Neva was born while her parents were with the
Fred Niblo company touring the
J. C. Williamson circuit. Her theatrical debut was four months later, in
New Zealand, when Fred Niblo carried her on stage. She was playing the young
William to her mother's
Lady Isabel Vane in
East Lynne at the age of four. From age five to twelve, when her father died, she was a boarder in various convent schools, ending in
Sydney. At eight she was enrolled in the
Minnie Hooper School of Dancing and at eleven she was dancing in a revue
The Queen of Sheba at the Sydney Town Hall. this last starring
Roy Rene. Other stars she worked with at this time were
Jim Gerald and
George Wallace. In 1929 she and her mother joined the Frank Neil company in a tour of
South Africa playing leads in such comedies as ''Up in Mabel's Room''. She travelled to London in 1931 and got a break with the
Firth Shephard company playing the
Sigmund Romberg operetta
Nina Rosa (produced by
Carol Reed) then with Firth Shephard and
Leslie Henson in a string of "Aldwych comedies" such as
Living Dangerously (1934),
Accidentally Yours (1935), and ''Aren't Men Beasts?
in 1936. She also appeared in four movies including Girls, Please! (1934) with Sydney Howard and The Squeaker'' (1937) with
Ann Todd. There in 1936 she married an Australian grazier named Arthur John but left him when he insisted she give up the stage. In 1937 she returned to Australia and was soon in work, playing in
Cinderella (playing Dandini) and other pantomimes by day and revues with
Jim Gerald and
Ella Shields at night. ==Radio and stage==