Editing Lynn Fontanne (section)

===Early years===
Fontanne was born '''Lillie Louise Fontanne''' in  [[Woodford, London|Woodford]], Essex (now London), on 6 December 1887.{{refn|It was quite usual for actresses (and some actors) to deduct a few years from their age in reference books such as ''[[Who's Who in the Theatre]]'',<ref>Parker, pp. iii–iv</ref> which Fontanne did, claiming to have been born in 1892.<ref name=ww/> She carried the pretence to the extent of concealing her real age from her husband, and not admitting it publicly until after his death.<ref>Ware and Braukman, p. 217</ref>|group=n|name=age}} She was the youngest of the three daughters of Jules Pierre Antoine Fontanne (1855–1942) and his wife Frances Ellen, ''née'' Thornley (1858–1921). She was educated in London, after which a family friend introduced her to the leading actress [[Ellen Terry]], who sometimes gave lessons to promising young players.<ref name=anb/> Partly as a result of Terry’s training and influence, Fontanne was given roles in plays in London and on tour throughout England from 1905 to 1916. She made her first appearance at the [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane]], at Christmas 1905, in the chorus of the [[pantomime]], ''Cinderella'', and subsequently "walked on" (i.e. was a non-speaking extra) in productions in London starring [[Lewis Waller]], [[Herbert Beerbohm Tree|Sir Herbert Tree]], [[Lena Ashwell]] and others.<ref name=ww>Herbert, pp. 789–791</ref>

[[File:Fontanne-My-Lady's-Dress-1914.jpg|thumb|upright|As Liza in ''My Lady's Dress'', 1914|alt=Young white woman in 1914 daywear, seated at a table, teacup in hand]]
During 1909, she toured as Rose in ''Lady Frederick'' with [[Mabel Love]]. At the [[Garrick Theatre]], London, in December 1909 she appeared in ''Where Children Rule'', and in ''Billy's Bargain'' at the same theatre in June 1910 she played Lady Mulberry. She then made her first visit to America, making her début in New York at [[Nazimova's 39th Street Theatre]] in November 1910 as Harriet Budgeon in ''Mr Preedy and the Countess'' with [[Weedon Grossmith]].<ref name=ww/>

After returning to London in 1911 she played at the [[Criterion Theatre]] in ''The Young Lady of Seventeen'' and at the [[Vaudeville Theatre|Vaudeville]] in ''A Storm in a Tea Shop''. She then toured in the provinces in 1912–13 as Gertrude Rhead in [[Arnold Bennett]] and [[Edward Knoblock]]'s ''[[Milestones (play)|Milestones]]'', before playing the part in London.<ref name=ww/> In that role she had to play the same character in youth, middle age and old age. The American star [[Laurette Taylor]] saw her in the role and was impressed.<ref name=p14>Peters, p. 14</ref> At the [[Royalty Theatre]] in April 1914 Fontanne scored a success as Liza and Mrs Collison in Knoblock's ''My Lady's Dress''. She played in four other London productions in 1914–15, including the premiere of ''[[The Starlight Express]]''. She became engaged to marry a young lawyer, Teddy Byrne, but he was killed in action in 1916 during the [[First World War]].<ref name=p14/>