- Born
- Died
- Birth nameGlynis Margaret Payne Johns
- Nickname
- The Girl with the Upside-Down Eyes
- Height1.63 m
- Glynis Johns was the daughter of actor Mervyn Johns. Best known for her light comedy roles and often playful flirtation, Glynis was born in South Africa while her parents were on tour there (her mother was a concert pianist) but was always proud of her Welsh roots and took delight in playing the female lead (opposite Richard Burton) in the classic Under Milk Wood (1971). She was probably best known for her role as the suffragette mother in Mary Poppins (1964) although she is probably best loved for her fishy roles in Miranda (1948) and Folle des hommes (1954). She had earlier showed she could take on the serious roles as well as in Frieda (1947). Most recently seen (at the time of writing) in Superstar (1999). Johns died in 2024, aged 100, having never received the damehood she had richly deserved for decades. Predeceased by her only son, she was survived by a grandson,Thomas Forwood, and three great-grandchildren.- IMDb mini biography by: Steve Crook (updated by RM Sieger)
- SpousesElliott Arnold(October 1, 1964 - January 4, 1973) (divorced)Cecil Peter Lamont Henderson(October 10, 1960 - June 21, 1962) (divorced)David Ramsay Foster(February 1, 1952 - May 17, 1956) (divorced)Anthony Forwood(August 29, 1942 - June 1948) (divorced, 1 child)
- Children
- ParentsAlice Maude Steele Johns
- RelativesThomas Forwood(Grandchild)
- Stephen Sondheim wrote "Send in the Clowns", in "A Little Night Music", with shorter phrasing to accommodate her. Although her voice, alternately described as smoky or silvery or wistful, was lovely, she was unable to sustain notes for long.
- She was named a Disney Legend in 1998.
- Married and divorced four times, her first husband Anthony Forwood is the father of her only child, Gareth Forwood; her second husband, David Ramsey Foster, was a World War II hero who became the chairman of Colgate Palmolive International; marriage to third husband, Cecil Peter L. Henderson, ended after a year; and fourth husband Elliot Arnold, a writer and essayist, penned "A Night of Watching", "Camp Grant Massacre" and "Personal Combat".
- Anthony Forwood, Glynis's first ex-husband, was Sir Dirk Bogarde's longtime partner and manager until Forwood's death in 1988.
- Won a Tony Award (Best Actress in a Musical) for her role in the musical "A Little Night Music" (1973).
- [1991, on her return to the musical "A Little Night Music"] I've been doing songs from the show off and on through the years. So I've never really been away. Even a few months ago, I was singing "Send in the Clowns" for a charity performance. But my doctors were advising that I not work for a couple of months -- that I needed to relax, take it easy, do physiotherapy for my dental problems. More specifically, I had to make the decision about whether I wanted to come back playing another role: to hear somebody else eight performances a week, doing something that I was used to doing. You know, "Clowns" was written for me.
- In classical theatre in Europe, everybody plays all kinds of parts. Juliets go on to play the Nurses; they don't want to play Juliet again. I think we've got to remember to grab onto our perks, whatever is the good thing about each age. Each stage of life should be a progression.
- [on playing a mermaid in Miranda (1948)] I was quite an athlete, my muscles were strong from dancing, so the tail was just fine. I swam like a porpoise.
- [on nepotism, 1946] Relatives cannot help you in the studios. You stand or fall by your own efforts. My father and I have only ever worked in one picture together - that was "Halfway House - and the producer was casting a father and daughter. Perhaps it was natural that he chose us, but my father did not get me that job, neither did I get him his.
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