Henry Kendall AFC, (28 May 1897 – 9 June 1962) was an English stage and film actor, theatre director and revue artiste.

His early theatrical career was curtailed by the First World War, in which he served with distinction. Resuming his stage career in 1919 he appeared mostly in the West End, with one excursion to Broadway and occasional tours of the British provinces, particularly during the Second World War. He was dismissive of his career as a screen actor, but made more than 40 films for the cinema. As a theatre director he was responsible for more than 20 productions, in a minority of which he also starred.

In his later years he had heart problems, which forced his temporary withdrawal from the theatre in 1957. He died of a heart attack in the south of France in 1962, at the age of 65. He was unmarried.

Early life Kendall was born in London in 1897, the son of William Kendall and his wife Rebecca, née Nathan. He was educated at the City of London School. He began his stage career "walking on" (as a non-speaking extra) in Tommy Atkins at the Lyceum Theatre in 1914. From then until he joined the armed forces during the First World War he was first a chorus member in Business as Usual at the Hippodrome Theatre (1914), then a supporting player in Watch Your Step (Empire Theatre, 1915); and for nine months a member of the Old Vic company, playing juvenile parts in Shakespeare repertory, including Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing, Florizel in The Winter's Tale, and Sebastian in Twelfth Night (1915–1916).Parker, Gaye and Herbert, pp. 1351–1353

From 1916–1919 Kendall served as a captain in the Royal Flying Corps (latterly the Royal Air Force), winning the Air Force Cross.

Stage career from 1919

1919 to 1930 In the post-war decade Kendall played more than 30 roles in the West End and on Broadway:

PlayRoleTheatreYear Cyrano de Bergerac Second Marquis Garrick 1919 Cyrano de Bergerac Christian Drury Lane 1919 Mumsie Guy Little 1920 French Leave Lt George Graham Globe 1920 Where the Rainbow Ends Saint George Apollo 1920 Polly With a Past Harry Richardson St James's 1921 The Circle Edward Luton Haymarket 1921 Threads James St James's 1921 The Hotel Mouse Barry Scarlett Queen's 1921 Two Jacks and a Jill Tom Godling Royalty 1921 The Curate's Egg Various roles Ambassadors 1922 Arms and the Man Bluntschli Everyman 1922 East of Suez Harold Knox His Majesty's 1922 Marriage by Instalments John Wiltshire Ambassadors 1923 Stop Flirting Geoffrey Dangerfield Shaftesbury 1923 Havoc Dick Chappell Regent 1923 Havoc Dick Chappell Haymarket 1924 Bachelor Husbands Billy Reynolds Royalty 1924 As You Like It Orlando Regent 1924 Charlot's Revue Various Prince of Wales 1924 Tunnel Trench Lt St Aubyn Prince's 1925 The Czarina Count Alexei Czerny Q 1925 On 'Change Dr Tom Pearson Savoy 1925 Naughty Cinderella Gerald Gray Lyceum, New York 1925 This Woman Business Honey Ritz, New York 1926 The Silent House Capt Philip Barty Comedy 1927 The Road to Rome Mago Strand 1928 A Damsel in Distress Reggie Higgins New 1928 Wrongs and Rights Hugh Rawson Strand 1928 Baa, Baa, Black Sheep Hugo Bonsor New 1929 The Flying Fool Vincent Floyd Prince's 1929 He's Mine Maxime de Bellencontre Lyric 1929 The Ghost Train Teddy Deakin Comedy 1929

1930 to 1945 In the 1930s and during the Second World War Kendall continued to appear mainly in the West End, but toured in three productions: PlayRoleTheatreYear Odd Numbers John Strange Comedy 1930 Charlot's Masquerade revue – various Cambridge 1930 A Murder Has Been Arranged Maurice Mullins Strand and St James's 1930 Cut for Partners Hugo tour 1934 Someone at the Door Ronnie Martin Aldwych and New 1935 The World Waits Kenneth Brice Aldwych 1935 Bats in the Belfry Edward Morton Ambassadors 1937 This Money Business Gerald Esmond Ambassadors 1938 Room for Two Hubert Crone Comedy 1938 Punch Without Judy Micky Saunders Q 1939 House Party Michael Drumley Q 1940 Nap Hand Johnny Potter tour 1940 High Temperature Tony Hamilton Q and Duke of York's 1940 High Temperature Tony Hamilton tour 1941 Rise Above It revue – various Comedy 1941 Scoop revue – various Vaudeville Theatre 1942 A Little Bit of Fluff John Ayers Ambassadors 1943 The Fur Coat Dominic Mallory Comedy 1943 Sweet and Low revue – various Ambassadors 1944 Sweeter and Lower revue – various Ambassadors 1944

1945 to 1961

PlayRoleTheatreYear Sweetest and Lowest revue Ambassadors 1946 À la Carte revue Savoy Theatre 1948 On Monday Next... Harry Blacker Embassy and Comedy 1949; For Love or Money Lovewell Ambassadors 1950 The Dish Ran Away Peter Perry Vaudeville 1950 Caprice revue – various touring 1950 The Happy Family Henry Lord Duchess 1951 Angels in Love Pomeroy-Jones Savoy 1954 Portrait of a Woman Montague Cloud Q 1954 Beat the Panel Oliver Charrington Royal, Nottingham,and Embassy, London 1955 The Call of the Dodo Julian Lassiter Royal, Nottingham 1955 Where the Rainbow Ends Joseph Flint New Victoria 1958 Let Them Eat Cake Lord Whitehall Cambridge Theatre 1959 Aunt Edwina title role Fortune Theatre 1959 Pools Paradise Bishop of Lax Phoenix and on tour 1961

