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Glynis Johns (born 5 October 1923) is a South African-born British retired actress, dancer, musician and singer. Born in Pretoria, South Africa, while her parents were on tour, she is best known for originating the role of Desiree Armfeldt in A Little Night Music on Broadway, for which she won a Tony Award, and for playing Winifred Banks in Walt Disney's musical motion picture Mary Poppins. In 2020, with the death of Olivia de Havilland, Johns became the oldest living Academy Award-nominee in any acting category.

This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (June 2021)

Glynis Johns
Johns in 1952
Born	(1923-10-05) 5 October 1923 (age 99) Pretoria, Union of South Africa
Citizenship	South Africa United Kingdom
Occupation	Actress dancer pianist singer
Years active	1935–1999
Spouse(s)	Anthony Forwood ​ ​ (m. 1942; div. 1948)​ David Foster ​ ​ (m. 1952; div. 1956)​ Cecil Henderson ​ ​ (m. 1960, divorced)​ Elliott Arnold ​ ​ (m. 1964; died 1980)​
Children	Gareth Forwood
Parent	Mervyn Johns (father)
Relatives	Howard Johns (uncle) John Geoffrey Jones (cousin)

In both roles, Johns sang songs written specifically for her, including "Send In the Clowns", composed by Stephen Sondheim, and "Sister Suffragette", written by the Sherman Brothers.

Johns was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in the 1960 film The Sundowners. She is one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood and class years of British cinema. She is known for the breathy quality of her husky voice and her upbeat persona.[1]

Early life and education

Johns was born in Pretoria, Union of South Africa, on 5 October 1923,[2] while her parents were on tour. She was the daughter of Alice Maude Steele (née Wareham), a pianist, and Mervyn Johns, a Welsh stage and film actor. Her roots are in West Wales.^{[citation needed]}

Hoping to study with the Sadler's Wells Ballet, Johns was enrolled instead at Clifton High School in Bristol, balancing academia with the two hours a week she spent at the Cone School of Dancing (which later merged with the Ripman School to form Tring Park School for the Performing Arts).[3]

Early career

Johns made her first stage appearance in Buckie's Bears as a child ballerina at the Garrick Theatre in 1935. (She later became a qualified ballet teacher.) She was spotted dancing in a children's play during the Christmas holidays and cast in her first notable stage production, St Helena, at the Old Vic in 1936. That year, she was also in productions of The Children's Hour and The Melody That Got Lost. She followed this with Judgement Day (1937) and A Kiss for Cinderella (1937).[4]

Stage and film

Johns made her screen debut in 1938 in the film version of Winifred Holtby's novel South Riding. She had small roles in Murder in the Family (1938), Prison Without Bars (1939), On the Night of the Fire (1940), Under Your Hat (1940), and The Briggs Family (1940). On stage, she was in Quiet Wedding (1938).

Johns' scene in The Prime Minister (1941) did not make the final cut, but she had a role in 49th Parallel (1941) as Anna, replacing Elisabeth Bergner at the last minute. She was in Quiet Weekend (1941–43) on stage, which ran for two years.[4]

Johns had roles in The Adventures of Tartu (1943) and The Halfway House (1944). On stage, she appeared in Peter Pan (1943), I'll See You Again (1944), and Fools Rush In (1946).

Johns received good reviews for her performance as Deborah Kerr's best friend in Perfect Strangers (1945) (also titled Vacation from Marriage).

Johns continued in supporting roles: This Man Is Mine (1946), Frieda (1947), and An Ideal Husband (1947).

Stardom

Johns played the title role in Miranda (1948), a mermaid who causes havoc in a London household, directed by Ken Annakin.[5]

Johns starred in Third Time Lucky (1949), Dear Mr. Prohack (1949), and State Secret (1950). On stage, Johns was in Fools Rush In and The Way Things Go.

Johns supported Richard Todd in Flesh and Blood (1951) and also appeared in the Hollywood-financed No Highway in the Sky (1951). She co-starred with David Niven in Appointment with Venus (1951) for director Ralph Thomas, and was one of several names in Encore (1951) and The Magic Box (1951).

Johns was one of Alec Guinness' love interests in The Card (1952). On Broadway, she played the title role in Gertie. She was voted by British exhibitors as the 10th-most popular local star at the box office in 1951 and 1952.[6][7]

Johns was reunited with Richard Todd for two swashbucklers made for Walt Disney: The Sword and the Rose (1953) (directed by Annakin) and Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue (1953). In between, she made Personal Affair (1953) supporting Gene Tierney.

Johns had the starring role in The Weak and the Wicked (1954) about women in prison, which was a big hit.

Johns did another for Annakin, The Seekers (1954) with Jack Hawkins, then co-starred with Robert Newton in The Beachcomber (1954). For both these films, she was paid £12,500 a picture.[8]

Mad About Men (1954) was a sequel to Miranda, directed by Thomas.

