The daughter of David Winn-Wilkins and Lilian (nee Woodgate), Anona Winn was educated at Redland College for Girls in Sydney. She studied piano as a youth and later won a Melba Scholarship to study opera at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and Melba Memorial Conservatorium of Music. She decided against a 'serious' music career, however, and after working briefly as a journalist turned to the vaudeville stage in 1925 - appearing on both the Tivoli and Fullers vaudeville circuits (as Anona Wynn).
Winn moved to England in 1927, establishing a career there that last well into the late-1950s. During that time she appeared on the stage (in musical comedy, operetta, pantomime and music hall), in radio, film and television, and also as a recording artist. She was perhaps best known in the UK, however, for her involvement in such BBC radio programmes as Just a Minute, Variety Bandbox, Twenty Questions and Petticoat Line.
