Julia Emilie Neilson (12 June 1868 – 27 May 1957)[1] was an English actress best known for her numerous performances as Lady Blakeney in The Scarlet Pimpernel, for her roles in many tragedies and historical romances, and for her portrayal of Rosalind in a long-running production of As You Like It.

At the age of twelve, she was sent to a boarding school in Wiesbaden, Germany, where she learned to speak French and German and began to study music, discovering that she excelled at this.

Gilbert wrote the lyrics to a short song for her to sing during Act I, and she proposed that a fellow student of hers at the Royal Academy, Edward German, should set it to music.

[1] These roles led to an invitation for Neilson to join Herbert Beerbohm Tree's company, in which she toured in Captain Swift, The Red Lamp and The Merry Wives of Windsor.

She remained with Tree's company for five years at the Haymarket Theatre as a tragedienne, beginning with the role of Julie de Noirville in A Man's Shadow, which opened in September 1889.

Neilson and her husband appeared together in Sydney Grundy's translation of the French play A Village Priest and numerous other productions together with Tree's company, including Beau Austin, Hamlet, Peril and Gilbert's Comedy and Tragedy (1890).

Neilson was soon back on stage as Lady Isobel in Jones's The Tempter (1893),[2] and created the role of Hester Worsley in Oscar Wilde's A Woman of No Importance (1893).

[6] They would continue to produce plays together for the next 30 years, most notably, The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905 at the New Theatre), which they also starred in and, with J. M. Barstow, adapted for the stage from Baroness Orczy's manuscript.

Neilson's and Terry's productions continued to favour historical romances or comedy melodramas, including Henry of Navarre by William Devereux (1909 at the New Theatre).

They also produced and starred with much success in For Sword or Song by Robert Legge and Louis Calvert (1903),[8] Dorothy o' the Hall by Paul Kester and Charles Major (1906), The Popinjay by Boyle Lawrence and Frederick Mouillot (1911), Mistress Wilful by Ernest Hendrie (1915), The Borderer (1921), The Marlboroughs (1924),[9] and The Wooing of Katherine Parr by William Devereux (1926).

Neilson retired from the stage after a run as Josephine Popinot in the revival of the farce Vintage Wine by Seymour Hicks and Ashley Dukes at Daly's Theatre.