Marda Vanne (born Margaretha van Hulsteyn;[Note 1][4] 27 September 1896 – 27 April 1970) was a South African actress who found fame in London.

[2]: 48 [3] Margaretha was born in Pretoria, South African Republic to Sir Willem and Lady van Hulsteyn.

During the South African War, he became an advisor to Lord Milner, the Governor of the Cape Colony, and was knighted by King Edward VII in 1902.

[12] She also performed on Broadway in Noël Coward's Easy Virtue (1925), directed by Dean, and Many Waters (1929) by Monckton Hoffe.

[14] In London, Vanne formed a professional and personal partnership with the actress Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies that lasted until her death in 1970.

[16] In 1950, Vanne directed an Afrikaans translation of Grumpy,[17] by Horace Hodges and T. Wigney Percyval called Oupa Brompie for the National Theatre Organisation (NTO) of South Africa.

[18] They produced The Dam by South African writer Guy Butler in 1952, which the author criticised for portraying the Coloured (mixed-race) characters as caricatures.