Jo Kendall

2022-07-14T11:40:30Z

2.28.206.198: /* Career */Added content

{{Short description|British actress (1940–2022)}}
{{similar names|Joe Kendall (disambiguation){{!}}Joe Kendall}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jo Kendall
| image = Jo Kendall.png
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_name = Josephine Mary Robinson
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1940|2|17}}
| birth_place = [[Cleethorpes]], Lincolnshire, England
| death_date = {{death date and age|2022|01|29|1940|02|17|df=y}}
| death_place = London, England
| spouse =
| occupation = {{Hlist|Actress|writer}}
| years_active = 1962–1999
| education = [[Royal Central School of Speech and Drama]]}}

'''Josephine Mary Kendall''' ({{née}} '''Robinson''', 17 February 1940 – 29 January 2022) was a British actress and writer. She was known for her work on the BBC radio comedy show ''[[I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again]]'', which debuted in 1964, and for her role as [[Peggy Skilbeck]] on the ITV soap opera ''[[Emmerdale]]'' (then ''Emmerdale Farm'') from 1972 to 1973, in which she also spoke the programme's first line of dialogue in the inaugural episode.

==Early life==
Kendall was born Josephine Mary Robinson in [[Cleethorpes]], Lincolnshire, on 17 February 1940.<ref name="Tgraphobit">{{cite news |title=Jo Kendall, actress who made her name on the anarchic radio sketch show I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again – obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2022/02/02/jo-kendall-actress-made-name-anarchic-radio-sketch-show-sorry/ |access-date=2 February 2022 |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=2 February 2022}}</ref> After leaving Leicester she trained at the [[Central School of Speech and Drama]] and gained her [[Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music]] (LRAM).<ref>''Leicester Mercury'', 30 October 1965.</ref>

==Career==
While teaching English and drama at a state secondary school for girls at [[Cambridge]], she acted with the university's dramatic society's productions with roles ranging from [[Desdemona]] in ''[[Othello]]'' at the [[ADC Theatre]] in 1962<ref>''The Times'', 9 May 1962.</ref> to Maisie King in ''[[Expresso Bongo]]''. She also trained as a studio manager with the BBC.

In August 1963, she appeared in the [[West End theatre|West End]] in London, New Zealand and [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]], in the [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]] [[revue]] ''[[Cambridge Footlights Revue|Cambridge Circus]]'' directed by [[Humphrey Barclay]], alongside [[Graham Chapman]], [[John Cleese]], [[Bill Oddie]], [[Tim Brooke-Taylor]], [[David Hatch]] and Chris Stuart-Clark. She was already known to the cast from her experience with the [[Footlights]]' productions and had even been on a date with Chapman – "Should I bring a book with me this time?", she quipped when he asked her for another.{{r|Roberts}} Her audition included an impromptu rendition of "[[My Funny Valentine]]". She could not remember the lyrics but Barclay accepted her readily, "...a witty and clever performer. There was no competition, we all very gladly and warmly welcomed her into the cast."<ref name=Roberts>{{citation |last=Roberts |first=Jem |title=The Fully Authorised History of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue: The Clue Bible from Footlights to Mornington Crescent |date=2010 |publisher=Penguin Random House |isbn=978-1-84809-132-0 |language=en |pages=26–27}}</ref>

In radio comedy, she was a regular performer in the [[BBC]]'s ''[[I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again]]'' (with John Cleese, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie, [[Graeme Garden]] and David Hatch). She then appeared in the first episode of the spinoff panel game ''[[I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue]]'' in 1972, teamed with Garden against Brooke-Taylor and Oddie.<ref name=T72>{{citation |title=Radio |author=David Wade |date=22 April 1972 |newspaper=[[The Times]] |number=58459}}</ref> From 1976, she was in the radio comedy series ''[[The Burkiss Way]]'' and played [[Minor characters from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy#Lady Cynthia Fitzmelton|Lady Cynthia Fitzmelton]] in the opening episode of ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series)|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' in 1978. The character never appeared again after the first episode.

