Iris Kells

The family moved to Britain in 1939, and she enrolled at the Royal College of Music, studying with Ralph Vaughan Williams.

At the same theatre she appeared in a revival of Vaughan Williams's opera Riders to the Sea, in the role of Cathleen.

She appeared in several more productions at Sadler's Wells, including Don Giovanni in 1960, as Zerlina; Cosi fan tutte in 1962, as Despina; and Offenbach's La Vie parisienne in 1964, as Gabrielle.

In the 1970s she was understudy for Judi Dench in The Good Companions at Her Majesty's Theatre, and she sang for the Ice Capades at Wembley.

In 1967 she married Stephen Arlen, the managing director of Sadler's Wells Opera, and they had a daughter, Juliette.