She had a stage career in Britain, Australia and America before moving to Hollywood to perform in motion pictures.

Malyon was born in the London district of Islington in 1879, the daughter of Harry Craston, a master boot and lawn tennis shoe manufacturer, and his wife.

Her parents divorced in 1882, and she accompanied her mother, the actress Agnes Thomas, touring the world.

She so enjoyed her stay at the Ursuline convents near Liège and Visé that she resolved to become a nun,[1] but changed her mind after experience as understudy to her mother at Drury Lane.

[2] She spent some time in Australia, initially as a member of Ethel Irving's company, brought to Melbourne in 1911 by J. C. Williamson to play The Witness for the Defence,[3] then played for Williamson in an English comedy company touring Milestones, in the role of Rose Sibley.