’s strong show business background, Kendall’s childhood was filled with instability. For unknown reasons, she bounced around from school to school, variously attending St Leonard’s in Brighton, St Margaret’s outside of Oban, Scotland, and, finally, Lydia Kyasht Dancing Academy in London.
That appears to be where her talents finally came through.
4. She Was Mature For Her Age
By the time she was 12 years old, Kendall was already mature for her age. According to the best sources, she “looked far older” than her pre-teen years and had plenty of “slap and attitude”. All of that translated to her very first job as a chorus girl and a prestigious place as a student at the Rank Charm School where she was primed for superstardom.
Her bright future seemed inevitable.
5. She Landed Her First Starring Role
By the time she was 19, under the tutelage of the Rank Organisation, Kendall had featured in multiple bit parts in British films. But she was no shrinking wallflower or irrelevant extra. Kendall had distinguished herself and the Rank Organisation thought it was time to give the budding starlet her first starring role.
Things didn’t exactly go according to plan.
6. Her Career Depended On One Role
The Rank Organisation decided to cast Kendall for a starring role in the highly-anticipated, Wesley Ruggles directed film London Town (alternatively, My Heart Goes Crazy). If the film was successful, then Rank agreed to sign Kendall for a “five-year, non-exclusive” contract that would have propelled her to heights of British cinema.
But that didn’t happen.
7. She Was Almost Cast In Blue Lagoon
Rumor has it that the executives at the Rank Organisation weren’t the only ones betting big on Kendall’s London Town debut. Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder, the producers of the iconic 1949 film Blue Lagoon, were allegedly ready to offer Kendall the lead role—if London Town proved successful.
That turned out to be a big “if”.
8. Her Film’s Budget Was Too Big
When London Town hit theaters, Kendall was overjoyed to see her name given prominent billing. But that excitement quickly faded into horror. The film’s astronomical production budget made it virtually impossible, short of a miracle, for it to just break even. Breaking even, however, would have been a better outcome than what happened.
9. She Was Too “Tacky”
Far from launching Kendall into stardom, London Town sank her career like the Titanic hitting an iceberg. Critics variously described the film as “tacky” and “tasteless” while 1946 audiences reacted to it with little more than a shrug. All of that translated to a historically ignominious film debut for Kendall.
10. Her Big Debut Flopped—Hard
London Town didn’t make Kendall famous—it made her infamous. In the most embarrassing way imaginable. After the curtains closed on London Town, not only had the film failed to earn back its money, it lost a fortune and since gone down as “one of the most notorious flops in the history of the British cinema”.
Kendall took the film’s failure particularly hard.
11. She Barely Showed Her Face In Public
In anticipation of London Town’s release, Kendall had gotten the star treatment. But, after the film hit theaters, she could barely show her face in public. As she later recalled, there were “no more bazaars to open, no more premieres, no more autographs”. She was just about ready to forget about film altogether.
12. She Left Show Business
Despite her undeniable on-screen charisma, Kendall had never been a talented dancer, far less a great singer. So, after the embarrassment of London Town, Kendall swore off of show business altogether. She wouldn’t return to the big screen for another four years. And even then, she would have a lot to prove and a long way back to the top.
13. She Had To Claw Her Way Back
When Kendall returned to show business, she didn’t exactly get the red carpet treatment. With the stain of London Town still on her filmography, she had to take whatever roles she could get. Sadly, that included smaller appearances in regrettable little numbers such Happy Go Lovely and Lady Godiva Rides Again.
14. She Might Have Gotten A New Nose
Slowly but surely, Kendall began making her way back to the top of the British film industry. But people wondered if there wasn’t something a little different about her—like a new “bobbed nose”, perhaps? Whatever the reason for new appearance, she took on multiple roles as the beautiful “arm-piece” of leading males.
And not just on-screen.
15. She Had A Long List Of Lovers
Kendall cleverly kept her name in the tabloids and on the tip of every gossip monger’s tongue by stringing together a list of “high-profile” romantic dalliances. While it was undeniably her talent that kept her steadily employed in smaller, safer roles, it was equally undeniably her penchant for dating famous men that kept the interest in her alive.
