Agnes Bernelle

Agnes Bernelle (b. Agnes Elizabeth Bernauer, 7 March 1923, Berlin - d. 15 February 1999) was an actress and singer based in the United Kingdom for much of her career, though she later settled in the Republic of Ireland. Her family fled from Berlin in 1936. She appeared in over 20 films and also made theatre and television appearances.

Bernelle was the OSS wartime 'Black Propaganda' radio announcer codenamed 'Vicki' famous for demoralizing a German U-Boat Captain into surrendering with one of her targeted broadcasts. This was the subject of the recent Channel 4 documentary "Sex Bomb".

Bernelle was married (1945-69) to Desmond Leslie (1921-2001) who briefly became notorious for assaulting Bernard Levin during a live transmission of "That Was The Week That Was" in 1962 for writing a hostile review of one of his wife's performances.

As an international cabaret singer she collaborated on record with artists such as Marc Almond, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, and The Radiators. She released three albums. The first, "Bernelle on Brecht and..." was produced by Philip Chevron of The Radiators and released in limited numbers by The Midnite Music Company in 1977. It features Irish jazz luminaries Louis Stewart and Peter O'Brien. In 1985 she released "Father's Lying Dead on the Ironing Board". This was followed in 1988 by "Mother, The Wardrobe is full of Infantrymen". The first two albums are filled with songs from Weimar cabaret (her father Roudie Bernauer ran a cabaret in Berlin) and the third has more modern updates on the form with songs from Tom Waits and Roger McGough. She also sang a duet with Marc Almond on his "The Stars We Are" album.

In 1978, Miss Bernelle appeared Off Broadway in New York City in the American premiere of Bertolt Brecht's "Downfall of the Egotist Johann Fatzer", at Shelter West Theater Company at the Vam Dam Theatre, directed by W. Stuart McDowell, with an original musical score of ballads sung by Miss Bernelle, composed by Tony Award-winning composer/arranger, Bruce Coughlin. [For photos of Miss Bernelle in this production, see Downfall of the Egotist Johann Fatzer]

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

War years

During World War II Agnes became involved with top secret OSS radio broadcasts. Broadcast from Woburn Abbey alongside the top secret Enigma project, Agnes was introduced to black propaganda. Agnes was recruited for her perfect German and was suggested by her father Rudie Bernaur he himself was sourced for his theatrical and German connections. She operated under the codename "Vicky", her radio broadcasts were bounced over to Germany and primarily were aimed at spreading confustion and diminishing morale among German forces, along with being littered with code messages for resistance fighters on the continent disguised as record labels and numbers. The most notorious story of her time with the OSS featured the impressive feat of convincing a German U-boat to surrender by broadcasting a made up congratulatory message to the captain. Stating his wife had given birth to twins, he of course had not been on leave for more than two years. She later learnt that the man in charge known to them only as "the beard" was in fact Sefton Delmer her unofficial boss, and that the operations she was involved in paved the way for an organisation that would later be known as the CIA.

Family life

She married Desmond Leslie and that marriage ended in 1969 in divorce. They had two sons and one daughter:

*Shaun Rudolf Christopher Leslie (b. 4 June 1947), married Charlotte Bing; no offspring.
*Christopher Mark Leslie (b. 7 December 1952), married Cliona Manahan and had two children, Leah Leslie and Luke Leslie.
*Antonia Kelvey Oriel Leslie (b. 1963), married Colm Nolan, and raised one daughter, Lola Leslie.

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

Selected filmography

* "Still Life" (1999), Old woman
* "The Tale of Sweety Barrett" (1998), Mrs. Walsh
* "An Awfully Big Adventure" (1995), Mrs. Ackerly
* "Hear My Song" (1991), Receptionist
* "The Fantasist" (1986), Mrs. O'Malley
* "The Irish R.M." (1985), Mrs. Maguire (1 episode, 1985)
* "The First Great Train Robbery" (1979), Woman on Platform
* "Stranger at My Door" (1950), Laura Riordan
* "The Missing Princess" (1949), The Baroness
* "Caesar and Cleopatra" (1945), Lady in Waiting (uncredited)

References

* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0076669/ IMDB page]
* [http://www.thornyeternity.com/agnes Fan Page]