...glynis johns - send in the clowns...

The husky voiced English actress who could accomplished both light comedies and dramas in the post war films of England and Hollywood is the daughter of actor Mervyn Johns. She was born in South Africa on 5th October 1923, while her parents were on tour there.

She made her debut as a school girl in "South Riding" (1938) after studied acting and dancing as a child. She had a good role in the women prison movie "Prison Without Bars" (1938) but that did not bring fame to her nor "49th Parallel" (1941); her father's "The Halfway House" (1944) playing his daughter and supported Deborah Kerr in "Perfect Strangers" (1945).

After that, she was promoted to lead role in the comedy "This Land Is Mine" (1946) and drama "Frieda" (1947). She was a mermaid in the fantasy/comedy "Miranda" (1948). Her next few movies received substantial distribution in America because of their leading men - Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in "State Secret" (1950); James Stewart in "No Highway In The Sky" (1951) as a stewardess; David Niven in "Appointment With Venus" (1951) a comedy about rescuing a prize cow and Sir Alec Guiness's comedy "The Card" (1952) where she was one of the women in his life.

In "The Sword And The Rose" (1953), she is Mary Tudor and another customed lady in "Rob Roy, The Higland Rogue" (1953). She was good in "Personal Affair" (1953) as a girl falling in love with the very married Leo Genn (the wife was played by Gene Tierney). Another women prison drama, "The Weak And The Wicked" (1954) with Diana Dors did not do her any good.

She continued to be the brightest thing about such movies as the remake of "The Beachcomber" (1954) in the part Elsa Lancaster had played originally and ending up in an unfriendly New Zealand with Jack Hawkins in "The Seekers" (1954). She had a memorable role opposite Danny Kaye in his finest "The Court Jester" (1955) and made a cameo in all-star "Around The World In Eighty Days" (1956). She was in the sentimental family drama "All Mine To Give" (1957) and went back to England to support Lana Turner in "Another Time, Another Place" (1958). She gave James Cagney a hand in the IRA drama, "Shake Hands With The Devil" (1959) and an Oscar nominated supporting role as a friendly Australian innkeeper romancing Peter Ustinov in "The Sundowners" (1960).

Glynis carried the comical segment of the mulit-character "The Chapman Report" (1962). In "Papa's Delicate Condition" (1963), she suffered and endured patiently as the drunk Jackie Gleason's wife and then played her best known role in Disney's "Mary Poppins" (1964) as Mrs. Winnifred Banks singing "Sister Suffragette".

In 1972, she made a triumphant return to the stage with Stephen Sondheim's "A Little Night Music" winning a Tony. Sondheim wrote "Send in the Clowns" in this show especially for Glynis Johns' short-breathed, wistful voice.

There was occasional Tv and stage work and later down the line, a role in another hit film, "While You Were Sleeping" (1995) as Peter Gallagher's scatterbrained mother-in-law. She was seen in "Superstar" (1999) as Molly Shannon's grandmother.

Happy 85th Glynis...