Betty Chancellor

Betty Chancellor was born in Dublin in 1910 and started acting at age 3. She made her professional debut at the Gate Theatre Dublin in Back to Methuselah in 1930. This was followed by many notable appearances at the Gate such as in Jew Suss with the youthful Orson Welles, as Ophelia to Micheal MacLiammoir’s Hamlet, and with James Mason in Pride and Prejudice. Seasons at the Arts Theatre Cambridge followed, along with productions in London’s West End including Ah, Wilderness, Ghost for Sale, and Spring Meeting, directed by John Gielgud. In 1947 she starred with Jack Hawkins in The Moon in the Yellow River at the Arts Theatre, London. In 1948 she moved with her husband, the playwright Denis Johnston (q.v.), and her two sons to the United States. She died in Dublin in 1984. Her elder sister was the actress Joyce Chancellor (q.v.). Many more performances will be added to the list when time allows.