Glynis Johns, most known for playing the high-spirited Mrs. Winifred Banks in Disney’s Mary Poppins, has died. She was 100 years old. Johns’ publicist, Mitch Clem, told ABC Eyewitness News that the legendary actor died of natural causes on Thursday, January 4. She was living in an assisted living facility. Before she played the suffragette in the 1964 Julie Andrews classic, Johns starred in another Disney film called The Sword and the Rose. She was named a Disney Legend in 1998 alongside Mary Poppins co-star Dick Van Dyke. Andrews was named one in 1991, with David Tomlinson (Mr. George Banks) being added in 2002 and Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber (Jane and Michael Banks) being added in 2004. With the death of Betty White in 2021, Johns became the oldest living Disney Legend. With the death of Olivia de Havilland in 2020, she became the oldest living Oscar nominee for acting. Karen Dotrice, Glynis Johns, Matthew Garber, David...
- 1/4/2024
- TV Insider
Whether you want to know about kitting out James Bond or sinking his claws into Paddington Bear, Britain’s most likable actor is here to tell all
You’ll probably know Ben Whishaw best for taking over from Desmond Llewelyn (and briefly John Cleese) as Q in the past three James Bond films. And as the voice of Paddington Bear, where he was brought in at the last minute to replace Colin Firth.
Whishaw brings something so very likable to every role he plays: John Keats in Jane Campion’s Bright Star, Sebastian Flyte in the 2008 version of Brideshead Revisited and the grown-up Michael Banks in Mary Poppins Returns. And that includes his TV work: Norman Scott in A Very English Scandal and junior doctor Adam Kay in This Is Going to Hurt.
You’ll probably know Ben Whishaw best for taking over from Desmond Llewelyn (and briefly John Cleese) as Q in the past three James Bond films. And as the voice of Paddington Bear, where he was brought in at the last minute to replace Colin Firth.
Whishaw brings something so very likable to every role he plays: John Keats in Jane Campion’s Bright Star, Sebastian Flyte in the 2008 version of Brideshead Revisited and the grown-up Michael Banks in Mary Poppins Returns. And that includes his TV work: Norman Scott in A Very English Scandal and junior doctor Adam Kay in This Is Going to Hurt.
- 1/26/2023
- by Rich Pelley
- The Guardian - Film News
Anyone expecting too many spoonfuls of sugar in “Mary Poppins Returns,” Disney’s $130-million sequel to the Julie Andrews Disney classic set 25 years later in depression era London, will be disappointed. That’s because Emily Blunt, who reunited with her “Into the Woods” director Rob Marshall, returns some edge to the character created by British author P.L. Travers back in the 30s. “I get her,” Marshall said of Blunt. “I find her quick and clever; I knew she’d find her own way heading back to the books of refining this eccentric character.”
Mary Poppins in the books “was terribly funny,” Blunt told me. “For sure, the vanity and humor is there, but she’s not very sunny. She’s odd.”
Blunt’s Mary Poppins falls somewhere between the weird book character and Julie Andrews’ cheery 1964 creation. It helps to love the original movie because Marshall — who began his Broadway...
Mary Poppins in the books “was terribly funny,” Blunt told me. “For sure, the vanity and humor is there, but she’s not very sunny. She’s odd.”
Blunt’s Mary Poppins falls somewhere between the weird book character and Julie Andrews’ cheery 1964 creation. It helps to love the original movie because Marshall — who began his Broadway...
- 1/11/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Ben Whishaw couldn’t help but blush when hearing he’s favored by many to win the Golden Globe for “A Very English Scandal.” While promoting “Mary Poppins Returns” with co-star Emily Mortimer the actor proclaimed he “loved” working on the Amazon limited series, which brought him a nomination for Best TV Supporting Actor. Watch him discuss “Scandal” above.
See Hugh Grant Interview: ‘Paddington 2’ and ‘A Very English Scandal’
Directed by Stephen Frears, “Scandal” stars Hugh Grant as disgraced Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe, who tried to have his secret lover (Whishaw) murdered. In addition to Whishaw, the show received Globe nominations for Best Movie/Limited Series and Best Movie/Limited Actor (Grant). It also picked up a SAG Award nom for Grant and Critics’ Choice bids for both Grant and Whishaw.
Whishaw had “a great time” working with Grant, an actor he considers to be unfairly “overlooked … because he does comedies.
See Hugh Grant Interview: ‘Paddington 2’ and ‘A Very English Scandal’
Directed by Stephen Frears, “Scandal” stars Hugh Grant as disgraced Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe, who tried to have his secret lover (Whishaw) murdered. In addition to Whishaw, the show received Globe nominations for Best Movie/Limited Series and Best Movie/Limited Actor (Grant). It also picked up a SAG Award nom for Grant and Critics’ Choice bids for both Grant and Whishaw.
Whishaw had “a great time” working with Grant, an actor he considers to be unfairly “overlooked … because he does comedies.
