Jo Kendall

Jo Kendall, born Josephine Mary Robinson on 17 February 1940 in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, was a British actress and writer who worked across theatre, television, radio, and film over a career spanning several decades. She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama and earned her Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music. She died on 29 January 2022 at the age of 81 at Denville Hall, a retirement home for actors in London.

Before her professional career took shape, Kendall taught English and drama at a state secondary school for girls in Cambridge, during which time she also performed with the university's dramatic society. Her stage roles during this period included Desdemona in Othello at the ADC Theatre in 1962 and Maisie King in Expresso Bongo. She additionally trained as a studio manager with the BBC.

Her breakthrough came in August 1963 when she was cast in Cambridge Circus, a revue originating from Cambridge University and directed by Humphrey Barclay. The production featured Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Bill Oddie, Tim Brooke-Taylor, David Hatch, and Chris Stuart-Clark. Kendall was already familiar to the cast through her involvement in Footlights productions. Her audition included an unrehearsed performance of "My Funny Valentine," which she delivered despite not remembering the full lyrics. The production traveled to the West End in London, New Zealand, and Broadway, where it appeared in 1964, marking Kendall's Broadway credit.

In radio comedy, Kendall became a regular performer on the BBC's I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again alongside John Cleese, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie, Graeme Garden, and David Hatch. The programme debuted in 1964. She also appeared in the first episode of the spinoff panel game I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue in 1972, paired with Garden against Brooke-Taylor and Oddie. From 1976 she performed in the radio comedy series The Burkiss Way, and in 1978 she played Lady Cynthia Fitzmelton in the opening episode of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a character that did not appear in subsequent episodes or remakes. In 2017, she participated in a stage tour of I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again.

On television, Kendall played Peggy Skilbeck in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale Farm from 1972 to 1973 and delivered the programme's first line of dialogue in its inaugural episode. Her other television credits included Adelaide Palliser in The Pallisers in 1974, Anne Stanhope in The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Mrs Bardell in The Pickwick Papers in 1985, Miss Elizabeth Wait in the BBC adaptation of Vivien Alcock's The Cuckoo Sister in 1986, and a semi-regular role in Grange Hill during the 1980s as the mother of the recurring character Roland Browning. In 1993 and 1994 she played Aunt Maud in the BBC children's series Marlene Marlowe Investigates opposite Kate Copstick.

Her film work included the role of Miss Biggs in the 1979 film Scum, Annie in the 1992 James Ivory-directed adaptation of Howards End, and a publican's wife in the Merchant Ivory production The Remains of the Day in 1993. In 1978 she appeared in the comedy drama The Unvarnished Truth at London's Phoenix Theatre alongside Royce Ryton, Tim Brooke-Taylor, and Graeme Garden.

Kendall never married. She retired in 1999, though she continued to make occasional appearances through 2017. In her later years she resided at Denville Hall in London.