Neilson was born in London, the only child of Alexander Ritchie Neilson, a jeweller, and his wife, Emilie Davis, a member of a family of five Jewish sisters, many of whose offspring became actresses. Neilson's parents divorced shortly after her birth, and her father soon died, leaving her mother to struggle to support her child. Her mother much later married a solicitor, William Morris, the widower of the actress Florence Terry, elder sister of the actor
Fred Terry, who had, by that time, married Neilson. Neilson was an indifferent student. At the age of twelve, she was sent to a boarding school in
Wiesbaden, Germany, where she learned to speak French and German and began to study music, discovering that she excelled at this. She returned to England to enter the
Royal Academy of Music in 1884, at the age of fifteen, to study piano. She soon discovered that she had a talent as a singer, winning the Llewellyn Thomas Gold Medal (1885), the Westmoreland Scholarship (1886) and the Sainton Dolby Prize (1886). While at the Academy, in 1887, she sang at the
St James's Hall and also played roles in amateur theatre. and created the role of Hester Worsley in
Oscar Wilde's
A Woman of No Importance (1893). In June 1894, Neilson and Terry appeared together in
Shall We Forgive Her? by Frank Harvey at the
Adelphi Theatre, with Neilson as Grace. The next year, she played Lady Chiltern in Wilde's comedy
An Ideal Husband at the Haymarket under the management of
Lewis Waller. She gave birth to her second child, Dennis, in October 1895. Two months later, the family travelled to America to perform with
John Hare's company. There they played together in New York in
The Notorious Mrs. Ebbsmith by
Arthur Wing Pinero, with Neilson as Agnes. In 1896, they returned to England where, at the
St James's Theatre, Neilson played Princess Flavia in
The Prisoner of Zenda by
Anthony Hope, remaining at that theatre for two years. There she played Rosalind in the extremely successful run of
As You Like It (in which role she toured North America in 1895 and 1910). She played the title role in Pinero's
The Princess and the Butterfly in 1897. Her husband appeared with her in
The Tree of Knowledge and other plays from October 1897 until the summer of 1898; her roles included Beatrice in
Much Ado About Nothing. Next, they appeared in
The Gipsy Earl. Again with Tree's company, now at
Her Majesty's Theatre, Neilson was Constance in
King John (1899) (and appeared in an early short silent movie recreating King John's death scene at the end of the play) and Oberon in ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1900). They then toured in As You Like It
. They would continue to produce plays together for the next 30 years, most notably, The Scarlet Pimpernel'' (1905 at the
New Theatre), which they also starred in and, with J. M. Barstow, adapted for the stage from
Baroness Orczy's manuscript. Despite scathing reviews from the critics, the play was a record-breaking hit and played for more than 2,000 performances, then enjoying numerous revivals. Neilson's roles also included the title role in Kester's adaptation of
Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall (1907). Neilson's and Terry's productions continued to favour historical romances or comedy melodramas, including
Henry of Navarre by William Devereux (1909 at the New Theatre).
Henry and
Sweet Nell became their signature pieces during many tours of the British provinces and during their US tour in 1910. They also produced and starred with much success in
For Sword or Song by Robert Legge and
Louis Calvert (1903), ''Dorothy o' the Hall
by Paul Kester and Charles Major (1906), The Popinjay
by Boyle Lawrence and Frederick Mouillot (1911), Mistress Wilful
by Ernest Hendrie (1915), The Borderer
(1921), The Marlboroughs
(1924), and The Wooing of Katherine Parr
by William Devereux (1926). They also starred in A Wreath of a Hundred Roses'' (1922), which was a
masque by
Louis N. Parker at the Duke's Hall to celebrate the Royal Academy's centenary. She later starred in
This Thing Called Love in 1929. Her son Dennis died of pneumonia in 1932, and her husband, Fred Terry, died in 1933. Neilson retired from the stage after a run as Josephine Popinot in the revival of the farce
Vintage Wine by
Seymour Hicks and
Ashley Dukes at
Daly's Theatre. In 1938, she was given a testimonial luncheon to mark her fiftieth anniversary as a performer. Neilson made a brief return to the stage in 1944 to play Lady Rutven in
The Widow of 40 by
Heron Carvic. She wrote a memoir entitled,
This For Remembrance, which gives an account of her life in the theatre business. Her children with Terry,
Phyllis and
Dennis, were both actors. Neilson died in a hospital in
Hampstead, London, after a fall at her home, in 1957 at the age of 88. She was cremated at
Golders Green, and she and her husband are both buried at
Hampstead Cemetery in London. ==See also==