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==Early life==
Enid Eulalie Bennett was born on 15 July 1893 in [[York, Western Australia|York]], the daughter of Nellie Mary Louise (''née'' Walker) and Frank Bennett. She had an older brother, Francis Reginald "Reg" Bennett (born 1891), and a younger sister, actress [[Marjorie Bennett]] (born 1896).<ref>[http://www.bdm.dotag.wa.gov.au/ Western Australian Births, Deaths and Marriages records. See]</ref> After an unsuccessful attempt to start his own school, Frank took up the role of headmaster at the newly established [[Guildford Grammar School]] in 1896. He died in 1898, when he drowned in a river while suffering from depression.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article148267940 ''Eastern Districts Chronicle'' (York, WA : 1877 - 1927), "The Late Mr. F. Bennett," Saturday 15 October 1898] Accessed 29/12/15</ref> Nellie later married the new headmaster, Alexander Gillespie, in 1899. With him, she had a daughter named Catherine (born 1901) and a son named Alexander (born 1903).<ref name=Waller>[http://ggs.wa.edu.au.wincust.webinabox.net.au/Newsletter/2013-September/Term-3,-Week-8/From-the-Archives.aspx ''Guildford Grammar Archives'', "NELLIE MARY LOUISE WALKER," By Rosemary Waller, 11 September, 2013] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119223324/http://ggs.wa.edu.au.wincust.webinabox.net.au/Newsletter/2013-September/Term-3,-Week-8/From-the-Archives.aspx |date=19 January 2016 }} Accessed 28/12/2015</ref> Following Gillespie's death in 1903, Nellie supported her five children by working as a school matron.
Bennett attended [[Lionel Logue]]'s acting and elocution classes in [[Perth]], and after receiving encouragement from a visiting actress in 1910, she joined a touring company.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article80075558 ''The Daily News'' (Perth, WA : 1882 - 1950) "Mainly About People," 10 August, 1910, P.3] Accessed 28/12/2015</ref><ref name = Deacon>[http://www.nla.gov.au/ojs/index.php/AJVS/article/viewFile/3128/3628 Desley Deacon, 2013. ''Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies.''"From Victorian Accomplishment to Modern Profession: Elocution Takes Judith Anderson, Sylvia Bremer and Dorothy Cumming to Hollywood, 1912-1918." National Library of Australia. Vol 18, No.1] Accessed 13/12/2015</ref> By 1912, Bennett had joined the [[Fred Niblo]]-Josephine Cohan touring company, performing comedies around Australia and understudying for Cohan herself, for which she received consistently positive reviews. Her family had moved to [[Sydney]] by this time. In 1917, Reg was killed during the [[Battle of Passchendaele]] while serving with the [[First Australian Imperial Force]].<ref>[https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1647170 Roll of Honour - Francis Reginald Bennett, Australian War Memorial.]</ref>
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