1. Germaine Yvonne Arnaud was a French-born pianist, singer and actress, who was well known for her career in Britain, as well as her native land.
20 Facts About Yvonne Arnaud
1. 2.
Yvonne Arnaud switched to non-musical comedy and drama around 1920 and was one of the players in the second of the Aldwych farces, A Cuckoo in the Nest, a hit in 1925.
3.
Yvonne Arnaud had dramatic roles and made films in the 1930s and 1940s, and continued to act into the 1950s.
4.
Yvonne Arnaud occasionally performed as a pianist later in her career.
5.
The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre was named in her memory in Guildford, Surrey.
6.
Yvonne Arnaud was the daughter of Charles Leon Yvonne Arnaud and his wife Antoinette.
7.
Yvonne Arnaud was brought up in Paris and entered the Paris Conservatoire aged 9, studying piano under Alphonse Duvernoy and other teachers.
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Yvonne Arnaud next played the leading role of Suzanne in the musical The Girl in the Taxi, earning popularity with her vivacity and charming French accent.
9.
One reviewer wrote: "Yvonne Arnaud is as clever as her ways are charming, and her voice is beautiful".
10.
Yvonne Arnaud's success in this play led to her appearance in the second of the Aldwych farces as Marguerite in A Cuckoo in the Nest, by Ben Travers, which was a hit in 1925.
11.
Yvonne Arnaud appeared in British films, beginning with the role of Pauline in Desire, in 1920, opposite Dennis Neilson-Terry.
12.
Yvonne Arnaud appeared in some dramatic roles in the 1930s and 1940s, including some Shakespearean roles.
13.
Yvonne Arnaud made more films during the 1930s and 1940s, including film versions of some of the successful plays in which she had starred.
14.
Yvonne Arnaud's likeness was drawn in caricature by Alex Gard for Sardi's, the New York City theatre district restaurant.
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Yvonne Arnaud continued to act on stage well into the 1950s.
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Yvonne Arnaud was the soloist at the premiere of Franz Reizenstein's pastiche Concerto Popolare at the 1956 Hoffnung Festival.
17.
Yvonne Arnaud was a president of the League Against Cruel Sports from 1948 to 1951.
18.
Yvonne Arnaud was godmother to the writer Oriel Malet, and was the subject of Malet's book Marraine: a portrait of my godmother.
19.
Yvonne Arnaud's ashes were scattered in St Martha's churchyard on St Martha's Hill just south-east of Guildford, and there is a memorial to her on the church grounds.
20.
In 1965 the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre was opened in the town.