Johns starred in a comedy Josephine and Men (1955) and supported Danny Kaye in The Court Jester (1956). Annakin used her again in Loser Takes All (1956) and she was one of the many actors who made cameos in Around the World in 80 Days (1956).

Johns returned to Broadway to play the title role in a production of Major Barbara (1956). Johns stayed in America to make the melodrama All Mine to Give (1956).

Character actress

Johns returned to Britain to make Another Time, Another Place (1958) with Lana Turner and was in Shake Hands with the Devil (1959). Johns starred in The Spider's Web (1960) and had a supporting role in The Sundowners (1960), which earned her an Oscar nomination.

Johns starred in the remake of The Cabinet of Caligari (1962), and was one of several stars in The Chapman Report (1962). She supported Jackie Gleason in Papa's Delicate Condition (1963), and was in Too True to Be Good on Broadway in 1963.

Johns was cast in 1961 in the ABC/Warner Bros. crime drama The Roaring '20s. She portrayed Kitty O'Moyne, an Irish immigrant who falls overboard into the harbour as she arrives in the United States. In the 1962–63 television season, Johns guest-starred in the CBS anthology series The Lloyd Bridges Show. In the autumn of 1963, she and Keith Andes starred as a married couple in her eponymous CBS television series Glynis, in which she played a mystery writer and Andes a criminal defence attorney. The programme was cancelled after thirteen episodes.[9]

Johns appeared as Winifred Banks in Mary Poppins (1964) and played James Stewart's wife in Dear Brigitte (1965). She was in The King's Mare at the Garrick Theatre in 1966.

Johns appeared in various character roles in Don't Just Stand There! (1968) and Lock Up Your Daughters (1969). She made a guest appearance as villainess Lady Penelope Peasoup in the Batman TV series in 1967. She turned increasingly to stage work, appearing in A Talent to Amuse (1969), Come as You Are (1969–70), and Marquise (1971–72).

Johns appeared in A Little Night Music (1973) on Broadway. The song "Send In the Clowns" was written with her in mind.[10] In 1973, she won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Desiree Armfeldt.

Later career

Her later film roles included The Vault of Horror (1973) and The Happy Prince (1974), but her focus was the stage: Ring Round the Moon (1975), 13 Rue de l'Amour (1976), Cause Célèbre (1978), Hay Fever (1980–81), and The Circle (1989–90). Johns starred as Myrtle Bledsoe in the premiere of Horton Foote's A Coffin in Egypt in 1998 at the Bay Street Theatre.[11]

During the first season of NBC's hit sitcom Cheers, Johns guest-starred as Diane Chambers' mother, Helen Chambers, a rich eccentric who, due to a stipulation in Diane's late father's will, will lose all her money unless Diane is married by the next day. During 1988–89, she played Trudie Pepper, a senior citizen living in an Arizona retirement community, in the television sitcom Coming of Age on CBS.[12]

Johns played the camera-toting grandmother in the 1995 Sandra Bullock hit While You Were Sleeping. Her last film appearance to date was as the grandmother of Molly Shannon's character in the 1999 film Superstar.

Personal life

Johns has been married four times. Her first husband was Anthony Forwood (m. 1942–48), with whom she had her only child, actor Gareth Forwood, in 1945.[13] From 1952 to 1956, she was married to David Foster, a Royal Navy officer and later president of Colgate-Palmolive.[14] She married Cecil Henderson, a businessman, in 1960.[15] She married Elliott Arnold, a writer, in 1964.[16][17][18][19]

Johns' son Gareth predeceased her, dying in 2007.[13]

Johns resides at the Belmont Village Hollywood Heights, a senior living community, located in Los Angeles, California near the Hollywood Bowl.[20]

