Fenella Fielding

Fenella Fielding OBE
Born	Fenella Marion Feldman (1927-11-17)17 November 1927 Hackney, London, England
Died	11 September 2018(2018-09-11) (aged 90) Hammersmith, London, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1952–2018
Relatives	Basil Feldman (brother)
Website	http://www.fenellafielding.com/

Fenella Fielding, OBE (born Fenella Marion Feldman; 17 November 1927 – 11 September 2018) was an English stage, film and television actress who rose to prominence in the 1950s and 1960s, and was often referred to as "England's first lady of the double entendre". She was known for her seductive image and distinctively husky voice. Fielding appeared in two Carry On films, Carry On Regardless (1961) and Carry On Screaming! (1966).

Early life and education

Fenella Marion Feldman was born on 17 November 1927 in Hackney, London, to a Romanian Jewish mother, Tilly (née Katz; 1902–1977), and a Lithuanian Jewish father, Philip Feldman.

She was the younger sister of Basil, later Baron Feldman. She grew up in Lower Clapton and later Edgware where she attended North London Collegiate School. Her father at one time managed a cinema in Silvertown, east London. She later resided in Chiswick, west London.

Career

Fielding began her acting career in 1952, concentrating on stage productions, including the Bromley Little Theatre. She was given her first break when she accompanied the then-unknown actor Ron Moody to an audition (they had met in an amateur production at the London School of Economics). Her performance in Sandy Wilson's musical version of Valmouth made her a star in 1958. By 1959 she was appearing with Kenneth Williams in the comedy revue Pieces of Eight, written by Harold Pinter and Peter Cook. Fielding also guested in the Hancock's Half Hour episode "The Poetry Society" broadcast in December 1959.

Fielding starred in her own television programme Izeena (1966). She had occasional guest appearances in television programmes such as The Avengers (after being passed over as Patrick Macnee's regular partner in favour of Honor Blackman) and in Danger Man. She appeared in four episodes of Morecambe and Wise Show between 1969 and 1972. She was in two of the Carry On films, the second was her role as the vampish Valeria in Carry On Screaming! (1966), and three of the Doctor films (including Doctor in Clover). She interspersed these with performances in plays by Ibsen, Shakespeare and Henry James, reputedly keeping an edition of Plato's writings by her bed. Other theatre credits around this time included Sheridan and Chekhov. In 1977 she appeared on BBC TV's long running show, The Good Old Days performing 'Only A Glass of Champagne' and 'How'd You Like to Spoon with Me?'.

Fielding was the uncredited Village announcer in The Prisoner (1967–68), and co-starred with Tom Poston and Robert Morley in the remake of The Old Dark House (1963). In Dougal and the Blue Cat, based on The Magic Roundabout, she voiced the character of the Blue Voice, referred to as "Madam" by both Buxton (the blue cat of the title) and Dougal at various stages throughout the film. In the late 1960s, Fielding was approached by Federico Fellini to work on one of his films, but turned the work down because she was already booked to perform on stage at the Chichester Festival Theatre.

Fielding also starred in the children's television series Uncle Jack from 1990-1993 as the notorious villainess, The Vixen. In 1999, Fielding starred in Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson's film Guest House Paradiso. She toured in a production of Lady Windermere's Fan the same year. In 2011, Fielding appeared at the Jermyn Street Theatre, London in an English Chamber Theatre presentation of Jane McCulloch's Dearest Nancy, Darling Evelyn, the dramatised letters of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh.

From 2012, Fielding performed readings of English translations of Greek classics by David Stuttard. Her partners for this were Simon Russell Beale and later Stephen Greif. Her autobiography was published in both audio and book form in 2017 and led to a number of appearances on stage reading extracts from it in places all over the UK.

Fielding was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to drama and charity.

Voice work

Fielding voiced “The Blue Voice” in the 1972 English adaptation of the 1970 French film ‘Dougal And The Blue Cat’, 'MOOD', the quirky supercomputer in the video game Martian Gothic in a script written by science fiction author Stephen Marley. After 2000 she recorded with Savoy, a book publishing and recording company. Her work with them includes readings of Colette, JG Ballard's Crash and TS Eliot's Four Quartets. She made an album of cover songs including Robbie Williams's "Angels", Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out of My Head", New Order's "Blue Monday" and the White Stripes' "Passive Manipulation". In 2006, she toured Ireland in The Vagina Monologues. She provided the voice to two tracks on the Graham Roos album Quest. In the following years, Fielding was a regular guest contributor on BBC Radio 4's PM and Broadcasting House.

Critical reception

"People Are Very Free With Their Bad Advice...", a quote from Metafenella

A 2007 article in The Independent remarked that it was "one of the mysteries of British life that Fenella Fielding, whose wit and distinctive stage presence captivated figures such as Kenneth Tynan, Noël Coward and Federico Fellini, should have drifted into obscurity rather than being celebrated", and the same article quotes The Times as saying that Fielding's performance as Hedda Gabler was "one of the experiences of a lifetime". A 2017 article in The Guardian highlighted a career "renaissance in recent years" and describes Fielding as a phenomenal storyteller. "She reminds me of the great raconteur Quentin Crisp – the same love of language, mastery of its rhythms, perfectly formed sentences, and a joie de vivre even when relating her profound despair."

Fielding is the subject of MetaFenella, a 2014 online artwork by artist Martin Firrell.

Death

Fielding suffered a stroke on 25 August 2018 and died two weeks later at Charing Cross Hospital in Hammersmith, on 11 September 2018, aged 90. She never married or had children.

Filmography

Film

Fenella Fielding on her 90th Birthday, 2017

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1959	Sapphire	Lingerie Shop Manageress	Uncredited
1959	Follow a Star	Lady Finchington
1960	Doctor in Love	Mrs. Tadwich
1960	Foxhole in Cairo	Yvette
1961	No Love for Johnnie	Sheilah
1961	Carry On Regardless	Penny Panting
1961	In the Doghouse	Miss Fordyce
1962	Village of Daughters	Voice-Over
1963	Doctor in Distress	Passenger on Train
1963	The Old Dark House	Morgana Femm
1965	How to Undress in Public Without Undue Embarrassment	Narrator
1966	Doctor in Clover	Tatiana Rubikov
1966	Carry On Screaming!	Valeria Watt
1966	Drop Dead Darling	Fenella
1969	Lock Up Your Daughters	Lady Eager
1972	Dougal and the Blue Cat	The Blue Voice	Voice, Uncredited
1977	Cumbernauld Hit	Liana
1984	The Zany Adventures of Robin Hood	Molly
1999	Guest House Paradiso	Mrs. Foxfur
2001	Beginner's Luck	Mark's mum
2007	The All Together	Mrs. Cox
2007	Wishbaby	Eve
2009	Radio Mania	Mrs. Langdon
2011	Tincture of Vervain	Her Ladyship
2011	Over the Edge	Mrs. van Eisner
2016	Surge of Power: Revenge of the Sequel	Fenella Fielding
2017	Frankula	Voice-over	Voice

External links

• Fenella Fielding's official website
• Metafenella, interactive video portrait
• Fenella Fielding at the British Film Institute
• Fenella Fielding at IMDb
• Savoy website
• Independent article, 2008
• Fenella Fielding discography at Discogs