Violet Melnotte, was a British stage performer, actress-manager and theatre owner of the late 19th century and early 20th century. She was the wife of Gilbert and Sullivan performer Frank Wyatt, whom she met when they both appeared in the hit operetta Erminie.
Violet Melnotte in about 1892
Violet Melnotte in 1918
An actor-manager is a leading actor who sets up their own permanent theatrical company and manages the business, sometimes taking over a theatre to perform select plays in which they usually star. It is a method of theatrical production used consistently since the 16th century, particularly common in 19th-century Britain and the United States.
Actor-manager Henry Irving
Henry Irving in The Bells, 1874