Biography
Nelly, the daughter of Thomas Britton, was born in Bucklebury in Berkshire, England in 1876. Her first appearance on stage was with Frank Benson's company in 1901, in Henry V. Among the Shakespeare parts she played were Hero in Much Ado About Nothing (1903), Ophelia in Hamlet (1909), Lady Elizabeth in Richard III (1909) and Lady Macbeth at Stratford (1911).
In 1903 she married actor Matheson Lang in London and thereafter they often appeared together on stage and later on film. In 1906 she played Arganthael in Joseph Comyns Carr's play Tristram and Iseult at the Adelphi Theatre, with Lang as Tristram. Britton and Lang subsequently formed their own company, which toured India, South Africa and Australia from 1910-13 performing Shakespeare. Her roles included Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew, Portia in The Merchant of Venice, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, as well as reprising the roles of Ophelia and Lady Macbeth.
In 1914, she and Lang successfully produced The Taming of the Shrew, The Merchant of Venice, and Hamlet at the Old Vic Theatre. She also appeared with him in Mr Wu, which became his signature role. In 1916 they appeared together in a silent film of The Merchant of Venice in which she once again played Portia. She also joined her husband in the film The Wandering Jew (1923) playing the part of Judith. After a four-year illness and a temporary retirement, she returned to the Old Vic stage in 1923 for the Shakespeare Birthday Festival and the following year as Volumnia in Coriolanus, and continued to act until 1936.
In 1940 the Langs were staying with their old friend Dornford Yates and his wife at their house near Pau in France when France surrendered and had to escape from the advancing Germans through Spain to Portugal.
In later life she sat on the governing board of the Old Vic Theatre. Britton died in 1965 aged 89.
Read more about this topic: Hutin Britton
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