Film career Kendall dismissed his own films, several of which were quota quickies, with the remark that he "commenced film career 1931, and has appeared in innumerable pictures". He played the leading role of Reggie Ogden in the film The Shadow in 1933, and also starred in Alfred Hitchcock's "bravest failure", Rich and Strange, originally released in the United States as East of Shanghai, (1931).Halliwell's Film Guide Kendall's films included:Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies, Fourth Edition, ed John Walker, HarperCollins (2006)

Mr. Pim Passes By (1921) Tilly of Bloomsbury (1921) French Leave (1930) The Flying Fool (1931) Rich and Strange (1931) Mr. Bill the Conqueror (1932) The Innocents of Chicago (1932) The Iron Stair (1933) The Man Outside (1933) The Ghost Camera (1933) The Stickpin (1933) Great Stuff (1933) The Shadow (1933) Counsel's Opinion (1933) King of the Ritz (1933) Timbuctoo (1933) This Week of Grace (1933) The Flaw (1933) The Girl in Possession (1934) Leave It to Blanche (1934) The Man I Want (1934) Crazy People (1934)

Death at Broadcasting House (1934) Without You (1934) Death on the Set (1935) Lend Me Your Wife (1935) Three Witnesses (1935) The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss (1936) A Wife or Two (1936) Twelve Good Men (1936) School for Husbands (1937) Take a Chance (1937) Side Street Angel (1937) The Compulsory Wife (1937) Ship's Concert (1937) It's Not Cricket (1937) The Mysterious Mr. Davis (1939) The Butler's Dilemma (1943) 29 Acacia Avenue (1945) Dumb Dora Discovers Tobacco (1946) Helter Skelter (1949) The Voice of Merrill (1952) An Alligator Named Daisy (1955) The Shadow of the Cat (1961) Nothing Barred (1961)

Revue As a West End revue artiste Kendall appeared in Charlot's Revue at the Prince of Wales Theatre in 1924 and Charlot's Masquerade at the Cambridge Theatre in 1930. He co-starred with Hermione Gingold in the three long-running Sweet and Low revues, with scripts by Alan Melville, first taking over from Walter Crisham in 1944; this was followed in June 1948 by the À la Carte revue at the Savoy Theatre.

He appeared with Hermione Baddeley and Hermione Gingold ("The Two Hermiones"), Walter Crisham and Wilfred Hyde-White, in Leslie Julian Jones's revue Rise Above It, first at the Q Theatre in January 1941, when Hedley Briggs was nominally directing; then in two West End editions of the show which ran for a total of 380 performances at the Comedy Theatre opening in June 1941 and again in December 1941, when he was both starring in and directing the show.

He observed in his autobiography:

Director In addition to a busy career as an actor and entertainer Kendal was frequently engaged as a director, staging, among other plays, the first productions of See How They Run (Peterborough Rep, tour and Q Theatre 1944; Comedy Theatre 1945), and The Shop at Sly Corner (St Martin's Theatre 1945). He also directed numerous plays at the Embassy Theatre and Q Theatre.On Q: Jack and Beatie de Leon and the Q Theatre by Kenneth Barrow, Heritage Publications (1992)

In Chapter 23 of his autobiography, 'I Remember Romano's', 'An Alligator and Mr. Chaplin', (Macdonald, London, 1960), Kendal wrote that Peter Daubeny asked him in 1955 to " ...keep an eye on, (produce), his revival at the Palace", (Palace Theatre, London), of The Merry Widow, starring Jan Kiepura and Marta Eggerth, while he was on business in Paris.

Among his productions were:

A Lass and a Lackey, Q Theatre, December 1940 Rise Above It (revue), Comedy Theatre, June 1941 Other People's Houses, Ambassadors Theatre, October 1941 Scoop (revue), Vaudeville Theatre, April 1942 Man from Heaven, Q Theatre, September 1943 This Was a Woman, Comedy Theatre, March 1944 – previously staged at the Q Theatre as The Dark Potential, January 1944 Fly Away Peter, Q Theatre, September 1944 See How They Run, Q Theatre, December 1944; Comedy Theatre, January 1945 Great Day, Playhouse Theatre, March 1945 The Shop at Sly Corner, St Martin's Theatre, April 1945 Green Laughter, Q Theatre, August 1945; Comedy Theatre, June 1946

Fit for Heroes, Embassy Theatre, September 1945; Whitehall, December 1945 Macadam and Eve, Aldwych Theatre, March 1951 The Nest Egg, Wimbledon Theatre, November 1952 Where the Rainbow Ends, Stoll Theatre, December 1953 Meet a Body, Duke of York's Theatre, July 1954 Tropical Fever, Theatre Royal, Brighton, March 1955 Ring for Catty, Lyric Theatre, February 1956 You, Too, Can Have a Body, Victoria Palace, June 1958 Watch It, Sailor! (in association with André Van Gyseghem, Aldwych Theatre, February 1960 Bachelor Flat, Piccadilly Theatre, May 1960

Kendall's autobiography was published by MacDonald & Co in 1960; it was called I Remember Romanos.

In his later years Kendal suffered from heart trouble. He had to give up work for a while in 1957 after a heart attack. In February 1960 he was hospitalised after suffering another attack at his house in Hampstead. He had a final, fatal attack while staying at Le Rayol in the South of France, on 9 June 1962, at the age of 65."Mr Henry Kendall", The Times, 11 June 1962, p. 12; and "Henry Kendall", Birmingham Daily Post, 11 June 1962, p. 3 He was unmarried.

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