Actress Glynis Johns, well known for playing Mrs. Banks in the beloved 1964 film “Mary Poppins,” has passed away, according to TMZ.
According to her manager Mitch Clem, the British actress passed away at an assisted living facility in Los Angeles on Thursday from natural causes. She will be buried close to her father in the UK.
In an impassioned statement, Mitch paid tribute to Glynis, saying, “Millions of people were touched by the brilliance, wit, and love of performance that Glynis demonstrated throughout her life. She came into my life at a very young age and established a very high standard for how to conduct oneself in this business with dignity, grace, and honesty. The truth that you yourself possess. For a century, her light shone extraordinarily brightly.
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He went on, “She had a wit that could stop you in your tracks, driven by pure and profound love. Hollywood is having a dismal day today. We lament not only the death of our beloved Glynis, but also the end of Hollywood’s heyday.”
Though her family eventually relocated to England, Glynis was born and raised in South Africa. She spent 20 years working as an actor there before landing a major part in Disney’s version of P.L. Travers’ “Mary Poppins” books.
She received a Tony Award for her performance as Desiree Armfeldt in the original Broadway version of Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music”—in which she performed the song “Send in the Clowns”—during the remainder of her eight-year career in film and television. The song was composed by Sondheim specifically for Glynis to perform.
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Her performance in the 1960 movie “The Sundowners” brought her an Oscar nomination; it was just one of her roles in almost 60 movies, including “While You Were Sleeping.”
Among Glynis’s television credits are “The Love Boat,” “Cheers,” and “Murder, She Wrote.” She played Grandma in her final on-screen role in 1999’s “Superstar”.
In October, Glynis celebrated her 100th birthday. She said she didn’t feel any difference after reaching the milestone age and that her appearance was ageless.
Her son Gareth, whom she had with her former spouse Anthony Forwood, is her only surviving child.
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