English actress, the daughter of Commander Pocock, R.N. In 1896 she married the actor Arthur Playfair, whom she divorced in 1908; later in the latter year she married Dr. Simson. In 1895 she played Elaine in Sir Henry Irving’s production of King Arthur at the Lyceum, and again acted with him in 1903 in Dante. She made her first striking success, however, on the London stage in Mrs. Dane’s Defence with Sir Charles Wyndham in 1900, and a few years later her acting in Leah Kleschna confirmed her position as one of the leading actresses in London. In 1907 she started under her own management at the Kingsway theatre. At the outbreak of the World War she organized a Women’s Emergency Corps for rendering services of all kinds to the Allied forces and to refugees, as well as assistance to women at home thrown out of work by the dislocation of industry. She also formed a company of actors and musicians and went with them to France, where they provided excellent and much-appreciated entertainment to the troops when resting. She was made O.B.E. on the institution of the Order of the British Empire August 24, 1917.
