Film Actress Who Starred In Disney Classic ‘Mary Poppins’ Dies At 100

Actress Glynis Johns may be better known as Mrs. Banks from the classic Disney film “Mary Poppins.” She portrayed the mother in the film who hires the nanny and fights for women’s rights. Johns is also famous for singing the Stephen Sondheim song “Send in the Clowns” in the musical “A Little Night Music.”

Now, at the age of 100, Johns has died. The New York Post reports that Johns does not have any survivors. She was not married at the time of her death, and she only had one child, a son named Gareth Forwood, who died in 2007 at the age of 62 years old.

Johns was living at an assisted living facility in Hollywood at the time of her death. According to IMDB, she died on January 4, 2024, and the cause of death was old age.

While all of Johns’s marriages ended in divorce, she gave marriage a try four different times. Her first husband was Anthony Forwood. They were married from 1942 to 1948 and had one child together. Her next marriage was to David Foster. They were married from 1952 to 1956. Her third husband was Cecil Henderson. They were married from 1960 to 1060. Her final husband was Elliott Arnold. They were married from 1964 to 1973.

Back in 1966, Johns spoke to The New York Times about her life and career. At the time, she had been separated from Arnold for several months. When asked if theater and marriage don’t mix, Johns explained:

“I became a professional at 12, so it’s always been my life. Later on, I wanted to lead what I thought of as a ‘normal’ existence, but I soon found I wasn’t as normal away from the theater as in it. Acting … acting is my highest form of intelligence, the time when I use the best part of my brain. I was always told, by my’married friends, for example, that I could apply that intelligence to something else, some other aspect of living, but I can’t. I don’t have the same flair in other things.”
Johns also explained why she got married so many times. She said, “Why so many marriages? It was absolute conservatism on my part. I was brought up to feel that if you wanted to have an affair with a man, well, you married him.”

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During Johns’ acting career, she was nominated for an Oscar for her role in the film “The Sundowners.” She was also nominated for a Golden Globe for “The Chapman Report.” She won a Golden Laurel award for her role in the film “Mary Poppins,” and she won a National Board of Review awards for “49th Parallel.” She also won a Tony award for her role in “A Little Night Music.”

Watch the video below for more about Johns’ life and career.