Violet Vanbrugh

Violet Vanbrugh (11 June 1867 – 11 November 1942), born Violet Augusta Mary Barnes, was an English actress with a career that spanned more than 50 years. Despite her many successes, her career was overshadowed by that of her more famous sister, Dame Irene Vanbrugh.

Vanbrugh studied acting and made her professional debut in an 1886 burlesque. The same year, she made her West End theatre debut and then traveled to Margate to play leading roles in four of Shakespeare's plays. In 1889 she joined the Kendals at the Royal Court Theatre and on tour in the US. Two years later, back in London, she joined Henry Irving and Ellen Terry in their famous Shakespeare company at the Lyceum Theatre. In 1893, she appeared opposite her husband Arthur Bourchier at Daly's Theatre and soon became his leading lady at the Royalty Theatre and then at the Garrick Theatre, where Bourchier was lessee for the first six years of the 20th century.

Vanbrugh returned to Shakespearean roles in 1906 at Stratford upon Avon, where she played Lady Macbeth to her husband's Macbeth, and they soon starred together in Herbert Beerbohm Tree's London production of Henry VIII. They continued to play in Shakespeare and other pieces, and two films, through World War I, but their marriage ended in 1918. She continued acting steadily on stage and had some success in film in the 1930s, especially in Pygmalion in 1938. In her 50th season on stage, she starred in The Merry Wives of Windsor with her sister in London, and during The Blitz, they entertained at matinees. Her last film appearance was in 1940 in Young Man's Fancy. She died in London in 1942 at the age of 75. Violet Augusta Mary Barnes was born in Exeter, England, the eldest of six children of the Rev Reginald Henry Barnes (1831–1889), Prebendary of Exeter Cathedral and Vicar of Heavitree, and his wife, Frances Mary Emily, née Nation. She was the eldest sister of the actress Irene Vanbrugh and the theatrical educator Kenneth Barnes. She grew up in Exeter and was educated in France and Germany. Although her father was at first dismayed by her interest in the theatre, he eventually gave his consent, and her sister Irene later credited Violet with making her own acting career possible.