Violet Vanbrugh (1867-1942) was the elder sister of Irene Vanbrugh. Both became distinguished actresses.

Violet acted in the companies of the Kendals (with whom she toured America) and Henry Irving. In 1894, with her new husband, the actor Arthur Bourchier, she went to the USA and they both played with Augustin Daly's Company in New York.

Although she was considered to have been a talented and beautiful actress, her career seems to have been somewhat subjugated to that of her husband. After their divorce in 1918, she continued acting in London's West End until the outbreak of the Second World War. She also appeared in four films during the 1920s, including a small part in Pygmalion (1938).