(October 5, 1923 – January 4, 2024)
Glynis Johns was a British actress known for her roles in “Mary Poppins” and Broadway’s “A Little Night Music.”
Johns was the daughter of British actor Mervyn Johns and pianist Alys Steele, who were touring in South Africa at the time of her birth. Her earliest films were made in her home country, beginning with 1938’s “Murder in the Family,” “South Riding” and “Prison Without Bars.” Her popular British films included 1948’s “Miranda” and its 1954 sequel, “Mad About Men,” in which she played a flirtatious mermaid.
Her success throughout the 1940s and early ’50s in British films brought her to the notice of Hollywood producers, who began casting her in films such as 1953’s “Personal Affair” alongside Gene Tierney. Her performance in 1960’s “The Sundowners” as an Australian pub owner earned her an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.
1964 brought one of Johns’ most recognizable movie roles: Winifred Banks, mother of the children in “Mary Poppins.” Johns performed the movie’s song “Sister Suffragette.” In 1998, she was named a Disney Legend for her work in the enduring favorite. She sang again on Broadway in the Stephen Sondheim (1930–2021) musical “A Little Night Music,” winning a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for her performance. She was the first to sing the well-known standard “Send in the Clowns,” which Sondheim reportedly wrote specifically for Johns.
In 1963, Johns starred on the short-lived TV sitcom “Glynis,” which cast her as a mystery writer helping her criminal defense attorney husband solve crimes. Another TV venture was “Coming of Age,” a 1988 sitcom that ran for two partial seasons. Johns’ notable TV guest spots included “The Lloyd Bridges Show,” “Murder, She Wrote,” and “Batman” – she played the villainess Lady Penelope Peasoup on the campy TV classic. Her later films included “The Ref,” “While You Were Sleeping,” and “Superstar.”
