Edith Wynne Matthison

Edith Wynne Matthison (November 23, 1875 – September 23, 1955) was an Anglo-American stage actress whose Broadway career spanned from 1902 to 1924. Born in Birmingham, England, she was the daughter of Kate Wynne Matthison and Henry Matthison, and a niece of Welsh singer Sarah Edith Wynne. Her education took place at King Edward's Grammar School and the Midland Institute in England.

Matthison began performing in musical comedy at the age of 21 before joining Ben Greet's company, where she took on leading roles in productions including The Three Musketeers and Money. From early in her career she gravitated toward Shakespeare and classical drama, and her work encompassed Greek and mystery plays, old English comedies, and modern works. She was present on stage in a production of The Merchant of Venice on the night Sir Henry Irving died, with Irving collapsing near her. In the United States in 1904 she appeared in Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer, and her Broadway credits came to include The Arrow Maker, the musical The Pied Piper, The Winter's Tale, Sister Beatrice, and The Winterfeast, among other productions.

In addition to her stage work, Matthison appeared in two silent films. Her niece, Gladys Edith Wynne, was married to stage and silent film actor Milton Sills.

In 1898 Matthison married the playwright Charles Rann Kennedy. She acted in many of his plays and contributed to their development during the writing process. The two also shared an academic life, both teaching at Bennett Junior College in Millbrook, New York. Their marriage lasted fifty years, and they had no children. Matthison died of a stroke in Los Angeles on September 23, 1955.