For the weekend, let's take a look at another
Mary Poppins pair, Mr. and Mrs. Banks.
David Cecil MacAlister Tomlinson (1917-2000) was in the RAF during World War II, serving as a flight instructor. After
Mary Poppins, Disney asked him back for
The Love Bug and
Bedknobs and Broomsticks. The remainder of his film career was mostly comedies, with his last film being 1980's
The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (also his friend Peter Sellers' last film). He retired to spend more time with his family.
According to IMDB, "Upon his death in 2000 British satirical magazine Private Eye published an uncharacteristically warm poem in tribute to him 'So farewell David Tomlinson, noted British character actor..."Let's go fly a kite, up to the highest height.". Yes, that was your catchphrase. And where you are going now'."
Tomlinson was named a Disney Legend in 2002.
Glynis Johns was born in 1923 in South Africa when her parents were on tour. She made her first stage appearance as a child ballerina and then was cast on the London stage. She made her film debut while still a teenager (actually, both she and David Tomlinson appeared in a 1941 film called
Quiet Wedding), and became a star playing a mermaid in
Miranda. For Disney, she starred with Richard Todd in
The Sword and the Rose and
Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue before
Mary Poppins. As Mrs. Banks, of course, she sang "Sister Sufragette," which the Sherman Brothers wrote especially for her. Later Stephen Sondheim wrote "Send in the Clowns" for her in
A Little Night Music. Her later career focused mainly on the stage, but you may also remember her as Elsie in Hollywood Pictures'
While You Were Sleeping.
Have a great weekend, everyone!