Viola Mary Lyel (19 December 1896 – 14 August 1972) was an English actress. In a long stage career she appeared in the West End and on Broadway, for leading directors of the day, including Sir Barry Jackson, and Nigel Playfair. Her roles ranged from Shakespeare and Restoration comedy to melodrama and drawing room comedies. Among the writers in whose plays she created roles were A. A. Milne J. B. Priestley and Terence Rattigan. In films she had a career lasting nearly thirty years.