R.I.P. Glynis Johns: ‘Mary Poppins’ Star Dead At 100 

Actress Glynis Johns, best known for starring in the 1964 adaptation of Mary Poppins, has passed away. She was 100 years old.

Johns’ manager, Mitch Clem, confirmed in a statement to Variety that she passed away in an assisted living home in Los Angeles.

“Glynis powered her way through life with intelligence, wit, and a love for performance, affecting millions of lives,” Clem said. “She entered my life early in my career and set a very high bar on how to navigate this industry with grace, class, and truth. Your own truth. Her light shined very brightly for 100 years.”

Clem’s statement continued, “Today is a somber day for Hollywood. Not only do we mourn the passing of our dear Glynis, but we mourn the end of the golden age of Hollywood.”

Born in 1923, Johns got her start in acting in 1938 in the romantic drama South Riding from director Victor Saville, launching a decades-long career that will end in 1999 with the Molly Shannon comedy, Superstar.

Her career spanned film, television, and theater, in which she earned herself a Tony Award for starring in Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music.” Sondheim wrote “Send in the Clowns” specifically for her, which she once said was “the greatest gift I’ve ever been given in the theater.”

She is best known for playing Mrs. Winnifred Banks, the suffragette mother, in Disney’s first adaptation of Mary Poppins. Variety reports that she thought she had been cast as Mary Poppins, a role that would instead go to Julie Andrews. To make up for her disappointment, Walt Disney reportedly ordered the Sherman brothers to write her “a big musical number” to perform in the film, and thus, “Sister Suffragette” was born.

She was also nominated for an Oscar for her supporting role in The Sundowners.

She is survived by her son.