- 1/4/2019
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
As the writer of Mary Poppins Returns, David Magee embraced the major opportunity he saw before him, putting his stamp on an iconic character that meant so much to him. A sequel to Disney’s 1964 musical classic—based on a series of children’s books by P.L. Travers—Mary Poppins Returns circles back to the titular, magical nanny, and the Banks children whose lives she forever changed. Now fully grown, with children of his own, Michael Banks has lost his wife, and stands to gain the most of anyone from Poppins’ reemergence, at a time when his imagination and joy in life have lapsed.
Certainly, there would be many challenges to face, bringing Poppins back to the screen after so many years. First and foremost, the writer had a responsibility to generations of fans, who had been touched by the original. Inevitably, the sequel would need to find harmony with that film’s idiosyncratic spirit,...
Certainly, there would be many challenges to face, bringing Poppins back to the screen after so many years. First and foremost, the writer had a responsibility to generations of fans, who had been touched by the original. Inevitably, the sequel would need to find harmony with that film’s idiosyncratic spirit,...
- 1/1/2019
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
“Mary Poppins Returns” will receive the Ensemble Performance Award at the 30th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival, the festival announced on Friday.
Stars Emily Blunt, Pixie Davies, Nathanael Salah and Joel Dawson are expected to accept the award at the festival, which will be hosted by Mary Hart and Entertainment Tonight. The award will be presented to the cast by the film’s director Rob Marshall.
Academy Award-winner “Argo” and Academy Award nominees “American Hustle,” “The Big Short,” and “The Social Network” are past honorees of the ensemble award.
Also Read: 'Aquaman,' 'Mary Poppins' Lead Crowded Field in First 'Star Wars'-Free Box Office in 3 Years
“Mary Poppins Returns is a happy film, that re-creates the magic and adventure of the first film,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner in a statement. “Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda lead an excellent ensemble cast that also includes Colin Firth,...
Stars Emily Blunt, Pixie Davies, Nathanael Salah and Joel Dawson are expected to accept the award at the festival, which will be hosted by Mary Hart and Entertainment Tonight. The award will be presented to the cast by the film’s director Rob Marshall.
Academy Award-winner “Argo” and Academy Award nominees “American Hustle,” “The Big Short,” and “The Social Network” are past honorees of the ensemble award.
Also Read: 'Aquaman,' 'Mary Poppins' Lead Crowded Field in First 'Star Wars'-Free Box Office in 3 Years
“Mary Poppins Returns is a happy film, that re-creates the magic and adventure of the first film,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner in a statement. “Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda lead an excellent ensemble cast that also includes Colin Firth,...
- 12/28/2018
- by Omar Sanchez
- The Wrap
My longtime Disney publicist friends know too well about my childhood fixation about “Mary Poppins.” What “Star Wars” was to a younger generation, this grandiose flight of fantasy about a magical nanny was to me. It made me love films even more than I ever had before. The songs, the effects, those dancing penguin waiters – they expanded my imagination in marvelous new ways.
I thought I knew everything about “Mary Poppins.” I had read all of P.L. Travers’ books. I danced and sang to the soundtrack. I had a Mary Poppins doll with both white fancy dress and her flying outfit, complete with parrot umbrella and carpet bag. I also had consumed a biography about Travers when I was an adult.
But five years ago, when the movie about the making of the film, “Saving Mr. Banks,” came out, I learned about a lecture being given at a community center in Washington,...
I thought I knew everything about “Mary Poppins.” I had read all of P.L. Travers’ books. I danced and sang to the soundtrack. I had a Mary Poppins doll with both white fancy dress and her flying outfit, complete with parrot umbrella and carpet bag. I also had consumed a biography about Travers when I was an adult.
But five years ago, when the movie about the making of the film, “Saving Mr. Banks,” came out, I learned about a lecture being given at a community center in Washington,...
- 12/27/2018
- by Susan Wloszczyna
- Gold Derby
Image Source: Everett Collection
Warning: light spoilers for Mary Poppins Returns ahead.
Mary Poppins Returns is full of hidden references to the original film, but some of the sweetest nods to Mary Poppins are appearances from the original cast. While Dick Van Dyke makes a memorable cameo as Mr. Dawes Jr., the son of bank director Mr. Dawes from the original film, there is also a very quick cameo from the original Jane Banks, played by actress Karen Dotrice.
On set with the original Jane Banks, Karen Dotrice, watch for her surprise cameo...#MaryPoppinsDay pic.twitter.com/1CP5GuiYhw
- Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) December 19, 2018
The cameo happens about halfway through the film, when Jane (Emily Mortimer) and Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda) are chatting outside the Banks home. As they awkwardly flirt with each other, a woman (Dotrice) approaches them and asks for directions to 19 Cherry Tree Lane. When they simultaneously...
Warning: light spoilers for Mary Poppins Returns ahead.
