Phyllis Neilson-Terry (1892-1977)

Phyllis Neilson-Terry (1892-1977)

Phyllis Neilson-Terry was born in London on 15th October, 1892. She was the daughter of Fred Terry and Julia Neilson, and the neice of Dame Ellen Terry, all distinguished actors. In fact she was born into one of the leading theatrical families of the period. Both paternal grandparents had been actors, as had three other paternal aunts. In addition, her mother had six female cousins, all of whom earned a living on the stage.

Phyllis was educated at Westgate-on-sea and made her earliest stage appearances in child walk-on roles with her parents. At the age of 11 she appeared with her younger brother Dennis (born 1895) in a cart in the opening scene of the first productions of "The Scarlet Pimpernel" - her parents most famous production (her father played in the title role over 3000 times). When she was thirteen her parents sent her to study in Paris for two years, and on her return she entered the Royal Academy of Music. She had a beautiful voice and considered embarking upon a career as a singer, but ultimately chose instead to follow in the footsteps of her illustrious parents.

After appearing in a few small roles with her parents, she left their theatre company and assumed the stage name of Phyllida Terson in order to make her way on her own merits - without the benefit of her parents fame. She made her professional stage debut under that name at the Blackpool Opera House in October 1909, appearing as 'Marie de Belleforet' in "Henry of Navare". Her first West End appearance was at the New Theatre on 3rd January, 1910, in the same role. In April 1910 she linked up again with her father at His Majesty's, playing 'Viola' to his 'Sebastian' in "Twelfth Night" with great success. The stage manager at His Majesty's at that time was the Irish actor Cecil King, whom Phyllis would subsequently marry.

With such strong familial ties to the theatrical profession it is hardly surprising that acting was in her blood and her reputation grew rapidly as she scored further successes in other important roles - including 'Rosalind' in "As You Like It" and 'Juliet' in "Romeo and Juliet" both at the New Theatre during 1911. In February 1912, her name secured, she was engaged by Sir Herbert Tree to be his leading lady at His Majesty's - opening in the title role in "Trilby" on February 9th. She played in a number of roles for Tree over the following year, including the Shakespearean heroines of 'Desdemona' in "Othello", 'Portia' in "Merchant of Venice", 'Viola' in "Twelth Night", 'Portia' in "Julius Caesar" and 'Juliet' in "Romeo and Juliet". Her most impressive performance in this period however, and her greatest success to date, was as a haughty and imperious Queen Elizabeth in Tree's lavish production of 'Drake' which opened in September 1912 and ran for 220 performances. The title role was played by the illustrious Welsh actor, Lyn Harding.

In February 1913, Phyllis made a successful debut as a concert vocalist at the Queens Hall but this was not to challenge acting as her choice of career. In June of that year she was invited to play the role of 'Grace Harkaway' in the all-star benefit production of "London Assurance" in aid of King George's Actors Pension Fund. By now she was already a regular on the London stage with some impressive performances to her credit. After reprising her role in "Drake" at His Majesty's Theatre in August 1914, Phyllis embarked for the USA in company with Cecil King who had by now become her husband.

Her first appearance in the USA was as 'Viola' in "Twelth Night" at the Liberty Theatre in New York on 23rd November 1914. Phyllis remained in the USA and Canada for the next five years, the duration of the Great War, appearing in many successful productions - most notably the title role in "Trilby" at the Schubert Theatre in New York from April 1915 and subsequently on tour. That role was also the subject of her first appearance on film, in the silent short of the same name filmed in the USA in 1915. During 1917 she toured the USA in vaudeville, and the following year toured Canada as 'Maggie' in the play of the same name.