16. She Found Herself A “Chap”-lin
Sometime early in her career, Kendall was in a relationship with Hollywood royalty—or, at least, the child of Hollywood royalty. For years, Kendall was dating the actor Sydney Chaplin, the son of none other than the legendary Charlie Chaplin and Lita Grey, his second wife. The details of their romance are scarce. Suffice to say, Kendall was ready to upgrade to real royalty.
17. She Dated Real Royalty
Kendall’s first confirmed boyfriend, Sydney Chaplin, was indeed Hollywood royalty. Kendall, however, wanted the real thing. Allegedly, Kendall had numerous romantic encounters with an unnamed Swedish prince. But, why should she settle for a prince when she could have a would-be king?
18. She Pined Over Prince Philip
Renowned as much for her comedic chops as for her beauty, rumors swirled about Kendall’s list of lovers throughout her career. One name on that list, however, was particularly scandalous. Various reports linked Kendall romantically to none other than Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh! Thankfully, he was not yet married at the time—or so the rumors say.
But Kendall didn’t only sleep with royalty.
19. She Found Herself A Common Butcher
If the rumors were true, Kendall could have bagged any prince from England to Russia and back again. But she also had a thing for the common man—or, something approaching the common man. Kendall famously had an affair with James Sainbury, heir to the grocery fortune. Allegedly, she affectionately called Sainsbury her “little butcher boy”.
20. She Started Again—In Paradise
Kendall’s romantic life wasn’t the only thing heating up. After paying her dues, Kendall’s acting career was also getting back on track. She had a prominent role in the 1952 British drama It Started in Paradise. Even though her name didn’t appear on the marquee, her standout performance landed her a contract with the Rank Organisation.
It also landed her the opportunity of a lifetime.
21. She Showed Off What She Could Do
Kendall’s appearance in It Started in Paradise saw her land her first marquee role since the disaster of London Town. She starred alongside Dinah Sheridan and John Gregson in the 1953 Henry Cornelius-directed British comedy Genevieve. Kendall’s role permitted her to show off her unique talents, blending funny and flirty into an irresistible combination.
But it was a risky role.
22. She Was “Unsavory”
Kendall’s unique ability to blend comedy and coquettishness placed her in the rare company of film pioneers such as Claudette Colbert. But not everyone loved her risqué sense of humor. In reviewing Genevieve, the Catholic Times used words like “unsavory” and “smut” to describe Kendall’s performance.
Thankfully, audiences ignored the negative reviews.
23. She Was A Unique Comedic Talent
Genevieve was a hit with audiences and reignited Kendall’s career. Audiences couldn’t get enough of her self-deprecating sense of humor as she often threw aside “ladylike” behavior for pratfalls and physical comedy. Her knack for contorting her beautiful face with “pop eyes” and other strange expressions endeared to British audiences.
She could do what no other actress could.
24. She Pioneered The “Elegant Eccentric”
Despite her comedy seeming more “low brow”, Kendall was never vulgar on screen. In film after film she portrayed the role of an “elegant eccentric”. With an upturned nose, she used her voice to devastating effect, vacillating between a seductive purr and a “swooping” punchline. Her charms might have worked too well on some, though.
25. She Had To Wear A Safety Whistle
Kendall owed much of her renewed success to Genevieve director Henry Cornelius. But she wasn’t exactly his biggest fan. Allegedly, Cornelius was so predatory on the set of Kendall’s comeback film that she had to wear a whistle around her neck in the off chance that she was ever alone with him.
Good men were hard to come by—and so were good roles.
26. She Was Stuck With The Rank Organisation
Despite Kendall’s breakout success with Genevieve, she still wasn’t able to make it out of the British film industry into Hollywood. As she was still under contract with the Rank Organisation, she was stuck making whichever B-films the studio decided to crank out. They weren’t exactly putting her in the best light.
27. She Looked Like A Drag Queen
Kendall followed up Genevieve with another role in a “ponderous” drama called The Square Ring. While she wasn’t able to show off her comedic chops, the real problem wasn’t with the script—it was with the wardrobe. Kendall complained that costuming put her in a wig that “made her look like Danny Kaye in drag”.
