Cornwell's father served in the
RAF and she grew up in Britain, where she attended a convent school, with
Penelope Keith. She attended Lewes County Grammar School for Girls. She later attended Saint Michael Boarding school in
Heacham, Norfolk, before moving to Australia with her family. She has written about her childhood experiences in her autobiography
Adventures of a Jelly Baby. She later returned to Britain and became a professional dancer and comedian in her teens, working her act between the nudes at Dhurjati Chaudhury's Irving Theatre Club, on Irving Street, off Leicester Square, London, before becoming an actress. Her career includes roles in radio's
The Navy Lark, the play
Oh! What A Lovely War, her own TV comedy series
Moody and Pegg, and a season with the
Royal Shakespeare Company. ==Films and television==