Kennedy Crow, who has died aged 63 of multiple sclerosis, spent part of her working life as a flight attendant before turning to film-making, creating short films about creative people. She frequently co-directed these films with her husband, Devlin Crow, including a series called Word Made Flesh, of which three – on Peter Blake, Christopher Lee and Sir John Tavener – were screened between 2010 and 2017. Another three, on Cornelia Parker, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Steve Bell, are awaiting release.
Film career and collaborations
The couple also made Little Whispers (2008), a short film featuring Richard Briers, in which a race of miniature people appear to bring malevolence to a stranger, but on closer scrutiny bring a presence that wishes no harm. They also made Man of Sorrows (2004) and Bird of Grief (2020), portraits of encounters with compassion, deep sorrow and loss.
Kennedy worked closely with Devlin on the film Being (2017), which highlights the adversities of multiple sclerosis and shows the value of humour in tackling it. The film gives a nod to young carers of people with MS while simultaneously celebrating mod culture, Brighton and the seminal film Quadrophenia.
Early life and career
Kennedy was born in Liverpool to Stuart Cross, an auctioneer and accountant, and Patricia (nee Marquadt), a homemaker. At Highfield school she revealed a gift for making the best of any situation, surviving by laughing with the bullies and smoking cigarettes with them in the bike sheds.
Her father instilled in her an interest in travel, with tales of his earlier days in the merchant navy, while her mother told her of her times hanging out with the Beatles at the Cavern club. Initially Kennedy worked in an administrative role for Littlewoods in Liverpool (1979-84) until, aged 20, she sought a more glamorous life, becoming a flight attendant with British Caledonian at a time when it was seen as chic and classy to be one of the “ladies in the sky”.
Later life and legacy
However, the constant flying took a toll on her health, and she quit in 1987 to become a receptionist at 21st Century Publishing in London (1988-91) before essaying a change in direction. Moving into a squatted Georgian house in Bermondsey, London, which she helped to save from demolition and to become part of a housing co-operative, she took an interior design course, then a fine art degree at Middlesex University.
Despite a diagnosis of MS in 1992, she then began to follow her artistic instincts. It was after they married in 2000 that they started to co-direct films. Kennedy is survived by her husband and a son, Alexander, from her first, four-year marriage to Gary Jones, which ended in divorce in 1997.
