Constance Malleson

Lady Constance Malleson (24 October 1895 – 5 October 1975) was a British writer and actress (appearing as Colette O'Niel). The daughter of Hugh Annesley, 5th Earl Annesley, Malleson studied at the Royal Academy of Drama Art and was a popular theatre performer.

During her twenty-year acting career she appeared in numerous productions across the United Kingdom including several productions at prominent theaters in London's West End and in Maurice Elvey's 1918 silent film Hindle Wakes. Before retiring from acting Malleson wrote and produced ''The Way'' a three act starring Una O'Connor, Charles Carson, and Moyna Macgill.

Active in pacifist and social reform efforts, Malleson spent the remainder of her career traveling and writing. She released several novels and autobiographical accounts, including ''In the north : autobiographical fragments in Norway, Sweden, Finland, 1936-1946'' about her experiences in Scandinavia administering relief efforts in response to the Russo-Finnish War. Among her most notable releases is the 1933 novel ''The Coming Back''. Though she denied the suggestion, it is understood as a roman à clef regarding Malleson's relationship with philosopher and political activist Bertrand Russell, with whom she shared an interest in pacifism. Friends until Russell's death, the pair were romantically involved from 1916 to 1920, during Malleson's mutually open marriage to actor Miles Malleson.

Biography

Early life

Malleson was born Constance Mary Annesley on 24 October 1895 at Castlewellan Castle in Castlewellan, Northern Ireland. She was the youngest child of Hugh Annesley, 5th Earl Annesley, and his second wife Priscilla Cecilia Armytage-Moore. Annesley's sister, Lady Clare Annesley, was a feminist and pacifist who stood as a Labour Party parliamentary candidate in the 1920s and 1930s. She also had two half siblings, Lady Mabel Annesley and Francis Annesley, 6th Earl Annesley, from her father's first marriage to Mabel
Wilhelmina Frances Markham. Malleson was home schooled by tutors until her father's death in 1908, at which time she was sent to Down House in Kent. Unimpressed with the school, she referred to it in her 1931 autobiography, ''After Ten'', as "Damned Hell", demonstrating an early contempt for aristocratic decorum.

Career

Annesley enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1913 after attending finishing school in Dresden and studying French in Paris. While there she met Miles Malleson, whom she married on 12 April 1915 at the age of 19. The couple divorced in December 1922 after Miles failed to comply with a decree for restitution of conjugal rights obtained by Constance on 15 May the same year. After graduating she spent the 1922 season with the Plymouth Repertory Theatre as lead actress. Malleson took up acting because she believed "that every woman ought to be able to earn a living." She was concerned with fair wages for all actors, going on to speak publicly about the importance of securing the minimum wage of 3 pounds a week and payment for rehearsal for everyone, not just lead actors.

Malleson appeared in many West End productions, including ''The Orphans'' at the Lyceum Theatre, and at least one film, '' Hindle Wakes''. She joined the Hull Repertory Theatre Company for the 1925 season appearing in several productions including ''Peter and Paul'' and ''Advertising April'', alongside actor Colin Clive, and a C. K. Munro production of ''At Mrs. Beam's''. Malleson believed that the short run plays that define repertory theatre were important for the development of young dramatists because they provided an opportunity to see how an audience reacts to one's work. In March 1928, Malleson produced a stage version of her three-act play ''The Way'' at the Arts Theatre Club in London. The cast, which included Una O'Connor and Charles Carson, was headed by Moyna Macgill in the role of Rosaleen Moore, a part written for her by Malleson. The play, which debuted on 25 March, was performed twice and was reviewed by ''The Times'' as a "pretentious sham!"

During the First World War, her pacifist opinions brought her into contact with Bertrand Russell. The pair met in 1916 at a trial for Clifford Allen, then, chairman of the No-Conscription Fellowship. Having mutually agreed to an open marriage with her husband, Malleson and Russell carried on a relationship until 1920. During that time Russell struggled with how seriously Malleson took her career and her continued involvement with other men. Their affair eventually ended because she did not want children. The pair remained friends and corresponded until Russell's death in 1970. He didn't feel that acting made sufficient use of her talents and encouraged a writing career after she rejected his suggestion to become more politically active. It was Russell who submitted Malleson's first published short story, "The End", which was released in the September 1919 edition of the English Review under the pseudonym Christine Harte. Malleson eventually sold her letters from Russell and other mementos to McMaster University for inclusion in the Bertrand Russell Archives.

Writing and travel

After retiring from acting Malleson moved to the country, traveled and authored several books. Her autobiography was published in 1931 followed by her first novel, ''The Coming Back'' in 1933. Despite claiming it as fiction the work is considered a roman à clef regarding her relationship with Russell. Described by John G. Slater as a "thinly disguised account", the novel features Russell as an astronomer from Cambridge, named Don Gregorio del Orellano, with other characters acting as stand ins for prominent people in Malleson's relationship with Russell, including Dora Russell, Clifford Allen, T.S. Eliot and Maurice Elvey. Malleson would later disown the work claiming it to be a "feeble first effort."

Malleson traveled extensively throughout her life including visits to the Middle East and Africa, in addition to frequent trips to the Nordic countries. She carried out lecture tours in the Nordic countries during the 1930s and 1940s, speaking on social reform topics including mental health and blood supply. In 1941, while working in Finland assist with relief efforts in response to the Russo-Finnish War, Malleson found herself stranded in a remote area of the country when the Germans took control of the country to fight Russian forces. She escaped by rowing 25 miles to Helsinki in a boat, where she was held for several days, before securing passage to Stockholm aboard a Swedish warship. Her time in the Nordic countries resulted in the publication of ''In the North: Autobiographical Fragments in Norway, Sweden, Finland'' in 1946.

Death

Malleson died in a nursing home near Bury St Edmunds on 5 October 1975.

Stage roles

Works

Publications

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*''As the Sight is Bent'' (1964) (edited by Constance Malleson, an unfinished autobiography of her half-sister Mabel Marguerite Annesley with 35 of her wood engravings)

Stage plays

*''The Way'' (1928)

Short stories and articles

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References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Malleson, Constance
1895 births
1975 deaths
Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Constance
Daughters of Irish earls
20th-century actresses from Northern Ireland
20th-century autobiographers from Northern Ireland
20th-century novelists from Northern Ireland
20th-century women writers from Northern Ireland
Women autobiographers from Northern Ireland
Women novelists from Northern Ireland
People from Castlewellan
Actors from County Down
Writers from County Down