In 1978, she appeared in the comedy drama ''[[The Unvarnished Truth]]'' at London's [[Phoenix Theatre (London)|Phoenix Theatre]] with [[Royce Ryton]], Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden.<ref>{{Cite book|last=The Cambridge Theatre Company|url=https://www.ebay.com/itm/154570368699|title=The Unvarnished Truth Event Programme|publisher=Phoenix Theatre|year=1978|location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220211012121/https://www.ebay.com/itm/154570368699|archive-date=11 February 2022}}</ref> In 1993 and 1994 she played Aunt Maud opposite [[Kate Copstick]] in the BBC children's series ''[[Marlene Marlowe Investigates]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lewisohn|first=Mark|date=2003|title=Marlene Marlowe Investigates|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/m/marlenemarlowein_1299002000.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050122055526/http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/m/marlenemarlowein_1299002000.shtml|archive-date=2005-01-22|website=BBC Comedy Guide}}</ref>

Kendall appeared in straight drama. She appeared as Adelaide Palliser in ''[[The Pallisers]]'' (1974), as the matron Miss Biggs in the film version of ''[[Scum (film)|Scum]]'' (1979), as Annie in the film adaptation of ''[[Howards End (film)|Howards End]]'' (1992), directed by [[James Ivory]], and as a publican's wife in another [[Merchant Ivory Productions|Merchant Ivory film]] ''[[The Remains of the Day (film)|The Remains of the Day]]'' in 1993.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba0420da6|title=Jo Kendall|website=BFI}}</ref> She played [[Peggy Skilbeck]] in the [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] series ''[[Emmerdale]] Farm'' and spoke the first ever line of the programme. Among her television roles, she played [[Mrs Bardell (Pickwick Papers)|Mrs Bardell]] in ''[[The Pickwick Papers (TV series)|The Pickwick Papers]]'' (1985), [[Anne Seymour, Duchess of Somerset|Anne Stanhope]] in ''[[The Six Wives of Henry VIII (BBC TV series)|The Six Wives of Henry VIII]]'' and had a semi-regular part in ''[[Grange Hill]]'' in the 1980s as the mother of regular character Roland Browning. In addition, she played the abrasive Miss Elizabeth Wait in the BBC's adaptation of the Vivien Alcock book ''The Cuckoo Sister'' (1986).

==Personal life and death==
Kendall never married. She retired in 1999, though she made occasional appearances as late as 2017, when she took part in a stage tour of ''I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again''.<ref name = Hayward>{{cite news|url = https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/feb/03/jo-kendall-obituary|title = Jo Kendall obituary|last = Hayward|first = Anthony|date = 3 February 2022|accessdate = 4 February 2022|work = [[The Guardian]]}}</ref> As of 2007, she lived in a cottage near [[Bury St Edmunds]], but towards the end of her life, she resided at [[Denville Hall]], a retirement home for actors in London, where she died on 29 January 2022 at the age of 81.<ref name="Tgraphobit" /><ref name = Hayward/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/breaking-jo-kendall-dead-26033218|title=Jo Kendall dead - I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again star dies as John Cleese pays tribute|date=30 January 2022|newspaper=Daily Mirror|access-date=30 January 2022}}</ref>

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
|1972–1973|| ''[[Emmerdale Farm]]'' || [[Peggy Skilbeck]] || 46 episodes
|-
|1979|| ''[[Scum (film)|Scum]]'' || Matron<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Jo Kendall|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jo_kendall|access-date=2022-01-31|website=www.rottentomatoes.com|language=en}}</ref>||
|-
|1992|| ''[[Howards End (film)|Howards End]]'' || Annie<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Jo Kendall|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba0420da6|access-date=2022-01-31|website=BFI|language=en}}</ref>||
|-
|1993|| ''[[The Remains of the Day (film)|The Remains of the Day]]'' || Publican's Wife<ref name=":1"/>||
|-
|1999|| ''[[Bridge of Dragons]]'' || Lily<ref name=":0"/> (The Maid) || (final film role)
|}

==Further reading==
Further information about Kendall can be found in:
*{{cite book |first=John |last=Cleese |author-link=John Cleese |title=So, Anyway...: the autobiography |publisher=Cornerstone Digital |location=London |year=2014 |isbn=9781847946966 }}
*{{cite book |first=Jem |last=Roberts |title=The Clue Bible: the fully authorised history of 'I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue' from Footlights to Mornington Crescent |publisher=Preface |location=London |year=2009 |isbn=9781848091306 }}
*{{cite book |first=Roger |last=Wilmut |title=From Fringe to Flying Circus: celebrating a unique generation of comedy, 1960–1980 |publisher=Eyre Methuen |location=London |year=1980 |isbn=9780413469502 }}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|id=0447601}}
* {{IBDB name}}
* {{discogs artist|Jo Kendall}}

{{I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kendall, Jo}}
[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:2022 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century English actresses]]
[[Category:Actresses from Lincolnshire]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama]]
[[Category:English film actresses]]
[[Category:English radio actresses]]
[[Category:English radio writers]]
[[Category:English stage actresses]]
[[Category:English television actresses]]
[[Category:English voice actresses]]
[[Category:English women comedians]]
[[Category:People educated at Leicester Collegiate School]]
[[Category:People from Cleethorpes]]
[[Category:Women radio writers]]

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Jo Kendall