Early Biography.

Yvonne Frances Joseph, born July 7, 1915, was the middle child of three daughters: Peggy, the eldest, and Clarice, the youngest. Yvonne's parents, Madge and Bertie Joseph, lived at 50 Mapesbury Road, Brondesbury, when she was born. This Plane tree-lined street in the north of London, originally farmland, began being developed for house building in 1895. Oliver Sacks, the world famous neurologist and writer was born a short distance up the street from the Joseph’s residence at number 37. 

Yvonne’s early childhood years at number fifty, saw her, with her two sisters and parents sharing a house with three in service workers, two domestic and one child nurse. 

In 1946 she took her mother's maiden name, Mitchell, and established herself as the writer and actress, Yvonne Mitchell.

Nathan Mitchell and Eva Isaacs, the maternal grandparents of Yvonne, were married in 1869 and listed in the 1981 census as living at 15 Rochester Terrace St Pancras, Nathan’s occupation registered as a fine art dealer. Having moved to the United Kingdom with his sister from Australia, by 1911, the Mitchell family had moved to 175 Sutherland Avenue, Maida Vale, where nineteen-year-old Madge (Majorie) Mitchel was one of three siblings. This being, a year before her marriage to Bertie Joseph in 1912.

Madge and her sister, Queenie, both attended Minerva College, a Jewish boarding school for girls in Devon. The 1901 census records Madge's age as 9 and her sister's as 10, with both listed as pupils of the school. Madge appears in several reports on the collage referencing her performances around narration and music. We see her given an amusing duologue in 1903 alongside Gladys Schlesinger. Reading a work by the poet, short story-writer Bret Harte. In 1904, both Madge and Queenie won prizes for being successful students in the category listing for music.   

Bertie Joseph, born in 1886, also known as Isaiah the son of Abraham and Sarah Joseph, worked on the managerial catering staff for the Lyon Co Limited company. The 1921 census shows him living with his wife Madge and daughters still living at Mapesbury Road. October 1923 would see the death of Madge, Yvonne’s mother, and a year after the selling of the family home, Bertie would move to 7 Oakwood Court in Kensington and Chelsea with his daughters. Following Yvonne's father's subsequent marriage to the widowed Winfred Samuel, he was by 1939 now living in Hove at Courtenay Gate, but had later moved to the Strand Palace Hotel with Winifred according to the 1948 census. Working for Lyons, he would be involved in organising some of their biggest catering events. One such event was the 1925 ‘Masonic Memorial Monster Luncheon at Olympia’, as described by the West London Observer. With over 7,000 guests and 1,300 attending to their needs, the tables stretched end to end for 5 miles. Berti giving orders and guidance from a conning tower. 

Yvonne’s husband was Derek Monsey (1921–1979), a man who worked as a journalist, film and theatre critic, and novelist. The daughter of the couple, Cordelia Monsey, is a theatre director who has collaborated extensively with Sir Peter Hall, who is now deceased, and Sir Trevor Nunn for many years.

Many of us know Yvonne Mitchell as an actress. Certainly, that statement holds true. Her career in theatre, film, and television is well-established. In her capacity as a writer, the cinematic roles she undertakes mirror the recurring thematic elements present in her novels. In 1959, the cinema featured ‘Sapphire,’ a movie focused on racism within a London household. The film brought to the fore how society can affect our behaviour in functioning among people’s prejudices.

Beyond her acting career, Mitchell was a recognised author, having penned many books for both children and adults and receiving accolades for her playwriting. She also authored a highly praised biography about the French author Colette.