Doris Lytton (January 23, 1893 – December 2, 1953) was an English actress on stage and in silent films, and a businesswoman in the 1920s. Later, as Doris Lytton Toye, she wrote a cookbook tailored for post-war shortages, ''Contemporary Cookery'' (1947).

Early life

Doris Lytton Partington was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Career

Doris Lytton performed in plays on the London stage from her girlhood, including ''The Conqueror'' (1905), ''For the Crown'' (1905),

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succe ...

's ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...

'' (1907),

Cicely Hamilton Cicely Mary Hamilton (née Hammill; 15 June 1872 – 6 December 1952), was an English actress, writer, journalist, suffragist and feminist, part of the struggle for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom. She is now best known for the feminist ...

's feminist comedy ''

Diana of Dobson's Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997) ...

'' (1908, 1909), ''Might is Right'' (1909), ''Inconstant George'' (1910),

Cosmo Hamilton Cosmo Hamilton (29 April 1870 – 14 October 1942), born Henry Charles Hamilton Gibbs, was an English playwright and novelist. He was the brother of writers Arthur Hamilton Gibbs, Francis William Hamilton Gibbs, Helen Katherine Hamilton Gibbs an ...

's ''The Blindness of Virtue'' (1913), ''Never Say Die'' (1913), J. M. Barrie's ''Dear Brutus'' (1917), ''Husbands for All'' (1920), Reginald Berkeley's ''French Leave'' (1920), ''The Fulfilling of the Law'' (1921), ''A Matter of Fact'' (1921), ''Trespasses'' (1923), ''The Confession'' (1925),

Harley Granville-Barker Harley Granville-Barker (25 November 1877 – 31 August 1946) was an English actor, director, playwright, manager, critic, and theorist. After early success as an actor in the plays of George Bernard Shaw, he increasingly turned to directing a ...

's ''The Madras House'' (1925-1926), ''Behold the Bridegroom'' (1931), ''King Queen Knave'' (1932), ''

Suspect In law enforcement jargon, a suspect is a known person accused or suspected of committing a crime. Police and reporters in the United States often use the word suspect as a jargon when referring to the perpetrator of the offense (perp in dated U. ...

'' (1937). Silent films featuring Doris Lytton included '' The Blue Bird'' (1910), '' The Brass Bottle'' (1914), ''The Single Man'' (1919), ''

Mutiny Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military or a crew) to oppose, change, or remove superiors or their orders. The term is commonly used for insubordination by members of the military against an officer or superior, ...

'' (1925). She was also in the cast of a 1942

BBC Home Service The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4. History 1922–1939: Interwar period Between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, the BBC ...

production of ''The King Comes to His Own'', a Biblical drama by

Dorothy L. Sayers Dorothy Leigh Sayers ( ; 13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime novelist, playwright, translator and critic. Born in Oxford, Sayers was brought up in rural East Anglia and educated at Godolphin School in Salisbury and Somerv ...

. In 1920, Lytton opened a shop called "Cinderella" in the West End of London, offering repairs for "expensive evening dress shoes". A newspaper writer praised her effort as "an example of the new woman who has gone into business for herself and made good." Lytton was known to sew and embroider backstage, and enjoyed cooking. "I have loved to cook ever since I was a wee thing and had a toy cook stove," she explained to an American reporter while on tour in the United States in 1913. From 1945 to 1947 Doris Lytton Toye wrote a monthly cookery column for ''Vogue'' magazine, with illustrations by

Denton Welch Maurice Denton Welch (29 March 1915 – 30 December 1948) was a British writer and painter, admired for his vivid prose and precise descriptions. Life Welch was born in Shanghai, China, to Arthur Joseph Welch, a wealthy British rubber merchant, ...

. It featured advice particular to the rationing conditions in England during and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. For example, it suggested barley or pasta as workable alternatives to rice, which was not available. A cookbook based on her columns, ''Contemporary Cookery'', was published in 1947. The cookbook's additional illustrations were provided by John Minton.

Personal life

Doris Lytton married opera composer and conductor

Geoffrey Toye Edward Geoffrey Toye (17 February 1889 – 11 June 1942), known as Geoffrey Toye, was an English conductor, composer and opera producer. He is best remembered as a musical director of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and for his association wit ...

in 1915. They divorced before 1936. She died in London in 1953, aged 60 years, after falling from the window of her fifth floor apartment."Doris Lytton, 60, Dies in Plunge"
''Long Beach Independent'' (December 4, 1953): 13. via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. It is owned by The ...

References

External links

*The

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

ha
24 portraits of Doris Lytton
all of them taken between 1914 and 1918 by

Bassano Ltd Alexander Bassano (10 May 1829 – 21 October 1913) was an English photographer who was a leading royal and high society portrait photographer in Victorian London. He is known for his photo of the Earl Kitchener in the ''Lord Kitchener Wants Y ...

* 1893 births 1953 deaths English actresses {{authority control