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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Glynis Johns, one of the last remaining stars of cinema's Golden Age, who played Mrs. Winifred Banks in the 1964 film "Mary Poppins," died today in Los Angeles at the age of 100.
Her manager, Mitch Clem, told City News Service that Johns was living at an assisted-living facility and died from natural causes.
The British actress' career spanned over eight decades. She appeared in nearly 60 films, including 1948's "Miranda," "Mad About Men" in 1954 and 1958's "Another Place, Another Time."
She earned an Oscar nomination for her supporting role in "The Sundowners," a 1960 a drama set in the Australian outback with Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr.
Johns made her Broadway debut as the title character in the short- lived Enid Bagnold play "Gertie" in 1952. She had acted onstage for years before that, making her West End debut in London at the age of 8 in 1931, in Elmer Rice's "Judgment Day."
Johns was acting in England for more than 20 years when she was cast in Disney's adaptation of P.L. Travers' "Mary Poppins" novels. The 1964 film was a showcase for Julie Andrews as the singing English nursemaid, with Johns in the supporting part of the children's mother.
Johns won a Tony award for "A Little Night Music" in 1973, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. The show ran for more than 600 performances and received five other Tonys in addition to Johns' win for best actress in a musical.
She appeared in other Broadway shows, including "Major Barbara," "Too Good to Be True" and "The Circle."
On television, Johns starred with Keith Andes in the short-lived CBS sitcom "Glynis." The show aired in 1963 and featured a husband-and-wife team of amateur sleuths.
She played the mother of the character Diane Chambers on the sitcom "Cheers," and guested on other shows, including "Dr. Kildare," "The Love Boat," and "Murder, She Wrote."
Johns was born in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1923. She came from a family of entertainers. Her father was a Welsh-born actor, and her mother was an Australian-born concert pianist.
As a youngster, she was seen in "The Children's Hour" and several other productions throughout the United Kingdom.
Johns' final screen appearance came in the Molly Shannon movie "Superstar" (1999), in which she played a grandmother character.
Johns turned 100 on Oct. 5, 2023. With the passing of Olivia de Havilland in 2020, she became the oldest living Academy Award nominee, and following the death of Betty White in 2021, the oldest living Disney Legend, according to TheaterMania.com.
She was predeceased by all four of her husbands, as well as her son Gareth Forwood, who died in 2007.