NEILSON, JULIA

NEILSON, JULIA (1868–1957), English romantic actress. Born in London, Julia was the daughter of Alexander Ritchie Neilson, a silversmith and jeweler, and Emily Davis, and was a cousin of three other well-known actresses of the Davis family, Lily Hanbury, Hilda Jacobson, and Nora Kerin. She made her first appearance (1888) in W.S. Gilbert's Pygmalion and Galatea, toured with Beerbohm Tree in 1889, and acted with him at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, for five years. In 1890 she married Fred Terry, brother of the celebrated Ellen Terry. Julia became famous for her acting in such plays as A Woman of No Importance, The Prisoner of Zenda, Sweet Nell of Old Drury, and The Scarlet Pimpernel. Her greatest success was as Rosalind in As You Like It (1896). She visited the U.S. in 1895 and again in 1910. In 1900, she and her husband went into management and for the next 30 years played and toured with their own company. Both their children, Dennis (1895–1932) and Phyllis (1892–1977), acted under the name of Neilson-Terry. Neilson's memoirs, This for Remembrance, were published in 1940. -ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: ODNB online.