Glynis Johns Death, Biography, Age, Husband, Mary Poppings, and Net Worth

Glynis Johns Biography Information

Glynis Johns, a British actress, had a career that spanned eight decades across both stage and screen. Throughout her illustrious career, she appeared in over 60 films and participated in 30 plays.

Johns was born into a family deeply rooted in the theatrical world. Her mother, Alyce Steele-Wareham, hailed from Australia and was a concert pianist who had studied in London and Vienna.

Coming from a lineage of performing actors, singers, and musicians of English descent, Alyce’s family achieved fame while touring Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa with their musical programs. Johns’s maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Steele-Payne, was notably one of the first accomplished women violinists of her era.

On the other side of her family, Johns’s father was Mervyn Johns, a Welsh actor who rose to stardom in British films during the Second World War and was a regular at Ealing Studios. Through him, Johns was a cousin to British judge John Geoffrey Jones.

Alyce and Mervyn met while studying in London, he at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and she at the Royal Academy of Music. They married on November 17, 1922, in St Giles, London, and began touring with Alyce’s family’s theatre company.

Glynis Margaret Payne Johns, their only child, was born on October 5, 1923, in Pretoria, South Africa, while the family was on tour. She was named after her paternal grandmother, Margaret Anne Samuel, and her maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Steele-Payne. Glynis later became the fourth generation in her mother’s family to pursue acting on stage. The family returned to England shortly after her birth.

Glynis Johns Education Background

At the age of five, she enrolled in the London Ballet School; at six, she gained recognition in Britain as a prodigious dancer; by ten, she was already working as a ballet instructor, and at eleven, she had obtained a teaching degree.

At twelve, she aspired to study with the Sadler’s Wells Ballet but ended up attending Clifton High School in Bristol. Despite her academic commitments, she dedicated two hours daily to training at the Cone School of Dancing, which later merged with the Ripman School to establish Tring Park School for the Performing Arts.

During her time as a dance student, Johns achieved around 25 gold medals. In addition to her education at Clifton, she also attended South Hampstead High School in London, where she was a contemporary of Dame Angela Lansbury.

Glynis Johns Career

Johns marked her theatrical debut in October 1923 at the tender age of three weeks. Carried onto the London stage by her grandmother, Elizabeth Steele-Payne, a violinist-impresario who inherited the production company from her father, Johns began her stage career.

At the age of eight in 1931, she secured the role of Sonia Kuman in Elmer Rice’s Judgement Day at the Phoenix Theatre in London. She shared the stage with esteemed theater actors Sir Lewis Casson, Ronald Adam, and George Woodbridge, portraying Judge Vlora, Judge Tsankov, and Judge Sturdza, respectively.

In 1935, as a child ballerina, Johns played Ursula in Buckie’s Bears at the Garrick Theatre from December 27, 1935, to January 11, 1936. Her dance expertise led to roles in several children’s plays during the 1930s, particularly during the Christmas holidays.

Spotted by a manager, she landed her first major stage production as Napoleon’s daughter in the 1936 short play St Helena at The Old Vic. The same year, she appeared in productions of The Children’s Hour and The Melody That Got Lost.

Subsequently, she reprised her role as Sonia Kuman in Elmer Rice’s 1937 production of Judgement Day, this time at London’s Strand Theatre. In 1937, she featured in J. M. Barrie’s A Kiss for Cinderella and Esther McCracken’s Quiet Wedding in 1938, playing the bridesmaid Miranda Bute at Wyndham’s Theatre, London.

In 1938, Johns made her screen debut in Victor Saville’s film adaptation of the Winifred Holtby novel South Riding, portraying Midge Carne, the daughter of aspiring politician Robert Carne (played by Ralph Richardson).

She had minor roles in David Evans’ 1938 crime film Murder in the Family and two Brian Desmond Hurst films: his 1938 black-and-white crime film Prison Without Bars and the 1939 thriller On the Night of the Fire, where she again shared the screen with Ralph Richardson.

Glynis Johns Mary Poppings

In 1960, Glynis Johns took on the role of Clarissa Hailsham-Brown in Godfrey Grayson’s mystery film “The Spider’s Web,” which was based on Agatha Christie’s play of the same name from 1954. Despite its modest budget, the film was noted for attracting the considerable talents of Glynis Johns, according to American author Matthew Bunson.

