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Background:
A British actress born in South Africa, Glynis Johns is frequently cited as the
“complete actress” for her ability to play any roles and with a career spanning
seven decades. She received an Oscar nod for her scene-stealing performance as a
hotelkeeper in The Sundowners (1960), but she is probably most known as the
musical suffragette and mother Mrs. Banks in Mary Poppins (1964), and is best
loved as a mermaid in the successful film Miranda (1948) and its sequel Mad
About Men (1954). On stage, Johns scored a massive success with her Tony-winning
portrayal of Desiree Armfeldt in the hit musical “A Little Night Music” (1973).
In addition to acting, bright-eyed Johns is a talented dancer, and was in fact
qualified to teach ballet at age 10. Additionally, she is a trained singer and
pianist.
Romantically speaking, Johns has four-times marriage failures in her life time.
Her former husbands are Anthony Forwood (died in 1988), David Ramsey Foster
(married in 1952), Cecil Peter L Henderson (together from 1960 to 1961) and
Elliot Arnold (married in 1964). Johns once stated that she was wed so often
because she married all her lovers. Her love life has also been linked to
producer Antony Darnborough (born in 1913, died in September 2000). The couple
became engaged in 1951 and later separated. Johns is the mother of British actor
Gareth Forwood (father Anthony Forwood).
The Girl with the Upside-Down Eyes
Childhood and Family:
Daughter of the Welsh actor Mervyn Johns (born in 1899; died in 1992) and
concert pianist Alys Steele, Glynis Johns was born on October 5, 1923, in
Pretoria, South Africa, while her parents were on tour there.
Glynis, whose nickname is The Girl with the Upside-Down Eyes, has been married
four times. She first tied the knot with Anthony Forwood, the father of her only
son, Gareth Forwood, and longtime manager of Sir Dirk Bogarde, and then married
WWII hero David Ramsey Foster on February 1, 1952. After her second marriage
ended in divorced, Glynis had a short-lived marriage with Cecil Peter L
Henderson from 1961 to 1962 and married Elliot Arnold on October 4, 1964. But,
her forth marriage later also ended in separation.
A Little Night Music
Career:
Born into a theatrical family, Glynis Johns debuted on London stage at age 12
with the role of Ursula in “Buckie’s Bears (1935) and continued with
performances in Lillian Hellman’s “The Children’s Hour,” “St. Helena” and “The
Melody That Got Lost,” the next year. Her first big screen role arrived in 1938
with South Riding, a drama directed by Victor Saville where Johns promisingly
portrayed the stubborn daughter of Ralph Richardson. She went on to give
powerful supporting parts in British films, such as Michael Powell’s top-notch
The Invaders/49th Parallel (1941), Adventures of Tartu (1943) and Vacation From
Marriage (1945), and appeared with her father in Halfway House (1944). On the
London stage, Johns was cast in the title role of “Peter Pan” (1943).
Most frequently linked with comedy, Johns displayed her dramatic nerve with
tepid portrayals in the wide screen version of Frieda (1947), playing German war
bride’s sister in law Judy Dawson, and The Great Manhunt/State Secret (1950),
co-starring as the half-British girl caught up on the side of Douglas Fairbanks
Jr. However, the actress had her first real victory in the blockbuster Miranda
(1948), starring as a mermaid. The fantasy, which was adapted by playwright
Peter Blackmore from his stage play, marked Johns’ initial screen partnership
with David Tomlinson.
A year after rejoining her father and Tomlinson in the biopic The Magic Box
(1951), Johns made her Broadway debut in the title role of “Gertie” (1952), and
in 1954, she returned to her mermaid role for the installment Mad About Men. She
revisited Broadway with a starring role in director Charles Laughton’s “Major
Barbara” in 1956. The same year, the versatile actress effectively transformed
to Hollywood by costarring as the love interest of Danny Kaye in the
comedy/adventure The Court Jester.
Johns boosted her international popularity in 1960 when director Fred Zinnemann
cast her in the supporting role of Mrs. Firth, the hotelkeeper who sets her
sights on a matrimonially-evasive Peter Ustinov, in The Sundowners. The role
handed her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Johns
gathered even more attention when she portrayed Winifred Banks, David
Tomlinson’s batty suffragette wife and mother of Julie Andrews’ charges, in the
comedy/musical Mary Poppins (1964). In between, she appeared in guest roles in
numerous TV series, and starred in her own short-lived sitcom “Glynis” (CBS,
1963).
The husky voiced performer then gave a notable turn as James Stewart’s
no-nonsense wife in Dear Brigette (1965), took on the villainous role of Lady
Penelope Peasoup in several episodes of the hit ABC series “Batman” (1967), had
a cameo role as screwball author in Don’t Just Stand There (1968) and teamed up
with the likes of Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and Peter O’Toole in the film
version of Dylan Thomas’ Under Milkwood (1972). In 1973, Johns made a name for
herself on the Broadway circuit with the starring role of Desiree Armfeldt in
the Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler hit musical “A Little Night Music,” where she
netted a Tony for Best Actress.
Johns spent most her tome working on the small screen during 1980s. She acted in
the made-for-TV film Little Gloria... Happy at Last (1982), made her US
miniseries debut in “Little Gloria . . . Happy at Last” (1982), provided the
voice of Ms. Grimwood in the animated telefilm Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School
(1988) and appeared as Trudie Pepper in the CBS sitcom “Coming of Age” (1988).
She also guest starred in “Cheers” (1983, as the mother of Diane Chambers), “The
Love Boat” (1984) and “Murder, She Wrote” (1988). In 1989, Johns returned to
Broadway in the revival of the Somerset Maugham play “The Circle,” starring
opposite Stewart Granger and Rex Harrison, and was discovered on the Los Angeles
stage two years later in the revival of “A Little Night Music,” this time
portraying Madame Armfeldt, the mother of the character she had originated.
Revisiting to the silver screen after her last performance in 1988’s Zelly and
Me, Johns starred in the sci-fi film Nukie (1993), and was seen as eccentric
grandmothers in such films as Ted Demme’s The Ref (1994, starred Kevin Spacey,
Denis Leary and Judi Davis), While You Were Sleeping (1995, with Peter Gallagher
and Sandra Bullock) and Superstar (1999), playing the grandmother of Molly
Shannon.
Awards:
Tony: Best Actress in a Musical, A Little Night Music, 1973
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