Glynis Johns Parents: Meet Mervyn Johns And Alyce Steele

Publish date: 2024-05-19

Glynis Johns Parents: Meet Mervyn Johns And Alyce Steele: Glynis Johns, the British actress who played Mrs Banks in the 1964 film “Mary Poppins” has died, aged 100.

Glynis Johns Parents: Meet Mervyn Johns And Alyce Steele

Glynis Johns is the daughter of Mervyn Johns (father) and Alyce Steele (mother). Her father was a Welsh stage, film, and television actor who became a star in British films during the Second World War. He had a long career as a character actor her mother was a pianist.

Mervyn and Alyce were married for 51 years before Alyce Steele died in 1971, leaving behind her partner, Mervyn Johns who also died on September 6, 1992.

The British actress, whose career spanned more than six (6) decades, died in Los Angeles of natural causes on Thursday, January 4, 2023 her manager of 25 years, Mitch Clem confirmed

“Today’s a sad day for Hollywood,” Johns’ manager Mitch Clem wrote in a statement. “She is the last of the last of old Hollywood” Johns died on Thursday at an assisted living home in Los Angeles of natural causes

“Her light shined very brightly for 100 years. Glynis powered her way through life with intelligence, wit, and a love for performance, affecting millions of lives,” he said paying tribute.

“Today is a sombre day for Hollywood. Not only do we mourn the passing of our dear Glynis, but we mourn the end of the golden age of Hollywood”, he added.

Johns was born in South Africa while her Welsh actor parents were performing there. She was a dancer at 12 and an actress at 14 in London’s West End.

Her breakthrough came in 1948 as the mermaid Miranda, with her performance in the comedy making her a star in the UK. She was later nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 1960 film “The Sundowners”

Throughout her career, she appeared in dozens of films and was also an accomplished theatre performer. She made frequent TV appearances, including in Batman, and starred in her sitcom Glynis on US television in 1963.

Johns starred in Mary Poppins (1964), which went on to win five Oscars. She also won a Tony Award in 1973 for playing Desiree Armfeldt in Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway musical A Little Night Music, in which she sang “Send In The Clowns”

Her other film credits include; South Riding, Murder in the Family, Prison Without Bars, On The Night of the Fire, Under Your Hat, The Briggs Family, The Thief Of Bagdad, The Prime Minster, The Halfway House, Frieda, Perfect Strangers, and State Secret.

Johns’s last acting roles were in the 1994 film, “The Ref”, the 1995 film “While You Were Sleeping”, and the 1999 film “Superstar”. She retired to the US and spent her final years in an assisted living home in Hollywood where she died in January 2024

Ahead of her 100th birthday in October 2023, Labour MP Chris Bryant had called for Johns to be made a dame. He (Chris Bryant) tweeted on Thursday: “So sad. One of the great British actors who should have been given a damehood.”

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