Minnie Gertrude Ellis Jeffreys (12 May 1868(?) – 21 January 1943) was an English actress, best known for her comedy roles. Jeffreys was born in Ceylon and made her stage debut in London in 1889. She quickly became a leading West End player. In the early 1890s she had a long run in the operetta La Cigale, and then was a member of Charles Wyndham's company at the Criterion Theatre. In 1895 she created a role in The Notorious Mrs Ebbsmith, which she played in London and on Broadway. Most of her roles were in modern-dress drawing room comedy, but she also acted in classics including She Stoops to Conquer and The School for Scandal. In several years between 1895 and 1906 she was seen in the US, both on Broadway and in national tours. After that she continued to play in Britain, mostly in the West End, into the 1930s. During that decade she appeared in thirteen films, before retiring in 1938, five years before her death. Life and career Early years Jeffreys was born in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), the daughter of Captain Dodsworth Jeffreys and his wife Elizabeth, née Corcor. She made her stage debut at the Savoy Theatre, London, with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1889 in the chorus of The Yeomen of the Guard. She then appeared at Her Majesty's Theatre in December 1889, as Butterfly in the pantomime Cinderella, after which she was engaged for the Lyric Theatre where she appeared in 1890 as Polly in The Sentry and then during the long run of La Cigale, she played and sang several leading female roles. In the early 1890s Jeffreys was a member of Charles Wyndham's company at the Criterion Theatre, where she appeared in The Bauble Shop, The Fringe of Society, The Headless Man, Betsy, Madame Favart, La Mascotte and Haste to the Wedding. In 1894 Jeffreys married the Hon Frederick Graham Curzon, the younger son of the 3rd Earl Howe. Unlike some actresses who retired after marrying into the aristocracy, she continued her stage career. At the Garrick Theatre in 1895, she created the role of Mrs Gertrude Thorpe in The Notorious Mrs Ebbsmith in a starry cast that included Mrs Patrick Campbell, John Hare, Johnston Forbes-Robertson and Gerald du Maurier. When Hare took the production to the US, Jeffreys joined him in the Broadway cast, along with Julia Neilson