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| Caption: | Actress Nelly Hutin Britton was born on 24th April 1876 in Bucklebury, Berkshire. Famous for her Shakespearean roles, she debuted in 1901 in 'Henry V.' She also played 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 famous actor Matheson Lang, and thereafter they appeared together frequently on stage and later on film. In 1906 she played Arganthael in '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. She also appeared with Lang 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 she retired in 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 they 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. She died on 3rd September 1965 aged 89. These promotional shots were probably taken for the Inverness performance of 'The Wandering Jew' in October 1936, which played to a packed house for several days at the Empire Theatre. |
| Added: | 09/05/2012 |
| Keywords: |
theatre costume stage play production
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