The Lady Constance Malleson (24 October 1895 – 5 October 1975) was a British writer and actress (appearing as Colette O'Niel).

Biography

Malleson was born Constance Mary Annesley on October 24, 1985 at Castlewellan Castle in 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.

Annesley trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. While there she met Miles Malleson, whom she married in 1915. She went on to appear 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 a production of At Mrs. Beam's. Annesley took up acting because she believed "that every woman ought to be able to earn a living."

During the First World War, her pacifist opinions brought her into contact with Bertrand Russell, whose mistress she soon became (having agreed with her husband on an "open marriage"). The pair met in 1916 at a trial for Clifford Allen, then, chairman of the No-Conscription Fellowship. In 1923, she was divorced from Malleson. Her interest in social reform led her to travel abroad, and she carried out lecture tours in Scandinavia in the 1930s and 1940s.