Mary Poppins Returns is full of hidden references to the original film, but some of the sweetest nods to Mary Poppins are appearances from the original cast. While Dick Van Dyke makes a memorable cameo as Mr. Dawes Jr., the son of bank director Mr. Dawes from the original film, there is also a very quick cameo from the original Jane Banks, played by actress Karen Dotrice.
On set with the original Jane Banks, Karen Dotrice, watch for her surprise cameo...#MaryPoppinsDay pic.twitter.com/1CP5GuiYhw
- Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) December 19, 2018
The cameo happens about halfway through the film, when Jane (Emily Mortimer) and Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda) are chatting outside the Banks home. As they awkwardly flirt with each other, a woman (Dotrice) approaches them and asks for directions to 19 Cherry Tree Lane. When they simultaneously...
- 12/24/2018
- by Kelsie Gibson
- Popsugar.com
Dick Van Dyke isn’t the only star of the classic 1964 Walt Disney musical fantasy “Mary Poppins” who appears in the current sequel “Mary Poppins Returns,” which stars Emily Blunt taking over from Julie Andrews as the practically perfect nanny. Karen Dotrice, who played Jane Banks in the original film, has a cameo as a woman walking down Cherry Tree Lane and asks grown-up Jane (Emily Mortimer) for directions.
Dotrice, 63 and the mother of three, is the daughter of the late British acting couple, Kay and Roy Dotrice. She made her acting debut on the London stage as a four-year-old in “The Caucasian Chalk Circle,” which starred her godfather, the legendary Charles Laughton. And it just so happened a casting director looking for a little girl to star in Disney’s 1964 “The Three Lives of Thomasina” caught her performance. And soon she was making the movie with Matthew Garber, who...
Dotrice, 63 and the mother of three, is the daughter of the late British acting couple, Kay and Roy Dotrice. She made her acting debut on the London stage as a four-year-old in “The Caucasian Chalk Circle,” which starred her godfather, the legendary Charles Laughton. And it just so happened a casting director looking for a little girl to star in Disney’s 1964 “The Three Lives of Thomasina” caught her performance. And soon she was making the movie with Matthew Garber, who...
- 12/24/2018
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Lin-Manuel Miranda is a Disney baby. Growing up in Upper Manhattan, he remembers watching the original “Mary Poppins” on a “puffy” white VHS cassette, over and over, losing his mind over “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocius.” Some 30 years later, Miranda found himself on the London Shepperton Studios set of “Mary Poppins Returns” playing Jack the lamplighter, the grown-up apprentice of Bert the chimney sweep (Dick Van Dyke), singing a new music-hall patter number in the style of “Jolly Holiday,” which Van Dyke rattled through long before anyone knew how to rap. “These songs are cousins with hip hop,” Miranda told me.
While Miranda’s claim to fame is the Broadway breakout rap musical “Hamilton” — which showcased his astonishing skill set as a Stephen Sondheim-level musical creator and song-and-dance man — truth is, he’s always been on a Hollywood career track. Disney was his entree. Now he’s in full sprint mode.
It all...
While Miranda’s claim to fame is the Broadway breakout rap musical “Hamilton” — which showcased his astonishing skill set as a Stephen Sondheim-level musical creator and song-and-dance man — truth is, he’s always been on a Hollywood career track. Disney was his entree. Now he’s in full sprint mode.
It all...
- 12/21/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Most Christmas movies are designed for audience-friendly, peak-holiday family appeal. And then there’s the more challenging year-end fare intended mainly to impress critics, arthouse patrons, and Academy voters. Some December openings launched at prestige fall film festivals; others are bonafide awards contenders (Adam McKay’s “Vice” and Rob Marshall’s “Mary Poppins Returns”); and some, like Robert Zemeckis’s “Welcome to Marwen” will skid into bad reviews, audience reaction, or both.
Herewith, a ranking of the Christmas Oscar hopefuls in order of their likely prospects.
“Mary Poppins Returns”
Metascore: 65.
Strengths: Set 25 years after the 1964 Disney classic, Rob Marshall’s heartfelt depression-era sequel hews close to the original. “Into the Woods” musical star Emily Blunt in the title role and Lin-Manuel Miranda of “Hamilton” as an upbeat Cockney lamplighter carry the film, compensating for sad-sack grown-up siblings Jane (Emily Mortimer) and Michael Banks (Ben Whishaw), who are desperately trying to...
Herewith, a ranking of the Christmas Oscar hopefuls in order of their likely prospects.
“Mary Poppins Returns”
Metascore: 65.
Strengths: Set 25 years after the 1964 Disney classic, Rob Marshall’s heartfelt depression-era sequel hews close to the original. “Into the Woods” musical star Emily Blunt in the title role and Lin-Manuel Miranda of “Hamilton” as an upbeat Cockney lamplighter carry the film, compensating for sad-sack grown-up siblings Jane (Emily Mortimer) and Michael Banks (Ben Whishaw), who are desperately trying to...
- 12/20/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.