Felicity Kendal has candidly shared her three-year journey through grief following the death of her partner, Michael Rudman. The 79-year-old actress, best known for her role in The Good Life, spoke about how the loss reshaped her life and the importance of cherishing happy memories.
Theatre director Michael Rudman passed away in April 2023 at the age of 84 after a series of health struggles, including a heart attack, bypass surgery, a Covid-19 hospitalisation, and a broken back. In his final two years, he required full-time care at home.
Kendal revealed that rather than dwelling on sadness, she tries to focus on "the wonderful times rather than the sad" and refuses to waste time because "life is so precious." She emphasised the importance of a support network, describing it as "very important." Speaking to Prima Magazine, she said: "I mean it has been three years now, so it's moved from being really all-consuming."
She continued: "Even though you try not to show it, it sort of takes over every aspect of your life – missing that person that was part of your everyday. So the everyday changes."
The actress, who noted that Rudman "was so loved by everybody," recalled that the first year of grief prompted her to ask: "What do I put in place because I'm not the same person any more?" She added: "You think, 'I'm of less value because I've only got half of me' and then you realise you have a chance now at another life and you have to have a different routine."
Drawing on a similar sentiment she felt after her sister's death, Kendal said: "She's not here, so I better not waste this – and I think that's what I'm now feeling. And it's just about remembering the wonderful times rather than the sad times and that does happen. It's a three-year journey."
Kendal married Rudman in 1983, but they divorced in 1991 after marital difficulties. She later had a relationship with playwright Tom Stoppard before reuniting with Rudman eight years later. Though they never remarried, they lived together until his death and share a 39-year-old son named Jacob.
In 2023, Kendal told The Times that she "cried a lot" after Rudman's death, "which is quite unlike me." She described grief as a boomerang: "The emotion is gone, out of sight, then whack – it hits you again. Unexpected things get me. Often, it is just people being nice or someone else dying. I am at an age when an awful lot of people are dying."
The actress also expressed her dislike for the phrase "lost" her husband, saying: "It's as if you have lost the cat. I haven't lost Michael; he is dead. We are all at one point or another going to have to deal with similar things, so let's be open about it."