In the same year, she had a supporting role in “The Sundowners,” where Variety praised her as a vivacious delight, and The New York Times’s Bosley Crowther commented on her rich and effervescent portrayal of the Australian landlady Mrs. Firth, earning her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

In 1962, Johns starred in the remake of “The Cabinet of Caligari” as the easily offended and oft-frightened Jane Lindstrom. She was also one of the four stars in the 1962 Technicolor drama film “The Chapman Report.”

During the filming of “The Chapman Report,” director George Cukor kicked her in the shin during her first scene, creating tensions on the set. Despite this, they later laughed about it, and Cukor acknowledged her as “wonderful in the picture.”

The following year, Johns supported Jackie Gleason in George Marshall’s adaptation of the Corinne Griffith memoir “Papa’s Delicate Condition,” described as “neatly understated” by Jeffrey Kauffman.

However, it was her role in “Mary Poppins” (1964) that stands out as Walt Disney’s crowning live-action achievement. Initially thinking she was approached to play the title role, Johns was instead cast as Winifred Banks, the wife of George Banks, in the film.

To ensure her acceptance, Disney explained the misunderstanding over lunch and had the Sherman Brothers write her a musical number, resulting in the song “Sister Suffragette.” Her portrayal earned her the Laurel Award for Best Female Supporting Performance.

In 1965, Johns was cast in Henry Koster’s DeLuxe Color family–comedy “Dear Brigitte” as the aesthete Vina. She continued to appear in various character roles in films such as the 1968 American comedy “Don’t Just Stand There!” and the 1969 British comedy “Lock Up Your Daughters.”

On television, she starred in the ABC/Warner Bros. crime drama “The Roaring 20s” in 1961 and headlined her eponymous CBS television series “Glynis” in 1963, playing the neophyte mystery writer and amateur sleuth Glynis Granville.

As the 1960s progressed, Johns returned to the stage, including a role in Broadway’s “Too True to Be Good” in 1963 and a stint in London’s West End in 1966 in “The King’s Mare.” She continued her stage work into the 1970s, beginning with “A Talent to Amuse” in 1969.

Glynis Johns Health | Glynis Johns Sickness

After marrying David Foster in 1952, Glynis Johns found herself fourteen pounds overweight. Reflecting on this experience with Lydia Lane, she shared, “I was relaxed, happy, with little to do, and I suppose I simply didn’t burn up as much energy as usual.

My appetite stayed the same, and I gained a few pounds at a time until one day I discovered I was fourteen pounds overweight.” Her solution was straightforward: “I’m convinced that weight is a mental problem,” she explained.

“I counted calories for a while, but nothing happened until I became disturbed about it. From that moment on, I began to lose weight, and in three weeks, I was back to normal. The point I am trying to make is that dieting alone is not enough. It must be accompanied by a strong will and determination to lose [weight].”

In the past, Johns had struggled with severe migraines. In a 1955 interview, she admitted, “Only recently have I learned how to relax. And since I have, the migraine headaches which have plagued me for years have disappeared. I’ve finally learned to be still inside. Someone told me once, ‘When you let God in on your problems, you can let go and relax,’ and I’ve found that it works.”

A few days before her scheduled performance as Desiree Armfeldt at the opening night of “A Little Night Music” in 1973, Johns was urgently hospitalized for emergency treatment of an intestinal infection.

Although the debut was postponed by a week and Tammy Grimes was considered a potential replacement, Johns, against her doctor’s concerns, rejoined the show after just two days, stating, “I was not going to have anybody else sing my songs.”

Throughout most of her career, Johns grappled with stage fright. In a 2023 interview, her grandson Thomas revealed, “Of course, she came across as supremely confident, but in private, she suffered quite crippling stage fright that she never really got over – only managed – so that makes her career even more remarkable.”

Describing Johns’s voice, a press agent likened it to “the sound of a brook burbling over a pebbled bed.” Her vocal style has also been characterized as “smoky,” “silvery,” and “wistful.”

Glynis Johns Death

Johns outlived all four of her husbands. The first to pass away was her third husband, Cecil Henderson, in 1978, followed by her fourth husband, Elliott Arnold, in 1980, her first husband, Anthony Forwood, in 1988, and her second husband, David Foster, in 2010.

Tragically, her son, Gareth Forwood, succumbed to cancer and a heart attack in 2007. When Olivia de Havilland passed away in 2020, Johns became the oldest living Academy Award nominee in any acting category.

In 2021, following Betty White’s death, she became the oldest living Disney Legend. Johns retired to the United States and peacefully passed away at an assisted living home in Los Angeles on January 4, 2024, at the remarkable age of 100. Notably, her grandson, Thomas Forwood, has made a name for himself as a French writer and film director.

