Glynis Johns

Glynis Johns (born 5 October 1923) is a retired Welsh stage, television and film actress, dancer, pianist, and singer. Born in Pretoria, South Africa of Welsh origin, she is best known for creating the role of Desiree Armfeldt in A Little Night Music on Broadway, for which she won a Tony Award, and for playing Winifred Banks in Walt Disney's musical motion picture box office smash Mary Poppins. In both roles, she originated songs written specifically for her, including "Send in the Clowns", composed by Stephen Sondheim, and "Sister Suffragette", written by the Sherman Brothers. She was nominated for an Oscar for her work in the 1960 film The Sundowners. 2Biography 3Early life Johns was born in Pretoria, South Africa, the daughter of Alice Maude Steele (née Wareham; 1901-1970), a pianist, and Mervyn Johns (1899–1992), the British stage and film actor. Her roots are in West Wales, and she was born in Pretoria while her parents were performing on tour there. She attended Clifton High School in Bristol for a short time. Her ancestors on the Johns side are recorded as living at the farm Glanmorlais Uchaf, Trimsaran, Carmarthenshire in 1701. 3Early career Johns made her first stage appearance in Buckie's Bears as a child ballerina at the Garrick Theatre in 1935. (She later became a qualified ballet teacher