[3] Mona Washbourne was born in Sparkhill, Birmingham, and began her entertaining career training as a concert pianist.

[4][5][6] Her sister Kathleen Washbourne was a violinist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sir Adrian Boult.

[8] Her film credits include the horror movie The Brides of Dracula, Billy Liar (1963) and The Collector (1965).

[11] In 1975 she appeared on the West End stage with James Stewart in a revival of Mary Chase's play Harvey, in the role originally taken by Josephine Hull.

[13] In 1981, Washbourne appeared in Granada Television's TV miniseries adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited as Nanny Hawkins.