Mona Washbourne

British character player Mona Washbourne was a natural symbol for the working-class as much of her early career was in playing midwives, barmaids, nannies, landladies and factory workers. Born November 27, 1903, in Birmingham, England, where she attended Yardley Secondary School. The daughter of Arthur Edmund Washbourne and Kate (nee Robinson) Washbourne, the piano was her early passion and she initially trained at the Birmingham School of Music to be a concert pianist. Following concerting on the stage and broadcast playing on radio, she made her professional stage debut in April 1924 in Yarmouth with the "Modern Follies" concert party, as both pianist and soubrette. From this point, she delved herself completely into acting and went on tour with the "Fol-De-Rols" revue for three seasons, developing a special flair for bawdy, eccentric comedy. She performed in various repertory companies and earned her first major dramatic success on the London stage at the Westminster Theatre in 193