Yvonne Arnaud (1890 – 1958) was a French pianist, singer and actress.
After beginning a career as a concert pianist as a child, Arnaud acted in musical comedies.
until 1911, she performed with leading orchestras throughout Europe and the US. In 1911 she decided to try the stage instead of the concert hall and obtained an engagement at London’s Adelphi Theatre as understudy to Elsie Spain in the role of Princess Mathilde in The Quaker Girl, first going on stage in that role on 7 August 1911. She next played the leading role of Suzanne in the musical The Girl in the Taxi (1912), earning popularity with her vivacity and charming French accent.
Around 1920 she switched to non-musical comedy and drama and was one of the players in the second of the Aldwych farces, A Cuckoo in the Nest, a hit in 1925.
She also had dramatic roles and made films in the 1930s and 40s, and continued to act into the 1950s.
She occasionally performed as a pianist later in her career.
Yvonne Arnaud by Bassano, whole-plate glass negative, November 1912
via
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Yvonne Arnaud by Bassano, whole-plate glass negative, November 1912
© National Portrait Gallery, London
- Yvonne Arnaud by Bassano, whole-plate glass negative, November 1912
via
© National Portrait Gallery, London
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