She is a niece of the Oxford academic Howard Johns and a cousin of British judge John Geoffrey Jones.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1938	South Riding	Midge Carne
	Murder in the Family	Marjorie Osborne
	Prison Without Bars	Nina
1939	On the Night of the Fire	Mary Carr
1940	Under Your Hat	Winnie
	The Briggs Family	Sheila Briggs
	The Thief of Bagdad	Princess' Maid	Uncredited
	The Prime Minister	Miss Sheridan	Uncredited
1941	49th Parallel	Anna	Won - National Board of Review Awards 1942 for Best Acting
1943	The Adventures of Tartu	Paula Palacek	U.S. title Sabotage Agent
1944	The Halfway House	Gwyneth
1945	Perfect Strangers	Dizzy Clayton	U.S. title Vacation from Marriage
1946	This Man Is Mine	Millie
1947	Frieda	Judy
	An Ideal Husband	Miss Mabel Chiltern
1948	Miranda	Miranda Trewella
1949	Third Time Lucky	Joan Burns
	Helter Skelter	Miranda Trewella	Uncredited
	Dear Mr. Prohack	Mimi Warburton
1950	State Secret	Lisa Robinson	U.S. title The Great Manhunt
1951	Flesh and Blood	Katherine
	No Highway	Marjorie Corder	U.S. title No Highway in the Sky
	Appointment with Venus	Nicola Fallaize	U.S. title Island Rescue
	Encore	Stella Cotman	segment "Gigolo and Gigolette"
	The Magic Box	May Jones
1952	The Card	Ruth Earp	U.S. title The Promoter
1953	The Sword and the Rose	Princess Mary Tudor
	Personal Affair	Barbara Vining
	Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue	Helen Mary MacPherson MacGregor
1954	The Weak and the Wicked	Jean Raymond	U.S. title Young and Willing
	The Seekers	Marion Southey	U.S. title Land of Fury
	The Beachcomber	Martha Jones
	Mad About Men	Caroline Trewella / Miranda Trewella
1955	Josephine and Men	Josephine Luton
	The Court Jester	Maid Jean
1956	Loser Takes All	Cary
	Around the World in 80 Days	Sporting lady's companion
1957	All Mine to Give	Jo Eunson
1958	Another Time, Another Place	Kay Trevor
1959	Shake Hands with the Devil	Kitty Brady
1960	Last of the Few	Narrator
	The Spider's Web	Clarissa Hailsham-Brown
	The Sundowners	Mrs. Firth	Nominated -Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
1962	The Cabinet of Caligari	Jane Lindstrom
	The Chapman Report	Teresa Harnish	Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
1963	Papa's Delicate Condition	Amberlyn Griffith
1964	Mary Poppins	Winifred Banks
1965	Dear Brigitte	Vina Leaf
1968	Don't Just Stand There!	Sabine Manning
1969	Lock Up Your Daughters!	Mrs. Squeezum
1972	Under Milk Wood	Myfanwy Price
1973	The Vault of Horror	Eleanor	(Segment "The Neat Job")
1974	The Happy Prince	Swallow	Voice, Short
1975	Mrs. Amworth	Mrs. Amworth	Short
1977	Three Dangerous Ladies	Mrs. Amworth	(Segment "Mrs. Amworth")
1982	Little Gloria... Happy at Last	Laura Fitzpatrick Morgan	TV movie
1987	Nukie	Sister Anne
1988	Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School	Grimwood	Voice, TV movie
	Zelly and Me	Co-Co
1994	The Ref	Rose
1995	While You Were Sleeping	Elsie
1999	Superstar	Grandma	Final film role

Partial television credits

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1956	The Errol Flynn Theatre	Lou McNamara / Susan Tracey	2 episodes
1958	The Frank Sinatra Show	Christine Nolan	Episode: Face of Fear
1961	Adventures in Paradise	Esther Holmes
	The Naked City	Miss Arlington
1963	Glynis	Glynis Granville	13 episodes
1964	12 O'clock High	Jennifer Heath
1967	Batman	Lady Penelope Peasoup	4 episodes
1968	ITV Playhouse	Lorraine Barrie	Episode: Star Quality
1983	Cheers	Mrs. Helen Chambers
1984	The Love Boat	Edna Miles
1985	Murder, She Wrote	Bridget O'Hara	Episode: Sing a Song of Murder
1987	The Cavanaughs	Maureen	Episode: The Eyes Have Had It
1988-89	Coming of Age	Trudie Pepper	15 episodes

Theatre (selected)

• 1936 St Helena, Old Vic Theatre
• 1937 Judgement Day, Embassy and Strand Theatres
• 1938 Quiet Wedding, Wyndham's Theatre
• 1941 Quiet Weekend, Wyndham's Theatre
• 1943 Peter Pan, Cambridge Theatre
• 1950 Fools Rush In, Fortune Theatre
• 1950 The Way Things Go, Phoenix Theatre
• 1952 Gertie (title role), Broadway
• 1956 Major Barbara (title role), Broadway
• 1963 Too True to Be Good, Broadway
• 1966 The King's Mare, Garrick Theatre
• 1969 A Talent to Amuse, Phoenix Theatre
• 1969–70 Come As You Are, New Theatre
• 1972 The Marquise, Bristol Hippodrome
• 1973 A Little Night Music (Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical), Broadway
• 1975 Ring Round the Moon, Los Angeles
• 1976 13 Rue de l'Amour, Phoenix Theatre
• 1978 Cause Celebre (Best Actress Award, Variety Club), Her Majesty's Theatre
• 1980–81 Hay Fever, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford and tour
• 1989–90 The Circle, Broadway
• 1998 A Coffin in Egypt, Bay Street Theatre, Sag Harbor

References

External links

• Glynis Johns at the Internet Broadway Database
• Glynis Johns at IMDb
• Glynis Johns images
• Glynis Johns at the Disney Legends website

Batman
Preceded by Zsa Zsa Gabor	Oldest living villain cast member age 99 December 18, 2016 – present	Incumbent

На других языках

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- [en] Glynis Johns

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[ru] Джонс, Глинис

Глинис Джонс (англ. Glynis Johns, род. 5 октября 1923 (1923-10-05)) — британская актриса, обладательница премии «Тони», а также номинантка на «Оскар» в 1960 году.

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