Thankfully, better roles were just around the corner.
28. She Saw The Doctor
Kendall’s wig in The Square Ring didn’t weigh down her career. Following the awkward drama, she managed to find herself back in a comedy. This time, she had a marquee role in 1954’s Doctor in the House, just one installment in a successful comedy series. Still, she was under the thumb of the Rank Organisation.
29. She Turned Down Tons Of Roles
With her career finally back on track, Kendall was more cautious about the roles that accepted. Even though she was under contract to the Rank Organisation, she regularly refused roles that she believed had the potential to set her back again. But, if she had the right castmate, she would take the role.
30. She Found A Not-So Constant Husband
In 1955, Kendall landed another marquee role in a hit film, The Constant Husband. But she wasn’t really focusing on her lines—and the film’s title was almost too ironic to be true. Behind the scenes, Kendall had struck up an affair with her hunky co-star, Rex Harrison. There was just one problem.
31. She Was The Other Woman
In 1955, Kendall was still one of film’s most eligible bachelorettes. But her new beau, Harrison, was no bachelor. Even as their affair heated up, Harrison remained married to the actress Lilli Palmer. The curious love triangle would prove to be fateful for Kendall.
32. She Made Her Hollywood Debut
Kendall followed up her appearance in The Constant Husband with her Hollywood debut. Starring alongside the likes of Gene Kelly and Mitzi Gaynor, Kendall had a lead role in George Cukor’s 1957 musical comedy Les Girls. The big budget flick played right into Kendall’s strengths. It was a Hollywood debut unlike any other.
33. Her Film Flopped—But She Flourished
Cukor’s Les Girls was only the second big-budget film that Kendall starred in. And, sadly, her losing streak with big-budget productions kept going. Despite being a hit with audiences and critics alike, Les Girls failed to break even at the box office. But that didn’t stop anyone from singing Kendall’s praises.
34. She Delivered An Unforgettable Performance
British audiences had already fallen in love with Kendall’s unique “funny and flirty” schtick. But, when American audiences finally saw her on the big screen for the first time, they were absolutely dazzled. Even alongside the likes of Gene Kelly, Kendall’s rib-busting performance of “Habanera” was all audiences could talk about.
There was gold in her future.
35. She Snagged A Golden Globe
Even if Les Girls failed to break even at the box office, it was a massive success—especially for Kendall. In large part due to her comedic rendition of “Habanera”, Kendall snagged the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy in 1958. Funny enough, she was almost never in the film at all!
36. She Almost Turned Down Her Biggest Role
Before production of Les Girls began, Kendall got cold feet. For unknown reasons, Kendall had originally signalled that she didn’t want to appear in Les Girls. The film’s producers even began testing other actresses for her role. In the end, of course, Kendall took the role but it was clear that her focus was elsewhere.
37. She Wanted To Be Mrs Rex Harrison
Around the time of Les Girls, Kendall appears to have shifted her focus from the big screen to her big beau, Rex Harrison. After years of carrying on their affair, Harrison had all but left his wife for Kendall. However, she wanted to make it official.
38. Her Affair Was Public Knowledge
For all intents and purposes, Kendall and Harrison were more of a married couple than Harrison and his actual wife, Palmer. But Kendall didn’t want to play second fiddle to anyone—she wanted top billing as Harrison’s wife. Suffice to say, she made quite the public spectacle of her dissatisfaction.
39. She Smashed Plates
By the late 1950s, Kendall’s and Harrison’s affair was an open secret. Mostly because of Kendall’s rather public displays. Allegedly, whenever the topic of marriage came up, Kendall would become irate, smashing plates—even in public. But the couple’s love was so intense that they followed up these episodes with “torrid” make ups.
A bit of terrible news, however, would force the couple’s hand.
40. Her Doctor Asked For An Appointment
Kendall’s affair with Harrison might have fizzled out as quickly as it flamed up had it not been for a fateful doctor’s appointment. In early 1957, Kendall’s doctor called Harrison and asked for him to come in for a serious conversation. The unusual request led to one of Hollywood’s most dramatic—and unexpected—plot twists.
