English actress (1915-1979)

Yvonne Mitchell (7 July 1915 – 24 March 1979) was an English actress and author. After beginning her acting career in theatre, Mitchell progressed to films in the late 1940s. Her roles include Julia in the 1954 BBC adaptation of George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. She retired from acting in 1977.

Contents

• 1 Early life
• 2 Acting
• 3 Writing
• 4 Personal life
• 5 Filmography
• 6 References
• 7 External links

Early life

Mitchell was born Yvonne Frances Joseph, but in 1946 changed her name by deed poll to Yvonne Mitchell (without the Frances). Her parents were Madge (Mitchell) and Bertie Joseph. Her cousin was Conservative MP Keith Joseph. She was Jewish and was educated in Sussex at Battle Abbey School and St Paul's Girls' School in London.

Acting

Mitchell trained for an acting career at the London Theatre Studio, making her professional debut in 1939. Already an experienced stage actress, she made her speaking film debut in The Queen of Spades (1949), although she played an uncredited minor role in Love on the Dole eight years earlier.

She had several prominent film roles over the next three decades, winning a British Film Award for The Divided Heart (1954) and the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 7th Berlin International Film Festival for Woman in a Dressing Gown (1957). She appeared as Mildred in the controversial film Sapphire (1959).

Mitchell was voted 'Television Actress of the Year' for 1953 by the Daily Mail newspaper, mainly for her role as Cathy in the Nigel Kneale/Rudolph Cartier adaptation of Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights. The next year, she appeared in another Kneale/Cartier literary adaptation in the role of Julia, with Peter Cushing as Winston Smith, in their adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-Four.

She starred as Lea in the 1973 BBC TV production of Colette's Cheri. She continued to appear in television guest roles until the late 1970s, in series such as Out of the Unknown (in 1966); her final screen role was in the BBC science-fiction series 1990 (1977).

Writing

Outside acting, Mitchell was also an established author, writing several books for children and adults as well as winning awards for playwriting. Her plays include The Same Sky. She wrote an acclaimed biography of the French writer Colette, and her own autobiography was published in 1957.

Personal life

Mitchell was married to the journalist, film and theatre critic and novelist Derek Monsey (1921–1979) and they lived in a village in the south of France.

Mitchell died of cancer, aged 63, in 1979. Monsey died the same year, roughly one month earlier. Their daughter Cordelia Monsey is a theatre director and a long-term *ociate of both Sir Peter Hall and Sir Trevor Nunn. Yvonne Mitchell's grandson is the drummer and violinist, Mitch McGugan.

Filmography

• Love on the Dole (1941) - Factory Worker at Gate (uncredited)
• The Queen of Spades (1949) - Lizaveta Ivanova
• Children of Chance (1949) - Australia
• Turn the Key Softly (1953) - Monica Marsden
• The Divided Heart (1954) - Sonja
• Escapade (1955) - Mrs. Stella Hampden
• Yield to the Night (1956) - MacFarlane
• Woman in a Dressing Gown (1957) - Amy
• P*ionate Summer (1958) - Mrs. Pawley
• Tiger Bay (1959) - Anya
• Sapphire (1959) - Mildred
• Conspiracy of Hearts (1960) - Sister Gerta
• The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960) - Constance Wilde
• Johnny Nobody (1961) - Miss Floyd
• The Main Attraction (1962) - Elenora Moreno
• Genghis Khan (1965) - Katke
• The Corpse (1971) - Edith Eastwood
• The Great Waltz (1972) - Anna Strauss
• Demons of the Mind (1972) - Hilda
• The Incredible Sarah (1976) - Mam'selle
• Nido de Viudas (1977) - Elvira

References

External links

• Biography portal

• Yvonne Mitchell at IMDb
• Yvonne Mitchell at the Internet Broadway Database
• Yvonne Mitchell at Find a Grave

1968–present

• Katharine Hepburn (1968)
• Maggie Smith (1969)
• Katharine Ross (1970)
• Glenda Jackson (1971)
• Liza Minnelli (1972)
• Stéphane Audran (1973)
• Joanne Woodward (1974)
• Ellen Burstyn (1975)
• Louise Fletcher (1976)
• Diane Keaton (1977)
• Jane Fonda (1978)
• Jane Fonda (1979)
• Judy Davis (1980)
• Meryl Streep (1981)
• Katharine Hepburn (1982)
• Julie Walters (1983)
• Maggie Smith (1984)
• Peggy Ashcroft (1985)
• Maggie Smith (1986)
• Anne Bancroft (1987)
• Maggie Smith (1988)
• Pauline Collins (1989)
• Jessica Tandy (1990)
• Jodie Foster (1991)
• Emma Thompson (1992)
• Holly Hunter (1993)
• Susan Sarandon (1994)
• Emma Thompson (1995)
• Brenda Blethyn (1996)
• Judi Dench (1997)
• Cate Blanchett (1998)
• Annette Bening (1999)
• Julia Roberts (2000)
• Judi Dench (2001)
• Nicole Kidman (2002)
• Scarlett Johansson (2003)
• Imelda Staunton (2004)
• Reese Witherspoon (2005)
• Helen Mirren (2006)
• Marion Cotillard (2007)
• Kate Winslet (2008)
• Carey Mulligan (2009)
• Natalie Portman (2010)
• Meryl Streep (2011)
• Emmanuelle Riva (2012)
• Cate Blanchett (2013)
• Julianne Moore (2014)
• Brie Larson (2015)
• Emma Stone (2016)
• Frances McDormand (2017)
• Olivia Colman (2018)
• Renée Zellweger (2019)
• Frances McDormand (2020)
• Joanna Scanlan (2021)