British actress Glynis Johns, who was best known for her role as Mrs. Winifred Banks in the 1964 musical fantasy comedy, “Mary Poppins,” has died of natural causes at the age of 100.
Johns is remembered for playing the suffragette mom Mrs. Banks opposite Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke in the Academy Award-winning Disney film.
Besides her role in “Mary Poppins,” the British star appeared in over 60 films over the course of her eight-decade career, including, “While You Were Sleeping” and “The Sundowners,” which earned her an Oscar nomination. Johns won several other awards including a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe and a Laurence Olivier Award.
Johns also had roles in several popular TV shows during her career, such as “Cheers,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “The Love Boat,” and the 1960s “Batman” series, where she portrayed Lady Penelope Peasoup.
Before her death, she was one of the oldest remaining stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood, which is widely regarded as spanning from the introduction of sound in film in 1927 to the late 1960s.
Johns was born in Pretoria, capital of the then Union of South Africa, in 1923. Her father was Welsh actor Mervyn Johns, which is how she got involved in the industry from an early age. She made her debut as a stage dancer when she was still a child. Johns was cast in “South Riding” at the age of 15 in 1938. She became a recognizable film star in the 1940s thanks to being cast in the World War II drama “49th Parallel” (1941).
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After getting worldwide recognition for “Mary Poppins,” Johns headed to the stage for the Stephen Sondheim musical “A Little Night Music” on Broadway. The actress played the part of Desiree Armfeldt and sang “Send In the Clowns” as part of her role. Johns won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical.
“I got applause for that,” Johns said during an interview in honor of her 100th birthday, per ABC News. “I loved doing it. I felt it.”