# Yvonne Mitchell

Yvonne Mitchell (born Yvonne Frances Joseph; 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.

## 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 associate of both Sir Peter Hall and Sir Trevor Nunn. Yvonne Mitchell's grandson is the drummer and violinist, Mitch McGugan.

## Filmography

| Year | Film | Role | Director | Notes |
| 1941 | Love on the Dole | Factory Worker at Gate | John Baxter | uncredited |
| 1949 | The Queen of Spades | Lizaveta Ivanova | Thorold Dickinson | |
| 1949 | Children of Chance | Australia | Luigi Zampa | |
| 1953 | Turn the Key Softly | Monica Marsden | Jack Lee | |
| 1954 | The Divided Heart | Sonja | Charles Crichton | |
| 1955 | Escapade | Mrs. Stella Hampden | Philip Leacock | |
| 1956 | Yield to the Night | MacFarlane | J. Lee Thompson | |
| 1957 | Woman in a Dressing Gown | Amy | J. Lee Thompson | |
| 1958 | Passionate Summer | Mrs. Pawley | Rudolph Cartier | |
| 1959 | Tiger Bay | Anya | J. Lee Thompson | |
| 1959 | Sapphire | Mildred | Basil Dearden | |
| 1960 | Conspiracy of Hearts | Sister Gerta | Ralph Thomas | |
| 1960 | The Trials of Oscar Wilde | Constance Wilde | Ken Hughes | |
| 1961 | Johnny Nobody | Miss Floyd | Nigel Patrick | |
| 1962 | The Main Attraction | Elenora Moreno | Daniel Petrie | |
| 1965 | Genghis Khan | Katke | Henry Levin | |
| 1971 | The Corpse | Edith Eastwood | Viktors Ritelis | |
| 1972 | The Great Waltz | Anna Strauss | Andrew L. Stone | |
| 1972 | Demons of the Mind | Hilda | Peter Sykes | |
| 1976 | The Incredible Sarah | Mam'selle | Richard Fleischer | |
| 1977 | Nido de Viudas | Elvira | Tony Navarro | |
| 1978 | 1990 (TV Series) | Kate Smith | Wilfred Greatorex |