We have a centenary to celebrate today, dear reader, and for a change it's someone who is still with us - the lovely Miss Glynis Johns!
A High School contemporary of Dame Angela Lansbury, she had a well-received stage career throughout the 1930s before launching a big-screen career in notable roles including the mermaid Miranda and as the Suffragette mother of the "Banks" children in Mary Poppins.
From the aforementioned mermaid movie, here she is in a clip notable for the rather camp ditty Mad About Men:
It was the stage to which her heart was truly drawn however, and so it was that none other than the saintly Stephen Sondheim wrote this song specifically for her, and the rest is history:
Why is this woman not a Dame?
Glynis Margaret Payne Johns (born 5th October 1923).
All hail!!
Why IS she not a dame?
ReplyDeleteThe honours system works in mysterious ways. I mean - Joan Collins got one, as did Kristin Scott Thomas, Penelope Wilton, Sheila Hancock, Julie Walters, Emma Thompson, Joanna Lumley and Maureen Lipman, so why not Our Glynis?! Jx
DeleteHappy Birthday, Glynis Johns! How well I remember her from my childhood favorite, Mary Poppins. I taught my daughter the Sister Suffragette song (we're clearly soldiers in petticoats) when she was little. We had such fun singing it together. It's hard to believe Ms. Johns is 100.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
It's hard to believe that Mary Poppins will be sixty years old next year! Jx
DeleteThere is no other voice like hers. Happy Birthday!
ReplyDeleteThere is only one Glynis Johns! Jx
DeleteHer voice always drove me a little mad
ReplyDeleteIn a good way I hope? It's a little reminiscent of Carol Channing.
DeleteAt 33⅓ rpm. Jx
Strange about the Dame hood not being forthcoming - maybe she turned it down?
ReplyDeleteSx
Why would she do that? I'm still waiting for mine... Jx
DeleteI remember seeing"Miranda".Rather a long time ago. And I have nightmares about a stage performance of it...all the scales fell off her tail!
ReplyDeleteNot sure I ever saw the film. The stage production sounds hilarious! Like one of Elaine Paige on Sunday's "Onstage Mishaps" [worth a listen if you can get it]. Jx
DeleteMy friend stayed up all night, with glitter and glue. I looked fabulous...until the lights caused the meltdown...
DeleteOh, bless... Jx
DeleteGlynis Johns si digne de l'honneur de Dame, trésor vivant.
ReplyDelete* d'Anjou
Une légende vivante, en effet!
DeleteShe is Lovely beyond compare and gave an iconic performance of 'send in the clowns'
ReplyDeleteThe original is often the best - not the most melodic, not the most technically accomplished, but her version is the best. Jx
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