Geoffrey Kendal (7 September 1909 – 14 May 1998) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

actor and theatre director who delivered Shakespeare performances throughout India in the 1940s and 1950s.

Early life and family

Born Richard Geoffrey Bragg in

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England, south-east of Windermere and north of Lancaster. Historically in Westmorland, it lies within the dale of th ...

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

, he took the name of his place of birth as his surname. He married the actress Laura Liddell in 1933; she died in England in 1992. The couple's two daughters,

Jennifer Jennifer or Jenifer may refer to: People *Jennifer (given name) * Jenifer (singer), French pop singer * Jennifer Warnes, American singer who formerly used the stage name Jennifer * Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer * Daniel Jenifer Film and tele ...

(1934–1984) and

Felicity Kendal Felicity Ann Kendal (born 25 September 1946) is an English actress, working principally in television and theatre. She has appeared in numerous stage and screen roles over a more than 70-year career, but the role that brought attention to her ...

(b. 1946), became successful actresses. His daughter, Jennifer, was married to Indian actor

Shashi Kapoor Shashi Kapoor (pronounced �əʃi kəpuːɾ (born Balbir Raj Kapoor; 18 March 1938 – 4 December 2017) was an Indian actor and film producer who is best known for his work in Hindi films. A recipient of several accolades, including four Nation ...

, and had three children,

Sanjana Kapoor Sanjana Kapoor (born 1967) is an Indian theatre personality and former film actress. She is the daughter of actors Shashi Kapoor and Jennifer Kapoor. She ran the Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai from 1993 to February 2012. Biography Sanjna Kapo ...

Kunal Kapoor Kunal Kapoor may refer to: * Kunal Kapoor (actor, born 1959), Indian film actor * Kunal Kapoor (actor, born 1977), Indian actor, writer and entrepreneur * Kunal Kapoor (cricketer) (born 1987), Indian cricketer * Kunal Karan Kapoor (born 1982), In ...

and

Karan Kapoor Karan Kapoor (born 18 January 1962) is an Indian photographer, actor and model. He is the son of actors Shashi Kapoor and Jennifer Kendal. His paternal grandfather was Prithviraj Kapoor and his paternal uncles are Raj Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor. ...

. His younger daughter, Felicity, was married to actor

Drewe Henley Gordon Drewe Henley (1940 – 14 February 2016) was an English actor. He had a variety of roles in film, television and theatre including as Red X-Wing Squadron Leader Garven Dreis in '' Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope''. He retired from acti ...

and director Michael Rudman.

Career

After attending theatre classes in Lancaster, Kendal joined repertory theatre companies which performed across small English towns. During one such tour, while in

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

, he met Laura Liddell, also an actress; subsequently they married at

Gretna Green Gretna Green is a parish in the southern council area of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, on the Scottish side of the border between Scotland and England, defined by the small river Sark, which flows into the nearby Solway Firth. It was historica ...

in 1933. After appearing with

Entertainments National Service Association The Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) was an organisation established in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. ENSA operated as part of the Navy, ...

(

ENSA The Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) was an organisation established in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. ENSA operated as part of the Navy, ...

) during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

entertaining troops overseas, he along with his troupe performed in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, Singapore and the backwaters of Malaya and Borneo, finally arriving in India in 1944. Thereafter he made his living as an

actor-manager An actor-manager is a leading actor who sets up their own permanent theatrical company and manages the business, sometimes taking over a theatre to perform select plays in which they usually star. It is a method of theatrical production used co ...

leading the repertory theatre company "Shakespeareana" on tour throughout

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in the 1940s and 1950s. They would perform

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

before royalty one day, and in rural villages the next; many of their audiences were schoolchildren. Their story was loosely told by

Merchant Ivory A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as industry ...

in their feature film ''

Shakespeare Wallah ''Shakespeare Wallah'' is a 1965 Merchant Ivory Productions film. The story and screenplay are by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, about a travelling family theatre troupe of English actors in India, who perform Shakespeare plays in towns across India, amid ...

'' (1965), in which he played the role of his fictionalized self, Tony Buckingham. He also acted in

Shyam Benegal Shyam Benegal (born 14 December 1934) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Often regarded as the pioneer of parallel cinema, he is widely considered as one of the greatest filmmakers post 1970s. He has received ...

's '' Junoon'' (1978) and

Aparna Sen Aparna Sen (, ''Ôporna Shen'') is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actress who is known for her work in Bengali cinema. She has received several accolades as an actress and filmmaker, including nine National Film Awards, five Filmf ...

's ''

36 Chowringhee Lane ''36 Chowringhee Lane'' is a 1981 film written and directed by Aparna Sen and produced by Shashi Kapoor. It marked the directorial debut of Sen, who had until then been known as a leading actress of Bengali cinema. The film was very well receive ...

'' (1981), in which Jennifer Kendal was the lead, while he played her elder brother. Kendal's life story, ''The Shakespeare Wallah: the Autobiography of Geoffrey Kendal'', co-authored by Clare Colvin, was published in 1986. In 1990, he and Laura Kendal were given a joint

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in Englis ...

in "Theatre – Direction" given by

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. History It was set up by the Indian education ministry on 31 May 1952 and be ...

, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Theatre. He died on 14 May 1998, aged 88.

Works

References

External links

*
Obituary: Geoffrey Kendal
The Independent. Published 15 June 1998. Author - Kuldip Singh. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kendal, Geoffrey 1909 births 1998 deaths 20th-century English male actors Actor-managers British theatre managers and producers English autobiographers English emigrants to India English male Shakespearean actors English male stage actors English theatre directors People from Kendal Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award