Glynis Johns Age

She was born on 5 October 1923 in Pretoria, South Africa, and died peacefully on 4 January 2024 at the age of 100.

Glynis Johns Husband | Glynis Johns Family

Johns experienced four marriages during her lifetime. Her first husband, Anthony Forwood, entered her life while they were rehearsing for “Quiet Wedding” (1941). They swiftly progressed from a date a year after meeting to getting married within a month, tying the knot on August 29, 1942, in Westminster, London. Their only child, actor Gareth Forwood, was born on October 14, 1945. However, their union faced difficulties, leading to a divorce granted on June 25, 1948, due to Forwood’s adultery.

Producer Antony Darnborough became a significant figure in Johns’s life after they collaborated on “Encore” (1951). Despite a proposed glamorous show business wedding, their plans were derailed when “Gertie” (1951) took her to Broadway, resulting in a postponed and eventually canceled wedding in December 1951. Johns and Darnborough remained “good friends,” and she later appeared in his 1953 television drama “Personal Affair.”

Johns’s third marriage took place on February 1, 1952, in Manhattan, New York, when she married David Foster, a Royal Navy officer and later president of Colgate-Palmolive. However, this marriage ended in divorce on May 17, 1956.

Following this, she married Cecil Henderson, a businessman, on October 10, 1960, in Westminster, London, but their union concluded in divorce on June 21, 1962, with Henderson citing adultery, and Johns not contesting the charge.

Her fourth and final marriage was to writer and United States Air Force captain Elliott Arnold. They announced their engagement on June 25, 1964, and were married on October 1 in Los Angeles, California. This marriage also faced challenges and ended in divorce on January 4, 1973.

In a 1973 interview, Johns shared her perspective on the compatibility of theatre and marriage, stating that acting is her highest form of intelligence. Regarding the possibility of a fifth marriage, she expressed caution, emphasizing the need for shared interests. She attributed her multiple marriages to conservative beliefs ingrained in her upbringing, where marriage was seen as the appropriate outcome of a romantic relationship.

Following the death of her mother, Alyce Steele-Wareham, on September 1, 1971, in Westminster, Johns’s father, Mervyn Johns, went on to marry actress Diana Churchill on December 4, 1976, in Hillingdon, London.

Glynis Johns Net Worth

Glynis died with a net worth of $16 million which she had accumulated throughout her successful acting career.

Glynis Johns Movies and TV Shows

• South Riding (1938)
• Murder in the Family (1938)
• Prison Without Bars (1938)
• On the Night of the Fire (1939)
• Under Your Hat (1940)
• The Briggs Family (1940)
• The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
• The Prime Minister (1940)
• 49th Parallel (1941)
• The Adventures of Tartu (1943)
• The Halfway House (1944)
• Perfect Strangers (1945)
• This Man Is Mine (1946)
• Frieda (1947)
• An Ideal Husband (1947)
• Miranda (1948)
• Third Time Lucky (1949)
• Helter Skelter (1949)
• Dear Mr. Prohack (1949)
• State Secret (1950)
• The Blue Lamp (1950)
• Flesh and Blood (1951)
• No Highway in the Sky (1951)
• Appointment with Venus (1951)
• Encore (1951)
• The Magic Box (1951)
• The Card (1952)
• The Sword and the Rose (1953)
• Personal Affair (1953)
• Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue (1953)
• The Weak and the Wicked (1954)
• The Seekers (1954)
• The Beachcomber (1954)
• Mad About Men (1954)
• Josephine and Men (1955)
• The Court Jester (1955)
• Loser Takes All (1956)
• Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
• All Mine to Give (1957)
• Another Time, Another Place (1958)
• Shake Hands with the Devil (1959)
• Last of the Few (1960)
• The Spider’s Web (1960)
• The Sundowners (1960)
• The Cabinet of Caligari (1962)
• The Chapman Report (1962)
• Papa’s Delicate Condition (1963)
• Mary Poppins (1964)
• Dear Brigitte (1965)
• Don’t Just Stand There! (1968)
• Lock Up Your Daughters! (1969)
• Under Milk Wood (1972)
• The Vault of Horror (1973)
• Nukie (1987)
• Zelly and Me (1988)
• The Ref (1994)
• While You Were Sleeping (1995)
• Superstar (1999)

Glynis Johns Body Measurements