Agnes Bernelle (born Agnes Elisabeth Bernauer; 7 March 1923 – 15 February 1999) was a

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

-born expatriate actress and singer, who lived in England for many years, then

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. She appeared in over 20 films and also made stage and television appearances. Her family fled Berlin in 1936. She was the wartime "

Black Propaganda Black propaganda is a form of propaganda intended to create the impression that it was created by those it is supposed to discredit. Black propaganda contrasts with gray propaganda, which does not identify its source, as well as white propaga ...

" radio announcer codenamed "Vicki" for the British

Political Warfare Executive During World War II, the Political Warfare Executive (PWE) was a British clandestine body created to produce and disseminate both white and black propaganda, with the aim of damaging enemy morale and sustaining the morale of countries occupied ...

Biography

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, she became involved with top secret British Special Operations radio broadcasts. Transmitting from

Woburn Abbey Woburn Abbey (), occupying the east of the village of Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the family seat of the Duke of Bedford. Although it is still a family home to the current duke, it is open on specified days to visitors ...

alongside the top secret Enigma project, she was introduced to black propaganda. She was recruited for her native German language skills and was suggested by her father,

Rudolf Bernauer Rudolf Bernauer (20 January 1880, in Vienna – 27 November 1953, in London) was an Austrian lyricist, librettist, screenwriter, film director, producer, "Rudolph Bernauer" (aka Rudolf Bernauer), IMDb, 2009, webpageIMDb-76587 and actor. His ...

, after he was sought out for his theatrical and German connections, operating under the codename "Vicky". Her radio broadcasts on '' Deutscher Kurzwellensender Atlantik'' were bounced over to Germany and primarily were aimed at spreading confusion and lowering morale among German forces, along with being littered with code messages for resistance fighters on the continent disguised as record labels and numbers. An oft-repeated story is that a broadcast by Bernelle caused a U-boat captain to surrender by informing him that his wife - whom he had not seen for two years - had given birth to twins. Bernelle was Catholic. She converted to Catholicism in the mid-1930s along with her father, Bernauer, who was Hungarian and Jewish. Her German mother, Emmy (née Erb), was Protestant.

Family life

Bernelle was married from 1945 to 1969 to Desmond Leslie (1921–2001). Leslie briefly became notorious for assaulting Bernard Levin during a live transmission of ''

That Was the Week That Was ''That Was the Week That Was'', informally ''TWTWTW'' or ''TW3'', is a satirical television comedy programme that aired on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced, and directed by Ned Sherrin and Jack (aka John) Duncan, and pre ...

'' in 1962 for writing a hostile review of one of his wife's performances. The show was ''An Evening of Savagery and Delight'' which had rave reviews at the Dublin Festival but lasted only three weeks at London's

Duchess Theatre The Duchess Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, London, located in Catherine Street near Aldwych. The theatre opened on 25 November 1929 and is one of the smallest West End theatres with a proscenium arch. It has 494 sea ...

and polarised audiences. Bernelle bravely posted all the bad reviews along with the good outside the theatre. The couple had three children.

Later years

As an international cabaret singer she collaborated on record with artists such as

Marc Almond Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond, (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/ new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. H ...

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in 2020, and has twice been nom ...

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

, and The Radiators. She released three albums. The first, ''Bernelle on Brecht and...'' was produced by

Philip Chevron Philip Ryan (17 June 1957 – 8 October 2013), professionally known as Philip Chevron, was an Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist and record producer. He was best known as the lead guitarist for the celtic punk band The Pogues and as the front ...

of The Radiators and released in limited numbers by the Midnite Music Company in 1977. In 1985, she released ''Father's Lying Dead on the Ironing Board'', again produced by Chevron. This was followed in 1988 by Some Bizzare label produced album, ''Mother, The Wardrobe is full of Infantrymen''. The first two albums are filled with songs from Weimar cabaret (her father Rudolf Bernauer owned and ran three cabaret theatres in Berlin during the

Weimar Republic The German Reich, commonly referred to as the Weimar Republic,, was a historical period of Germany from 9 November 1918 to 23 March 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is also r ...

years) and the third has more modern updates on the form with songs from

and

Roger McGough Roger Joseph McGough (; born 9 November 1937) is an English poet, performance poet, broadcaster, children's author and playwright. He presents the BBC Radio 4 programme '' Poetry Please'', as well as performing his own poetry. McGough was one ...

