Biography

Dame Irene Vanbrugh DBE (née Barnes; 2 December 1872 – 30 November 1949) was an English actress. The daughter of a clergyman, Vanbrugh followed her elder sister Violet into the theatrical profession and sustained a career for more than 50 years.

In her early days as a leading lady she was particularly associated with the plays of Arthur Wing Pinero and later had parts written for her by J. M. Barrie, Bernard Shaw, Somerset Maugham, A. A. Milne and Noël Coward. More famous for comic rather than dramatic roles, Vanbrugh nevertheless played a number of the latter in both modern works and the classics. Her stage debut was in Shakespeare, but she seldom acted in his works later in her career; exceptions were her Queen Gertrude in Hamlet in 1931 and her Meg Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor, opposite her sister Violet as Alice Ford, in 1937.

Vanbrugh appeared frequently in fundraising shows for various charities. She was active over many years in the support of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, of which her brother was principal. After her death the academy's new theatre was named The Vanbrugh Theatre in honour of her and her sister. She was also a governor of the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital on Euston Road and in June 1918 she organised a matinee concert at the London Palladium to raise funds for the endowment of a bed for the use of any woman connected to the theatrical profession.