British stage and film actress Glynis Johns, famed star of the 1964 Disney classic "Mary Poppins," has died at 100 years old last Thursday, Jan. 4.
She reportedly passed away due to natural causes at an assisted living facility in LA, according to Mitch Clem who confirmed the news to the Hollywood Reporter.
Actress Glynis Johns with her son Gareth Forwood (1945-2007) at the film premiere of 'Sleeping Beauty', Astoria Theatre, London, August 10th 1959.
Glynis Johns' Eight-Decade-Long Career in Theater and Film
Johns is renowned for her on-screen charisma and multi-faceted talents as an actress, dancer, pianist, and singer, who boasts a long illustrious career in both the film and theater industry spanning eight decades.
She was born in South Africa on Oct. 5, 1923, to her two parents who were also performers, Welsh actor Mervyn Johns and classical pianist Alys Maude Steele-Payne.
The British actress started at the young age of 12 and found her break starring in the 1938 London production of "South Riding." Throughout her career, she has performed in well over a dozen plays and has starred in more than 60 film projects.
In 1962, Johns' portrayal of a playful socialite in the then-controversial 1962 film "The Chapman Report," with its sexual themes, earned the actress a nomination from the prestigious Golden Globe Awards.
Through her captivating performances, Johns eventually earned the attention of the late multi-media giant Walt Disney, who proceeded to employ the actress in the now-famous role of suffragette mother "Mrs. Banks" for his "Mary Poppins" film.
Aside from her memorable performance of the song "Sister Suffragette" in the 1964 Disney film, Johns was also renowned for her charmingly emotional execution of "Send in the Clowns," one of acclaimed composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim's most famous standards from the 1973 Broadway production "A Little Night Music."
This performance was done amidst her theatrical foray in New York, debuting in the 1952 Broadway play "Gertie," and consequently appearing in the 1956 revival of the "Major Barbara" production. She also starred in a later revival of W. Somerset Maugham's "The Circle," come 1989.
Johns herself was married four times and had one son during her marriage with Anthony Forwood, the late actor Gareth Fortwood. According to her manager, Clem, she is not survived by any immediate family.