. She also sang a duet with

on his ''The Stars We Are'' album, a song called ''Kept Boy''. In 1978, Bernelle appeared

Off Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

in New York City in the American premiere of Bertolt Brecht's ''

Downfall of the Egotist Johann Fatzer ''Downfall of the Egotist Johann Fatzer'' is an unfinished play by Bertolt Brecht, written between 1926 and 1930. ''Der Untergang des Egoisten Johnann Fatzer'', is translated as ''Downfall of the Egotist Johann Fatzer'' or ''Demise of the Egotist ...

'', with Shelter West Theater Company at the Vam Dam Theatre, directed by W. Stuart McDowell, with an original musical score of ballads sung by Bernelle, composed by Tony Award-winning composer/arranger, Bruce Coughlin.

Last years

She spent the later years of her life with her second partner, the historian and author Maurice Craig, in

Sandymount Sandymount () is an affluent coastal suburb in the Dublin 4 district on the Southside of Dublin in Ireland. Etymology An early name for the area was Scal'd Hill or Scald Hill.

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

. ''The Fun Palace'', her autobiography, was published in 1995.

Selected filmography

* '' Caesar and Cleopatra'' (1945), Lady in Waiting (uncredited) * '' Woman to Woman'' (1947) * '' But Not in Vain'' (1948), Mary Meyer * ''The Missing Princess'' (1949), The Baroness * '' Stranger at My Door'' (1950), Laura Riordan * ''

Over the Garden Wall ''Over the Garden Wall'' is an American animated television miniseries created by Patrick McHale for Cartoon Network. The series centers on two half-brothers who travel across a mysterious forest to find their way home, encountering a variety ...

'' (1950) * ''

The Quare Fellow ''The Quare Fellow'' is Brendan Behan's first play, first produced in 1954. The title is taken from a Hiberno-English pronunciation of '' queer''. Plot The play is set in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin. The anti-hero of the play, The Quare Fellow, is nev ...

'' (1962), Meg * ''

The First Great Train Robbery ''The First Great Train Robbery'' (known in the United States as ''The Great Train Robbery'') is a 1978 Irish heist comedy film directed by Michael Crichton, who also wrote the screenplay based on his 1975 novel '' The Great Train Robbery''. ...

'' (1979), Woman on Platform * '' The Irish R.M.'' (1985), Mrs. Maguire (1 episode, 1985) * '' Die Wächter'' (1986, TV miniseries), Mrs. Talbot * '' The Fantasist'' (1986), Mrs. O'Malley * ''Agnes Bernelle : I was the little girl'' (Documentary, by

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

1989) Herself * ''

Hear My Song ''Hear My Song'' is a 1991 British comedy-drama film directed by Peter Chelsom, who co-wrote the screenplay with Adrian Dunbar, based on the story of Irish tenor Josef Locke. It was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 46th British Acad ...

'' (1991), Receptionist * '' An Awfully Big Adventure'' (1995), Mrs. Ackerly * ''The Tale of Sweety Barrett'' (1998), Mrs. Walsh * ''Still Life'' (short, 1999), Old woman

Discography

* ''The Lost Noises Office'' (1961) 7" EP (Narrator) * ''Lullabies for Sleepy Lovers'' (year unknown) 7" EP * ''Bernelle on Brecht And... '' (1977) * "Kitty Ricketts" c/w "Things" (1979) 7" single with The Radiators * ''Father's Lying Dead on the Ironing Board'' (1985) * ''Mother the Wardrobe Is Full of Infantrymen'' (1990)

References

External links

*
Fansite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernelle, Agnes 1923 births 1999 deaths Musicians from Berlin Women in World War II German people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Black propaganda Actresses from Berlin Foreign Office personnel of World War II 20th-century British women singers Some Bizzare Records artists Converts to Roman Catholicism German Roman Catholics German emigrants to Ireland Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom