Fenella Fielding Remembered in New Biography
Author Simon McKay has also curated an exhibition on her life
Dear Fenella… 90 Years, 90 Letters will be available for sale in bookshops this month
October 17, 2025
This October, you are invited to rediscover the life and legacy of Fenella Fielding—actress, icon, and Chiswick resident—through a new biography and an intimate exhibition curated by writer and archivist Simon McKay.
Titled Dear Fenella… 90 Years, 90 Letters, the book and accompanying show offer a rare glimpse into Fielding’s private world, drawing from her personal archive of correspondence, diaries, and memorabilia.
The biography, now available online and arriving in bookshops later this month, traces her extraordinary career through 90 letters from friends, collaborators, and admirers. Among the correspondents are Kenneth Williams, Harold Pinter, Laurence Olivier, Dirk Bogarde, John Cleese, Cecil Beaton, and Gyles Brandreth, alongside heartfelt notes from fans including a teenage Matthew Bourne. The letters are interwoven with Fielding’s own reflections, journal entries, and spoken recollections, many shared directly with Simon McKay during their long friendship.
Fenella Fielding’s life was one of dramatic highs and quiet resilience. In 1966, she was at the height of her fame—starring nightly in the West End, appearing in a film with Tony Curtis, filming Carry On Screaming, hosting her own television show, and becoming the highest-paid actress in advertising. Yet by 1981, she was claiming unemployment benefit in Hammersmith. Through it all, Fielding remained fiercely independent, witty, and devoted to her craft.
Her later years were spent in Chiswick, where she became a familiar figure in the community. Neighbours recall her elegant presence at local cafés and her fondness for long walks along the Thames. It was in Chiswick that McKay, a close friend and collaborator, began assembling the archive that now forms the basis of both the book and the exhibition.
The exhibition, Fenella Fielding: Onstage, Offstage, runs from 31 October to 14 December at Gallery 286 in Earls Court. Visitors will encounter a curated selection of Fielding’s personal items—furniture, makeup, wigs, wallpaper, posters, costumes, sketches, and photographs—many never before seen by the public. The private view on 30 October promises to be a poignant celebration of Fielding’s enduring charm and creative spirit.
Simon McKay with Fenella Fielding in 2017
Simon McKay’s work is not just a tribute but a reclamation of Fielding’s place in British cultural history. “Fenella was more than a performer,” he notes. “She was a spellbinding presence, a woman of great intellect and humour, whose story deserves to be told in full.”
For details on the exhibition and book launch, visit www.fenellafielding.com.
This page is sponsored by West London Queer Project who support community initiatives in Chiswick.
