Kenneth Carten

Kenneth Hare Bicker-Caarten (29 August 1911 – 1980) was an English actor who performed professionally under the name Kenneth Carten. He was born in Maida Vale, London, at Blomfield Road, the son of Catherine and Edwin Hare Bicker-Caarten. His sisters, Waveney Carten and Audrey Carten, were both playwrights. During school breaks from Eton College, Carten lived with his sister Audrey and her close friend Tallulah Bankhead, who became a surrogate mother to him. In the late 1930s, he and Audrey moved in the social circle of Elvira Mullens Barney.

Carten began his stage career in London in 1930, appearing in Charlot's Masquerade alongside Beatrice Lillie and in Wonder Bar with Gwen Farrar and Norah Blaney. He continued working steadily through the early part of the decade, taking roles in Gay Love in 1933, a production written by his sisters Waveney and Audrey Carten that also featured Gwen Farrar, and Please that same year, again with Beatrice Lillie. In 1934 he appeared in Streamline with Tilly Losch, followed by Roulette and Full House, the latter written by Ivor Novello, both in 1935.

His most prominent stage work came through his association with Noël Coward. In 1936 Carten appeared in multiple productions within Coward's Tonight at 8:30 cycle, playing Edward Valance in Family Album, Alf in Red Peppers, Gaston in Ways and Means, and Stanley in Still Life. These productions, written by and starring Coward, brought Carten to Broadway, where he performed between 1936 and 1939. His Broadway credits include Ways and Means, Red Peppers, Set to Music, and Tonight at 8:30. In 1939 he also appeared in Operette and in French without Tears, written by Terence Rattigan. He later recorded the song The Stately Homes of England. In 1937 he had appeared in Footlight, written by Beverley Nichols, alongside Cyril Butcher and Hermione Baddeley.

In 1942 Carten appeared on screen in the war film In Which We Serve, directed by Noël Coward and David Lean, playing a Sub-Lieutenant R.N.V.R.

Following his acting career, Carten became a theatrical agent, working for the Myron Selznick corporation. His clients included Laurence Olivier, Noël Coward, and Googie Withers. He is also credited with discovering and representing Peter Sallis, and he represented the actress Amelia Hall, who described his manner in her memoirs as quiet and English. Carten died in Kensington in 1980.