Felicity Kendal's eternally young life

11 April 2012
The Weekender

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Her extraordinary youthfulness has long been a wonder of the acting world.

Now a leading plastic surgeon's moment of indiscretion appears to have put an end to years of speculation over whether Felicity Kendal has had any help with her looks.

In an interview Professor Laurence Kirwan, who has operated on some of Britain's best known celebrities, inadvertently blurted out that Miss Kendal had been a client of his.

The incident happened when the interviewer noticed a signed photograph of the actress hanging on Kirwan's office wall.

Kirwan had been busy telling the interviewer about the celebrities he knew of who had had surgery but concluded with 'you should know that whoever I discuss is not my patient'.

When asked about the picture, he replied 'Well, apart from her', before adding: 'But I could never say what she's had.'

Kendal, who is just a few weeks shy of her 60th birthday, has always denied going under the knife, saying she was 'relaxed about ageing' and hasn't needed cosmetic surgery.

Recent photographs show that the actress, who is currently starring in the BBC1 series Rosemary and Tyme, seems to have lost lines around her mouth and cheeks which were in evidence a few years ago.

Last night a spokesman for Miss Kendal, who is a grandmother of two, expressed surprise at the claim saying she believed the actress had 'never had anything done.'

However plastic surgeon Alex Karidis said Miss Kendal appeared to have undergone extensive surgery.

He said: 'It looks like she has had recent surgery for things that have just started to happen to her face.

'She has a nice taut jaw line and her neck is pretty good so I would think she has had some skin taken away there.

'I would say she has had her eyes done as well - since although she has a few lines and wrinkles, as you would expect of a woman of her age, there is no sign of any bags underneath her eyes or any hoods over the eyes.

'Also her forehead looks quite smooth for a lady of her age. I would say she has also had some fillers as well around the mouth area, because the nose to mouth lines seem quite shallow.

'Overall there has been a lot of maintenance work which is what one would expect for someone who is in the public eye anyway.'

Miss Kendal, who is a natural brunette despite being famous for her blonde hair, has said in the past that although she did not totally rule out plastic surgery in the future, she did not believe she needed it.

'I think you have to relax about ageing,' she said. 'We all do things to alter our appearance - whether it's with a haircut, getting our nails done or going to the gym - so we shouldn't condemn it.

'Would I consider plastic surgery? I don't think I need it, but if I did, it would be a decision I took and not something that I felt pressured into doing.'

The actress, who was one of the biggest pinups of the 1970s thanks to her role as the homely Barbara Good in The Good Life, has had a surprisingly popular return to television after an absence of nine years.

In Rosemary and Thyme, which attracts nearly six million viewers, she and Pam Ferris play a pair of gardening partners with a talent for detective work.

Off screen, Miss Kendal has found renewed happiness with her ex-husband Michael Rudman. She left the theatre director in 1990 after having an affair with the playwright Tom Stoppard.

But the two got back together four years ago although they have ruled out remarrying.

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