The Fun Palace: An Autobiography - Softcover

Born in 1923 in Berlin, daughter of a renowned Jewish-Hungarian theatre impressario, Agnes Bernelle had a quirky and privileged childhood until her family's flight to England from the Nazi threat in 1936. In this work, Agnes tells her story in her own words, from her theatrical education by a group of seasoned refugee actors to her career as a performer on the stages of London's West End, which in 1956 included the role of Salome, the first "non-stationery nude" in London theatre.

Agnes Bernelle, one of Ireland's best-loved stage performers, was born Agnes Bernauer in Berlin in 1923, the daughter of a renowned Jewish-Hungarian theatre impresario. In this sparkling, intimate memoir she recounts her early years in Germany, her family's flight to London after Hitler came to power, her anti-Nazi broadcasts to the land of her birth, her turbulent loves and family life, the blossoming of her career in film and theatre - from wartime refugee cabaret to the West End - and her eventual move to Glaslough in Ireland in 1963.