Glynis Johns (born 5 October 1923) is a retired British stage,
television and film actress, dancer, pianist, and singer. Born in
Pretoria, South Africa, while her parents were on tour, she is best
known for creating 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 both roles she sang songs written specifically for her, including
"Send In the Clowns", composed by Stephen Sondheim, and "Sister
Suffragette", written by the Sherman Brothers. She was nominated for
an Oscar for her work in the 1960 film The Sundowners and, upon the
death of Olivia de Havilland in 2020, she became the oldest living
Academy Award nominee in an acting category. She is one of the last
surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. She is known
for the breathy quality of her husky voice and her upbeat
persona.Johns was born in Pretoria, Union of South Africa, the
daughter of Alice Maude Steele (née Wareham; 1901â€"1970), a pianist,
and Mervyn Johns (1899â€"1992), a British stage and film actor. Her
roots are in West Wales, and she was born in Pretoria while her
parents were performing on tour there.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).
television and film actress, dancer, pianist, and singer. Born in
Pretoria, South Africa, while her parents were on tour, she is best
known for creating 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 both roles she sang songs written specifically for her, including
"Send In the Clowns", composed by Stephen Sondheim, and "Sister
Suffragette", written by the Sherman Brothers. She was nominated for
an Oscar for her work in the 1960 film The Sundowners and, upon the
death of Olivia de Havilland in 2020, she became the oldest living
Academy Award nominee in an acting category. She is one of the last
surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. She is known
for the breathy quality of her husky voice and her upbeat
persona.Johns was born in Pretoria, Union of South Africa, the
daughter of Alice Maude Steele (née Wareham; 1901â€"1970), a pianist,
and Mervyn Johns (1899â€"1992), a British stage and film actor. Her
roots are in West Wales, and she was born in Pretoria while her
parents were performing on tour there.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).
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