Glynis Johns, 'Mary Poppins' And 'Cheers' Actress Celebrates Her 100th Birthday
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She is one of the last surviving stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood, with an acting career that spans eight decades. She got an Oscar nomination in the early 60s and won a Tony Award in the 70s, and since 2021 she has been the oldest living Disney Legend.
Glynis Johns turned 100 years old on October 5.
Born in Pretoria, South Africa, she made her theatrical debut at the age of only three weeks when her grandmother, Elizabeth Steele-Payne, took her to a stage in London. During her childhood- and early teenage years, she was part of several stage productions before making her film debut in Victor Saville's South Riding (1938).
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Her breakthrough came in the 1940s when she starred in one and a half films each year, and she rose to stardom in the 1950s, working alongside Hollywood celebrities like Douglas Fairbanks, James Stewart, Marlene Dietrich, and Alec Guinness, to name only a few.
She was nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of the Australian landlady Mrs. Firth in the 1960 film The Sundowners, and in 1964, she played Mrs. Banks in Disney's Marry Poppins.
In the 1970s, her career shifted more towards stage plays, and in 1973, she joined the cast of A Little Night Music, where she performed the song "Send in The Clowns", which was written with her in mind and won her a Tony Award.
Among her TV appearances are the role of the villainous Lady Penelope Peasoup in Batman and Shelley Long's mom on Cheers.
In 1995, she starred alongside Sandra Bullock in While You Were Sleeping, and her last role was in Superstar (1999).
Johns was married four times and had a son named Gareth, who also worked as an actor and passed away in 2007.
When asked how she feels about her age, she simply answered: "It doesn't make any difference to me."
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Source: ABC7
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