41. She Didn’t Know It
Kendall had long suffered from what she believed to be anemia. However, after one of her regular blood tests, her doctor found something that was most irregular: leukemia. When her doctor called Harrison into his office, that was the news that he gave him: Kendall had leukemia—and not long to live.
42. She Might Not Have Cared For Family
Harrison was stunned at the news of Kendall’s leukemia—and even more stunned that the doctor chose to tell him first. “Does she have a family?” the doctor asked. Still in a daze, Harrison replied that Kendall only had a sister, Kim, but no family that she “cared about”. Years later, when Kim learned about this response, she held it against Harrison forever.
What he did next, however, was even more unforgivable.
43. Her Lover Kept A Secret
Believing Harrison’s answer that Kendall didn’t have any family that she cared about, the doctor gave Harrison some curious advice. He instructed Harrison that he was now responsible for Kendall’s care, and, above all, that he was not to tell Kendall of her diagnosis. He never would—at least, not directly.
44. Her Lover Turned Her Tragedy Into A Musical
Inexplicably, Harrison agreed with the doctor to keep her terminal leukemia diagnosis from her. However, that didn’t stop Harrison from telling the rest of the world. Years later, Harrison gave the story of Terence Rattigan who turned the medical scandal into a play, In Praise of Love. Worse yet, Harrison starred in the play.
No matter how close to Kendall he became, he never told her her own secret.
45. She Starred Alongside Her Husband
Shortly after learning the news, Harrison divorced Palmer and married Kendall. But, lurking under his wedding vows was the one big lie he wouldn’t tell Kendall. Even when the newlywed couple starred together in 1958’s The Reluctant Debutante, Harrison still kept Kendall’s diagnosis secret from her.
He seemed almost gleeful to watch her suffer.
46. Her Condition Worsened—And The Lies Deepened
As Kendall’s leukemia progressed (rapidly), she began experiencing even more dizzy spells. Harrison, channeling all of his acting prowess into deceiving his wife, continued to tell her that it was all the result of her anemia. Even as she underwent blood transfusions, Harrison kept the lie to himself. Or, at least, mostly to himself.
47. Her Best Friend Also Kept A Secret
As inexplicable and inexcusable as his actions were, Harrison did love Kendall. And her secret diagnosis was eating away at him as much as it was eating away at her. To help calm his nerves, he confided in Dirk Bogarde, Kendall’s best friend. Bogarde and Kendall had met on the set of one of her first successful films in 1954 and had been close ever since.
Bogarde, however, knew something that even Harrison didn’t.
48. She Knew All Along
As Bogarde turned the shocking news that Harrison had just delivered to him—that his close friend Kendall was dying—in his head, he began to make a stunning realization. She'd always put a brave face on her illness, and never seemed to believe it were dire...but Bogarde also knew what a good actress Kendall was.
Bogarde soon became convinced that Harrison wasn’t the only one keeping a secret. He believed—with almost near certainty—that Kendall was well aware of her true medical condition. He thought that maybe she was in denial because she was unable to face the truth. Or, perhaps, in a Romeo & Juliet style twist, Kendall was keeping her knowledge of her diagnosis secret from Harrison to “spare” his feelings, as she believed he was trying to spare hers. It would almost be romantic, if not for all the lies and deceit.
Sadly, neither of them could spare Kendall from her terminal illness.
49. She Did It Once More, With Feeling!
In late 1959, at just 32 years of age, Kendall drew her final breath. Shortly after her passing, her final film, Once More, with Feeling!, hit theaters and she dazzled audiences for the last time from beyond the grave. Sadly, her fans were left wondering what might have been.
50. Her Legacy—And Love—Live On
Kendall’s star was just rising again before her terminal illness snuffed out her light once and for all. However, her legacy as the “elegant eccentric” lives on in cinema. Her final resting place is the churchyard at St John-at-Hampstead Church where her tombstone reads “KATE / Deeply loved wife of / REX”.
You May Also Like: