Goodbye to Glynis Johns, the English actress known for her role as the feminist icon Mrs. Banks in the 1964 film “Mary Poppins”. He was 100 years old.

The announcement was made by her manager Mitch Clem : Johns died "peacefully" on Thursday morning in Los Angeles in the retirement home where she lived in recent years. “Glynis made her way through life with intelligence, wit and a love of performance, impacting millions of lives,” Clem said. “She came into my life early in my career and set the bar very high for how to navigate this industry with grace, class and truth.”

She was 49 years old when she made her debut as Desiree Armfeld in Stephen Sondheim's musical at the Schubert Theater in February 1973, sending critics into a frenzy. The Tony for best actress had followed her role as the suffragette mother in the film about the magical English governess based on the novels of PL Travers : in 1965 Johns had played Mrs. Banks, wife, mother and political activist in 1910 London, although she had initially remained disappointed because she thought the role of Mary Poppins had been given to her. She was the daughter of an artist: she was born by chance in Pretoria when her father, the actor Mervyn Johns, was on tour in South Africa with his family. Over the course of his long career he acted with his father three times, in The Halfway House, The Magic Box and The Sundowners.

In October he celebrated his hundredth birthday: age, he said on the occasion, "makes no difference to me".

“Its light has shone very brightly for 100 years,” concluded Clem. “ He had a spirit that could stop you in your tracks, fueled by a heart that loved deeply and purely .”

(Unioneonline/D)

© Riproduzione riservata