Phyllis returned to England in 1919 appearing at the Coliseum from October of that year and subsequently touring the provinces in the leading variety theatres. She also appeared in her third movie, "Tense Moments with Great Authors", a montage of dramatic scenes from popular plays, which was filmed in France. Phllyis reprised a scene from her role in "Trilby", which production she took on tour in England the following year. From January 1922, in conjunction with her husband, Phyllis entered into theatre management, taking over the lease of the Apollo Theatre in London. The Apollo was a consistently successful theatre despite having never been the permanent home of a great management. In the two years it was run by Phyllis and her husband little changed. They acheived moderate successes with "The Wheel", "Trilby" (revival), "Stigmata" and in particular with E. Temple Thurston's new comedy "A Roof and Four Walls", which they also subsequently took on tour. Phyllis also found time in 1922 to appear in her third movie, in the silent "Tense Moments with Great Authors", a montage of great scenes from popular plays (Phyllis appearing as 'Trilby').

During this period her marriage ran into difficulties however, and from 1925 she and her husband parted company, each to pursue their own careers. Phyllis spent the next two years touring in the provinces, then from October 1927 embarked on a year's tour of South Africa (from where her brother Dennis, now an established actor, had just returned). Returning to England, Phyllis continued to be a regular on the English stage for a further twenty-five years, both in London and on tour in the provinces. During this time she appeared in many Shakespearean roles including 'Viola' and 'Olivia' (on seperate occasions) in "Twelth Night", 'Oberon' in "A Midsummer Nights Dream", 'Portia' in "Julius Caesar" and in "A Merchant of Venice" and as 'Lady MacBeth'. Her most notable role in this period however was probably as 'Queen Elizabeth' in "Elizabeth of England" at the Cambridge in September 1931. She also reprised her mother's greatest role of Lady Blakeney twice more, at The Strand in February 1929 and at The Q in December 1936. She even appeared on stage with her mother one final time in at the Q Theatre in November 1944 when they played 'Raina Everleigh' and 'Lady Rutven' respectively in "The Widow of 40".

Phyllis had been devastated when her brother died unexpectedly of double-pneumonia on Jul 12th, 1932 in Bulawayo during his second tour of South Africa, and by her fathers death less than a year later in April 1933, but in the best theatrical tradition had not allowed her grief to interfere with her career. She appeared in a further five movies, the first being the 1928 UK production of "Boadicea" (silent) in which she played the title role. Her first 'talking picture' was the 1930 movie "Our Family" in which she played 'Australia' (a young boy's dream guide of that country). That was followed after a gap of some twenty-eight years by "RX for Murder" and "Look Back in Anger" and two years later by "Conspiracy of Hearts". She also appeared in two episodes of the TV series "Ivanhoe" which were shot in 1958.

After a relatively short period of retirement, Phyllis died in London on 25th September 1977 London. During her career she had been both a consumate actress and an accomplished vocalist. Although it would be difficult to describe either her father as 'handsome' or her mother as truly 'beautiful', Phyllis still somehow managed to inherit a simple beauty all her own. Her accession to her mothers place in the hearts and esteem of the theatregoing public was encapsulated in a cartoon published in Punch in 1922 to mark the Centenary of the Royal Academy - it showed her mother as 'the Past' welcoming 'the Future' (as represented by Phyllis).Like her mother, she was a competent practitioner of the Shakespearean classics but her greatest mark was made in her regal roles (for which her elegant stature and understated good looks made her eminently suitable) of which there numerous examples. During her career she played 'Queen Elizabeth I' (in "Drake" and "Elizabeth of England"), 'Queen Phillipa' (in "The Six of Calais"), 'Mary Tudor' (in "Mary Tudor"), 'Queen Katherine' in "Henry VIII" and 'The Queen' in "Hamlet".

Movie Credits (source www.imdb.com)
1915 - Trilby
1919 - L' Appel du sang
1922 - Tense Moments with Great Authors [Trilby] (segment "Trilby")
1928 - Boadicea [Queen Boadicea]
1930 - One Family [Australia]
1958 - RX for Murder [Lady Lacy]
1958 - Look Back in Anger [Mrs. Redfern]
1960 - Conspiracy of Hearts [Sister Elisaveta]

TV Credits (source www.imdb.com)
1958 - Ivanhoe (two episodes) [Queen-mother]