Doris Fitton

Dame Doris Alice Lucy Walkden Fitton, Mrs Mason, DBE (3 November 1897 – 2 April 1985) was an Australian actress of stage and film and theatrical director and producer who founded and for 35 years headed Sydney's Independent Theatre, staging a diverse range of local and international dramas, many for the first time in Australia, including Sumner Locke Elliott's wartime comedy, Rusty Bugles, and Max Afford's thriller Lady in Danger.

Doris Alice Lucy Walkden Fitton was born in Santa Ana, Manila, Philippines, to English born broker Walter Albert and Janet Frazer (née Cameron) Fitton. Her father died when she was young and in 1902, aged five, she relocated to Australia settling in Victoria with her mother and elder sister, Ethel. She was educated at Loreto Convent, Ballarat and took acting classes with Gregan McMahon. Fitton had her first acting role in Melbourne with J.C. Williamson in 1915.

In 1922 Fitton married law clerk Norbert Keck "Tug" Mason in Sydney, where they lived in Chatswood, New South Wales and Potts Point, New South Wales before moving to Berry Street, North Sydney in 1953.

She joined the Turret Theatre where she was secretary as well as performer. She helped found the Independent Theatre in St James' Hall in 1930, taking its name from the Independent Theatre Society founded in London by J. T. Grein. As the company developed, they progressively moved to better premises until in 1938 they took over the old Coliseum in Miller Street, North Sydney.

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