Glynis Johns - the legendary actress perhaps best known for her role as Mrs. Banks in Disney's Mary Poppins - has sadly died at the age of 100.
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Johns' death was confirmed by her manager, Mitch Clem, who informed the publication that the beloved actress had passed away on Thursday (January 4).
He added that the star died of natural causes at an assisted living facility in the West Hollywood area.
The South African-born star enjoyed memorable career that spans eight decades, in which she appeared in over 60 films and 30 plays.
Johns made her stage debut as a baby at just a few weeks old when her grandmother, a renowned virtuoso violinist, introduced her in the West End.
Her mother was also an accomplished musician, but it was her famous Welsh father, Mervyn Johns, who gave her an entry to the world of British cinema. Under his guidance, she enrolled first in ballet school and later in stage school.
The actress made her screen debut in 1938 with the film adaptation of Winifred Holtby's posthumous novel South Riding and rose to stardom in the 1940s following her role as Anna in the war drama film 49th Parallel (1941) - for which she was awarded the National Board of Review Award for Best Acting.
She also played the title role in Miranda (1948) and made her first wave in Hollywood cinema after featuring in the joint British-American production, No Highway in the Sky (1951).
Johns is probably best known for playing Winifred Banks, the suffragette matriarch, in Walt Disney's musical motion picture Mary Poppins in 1964. The beloved flick was a huge hit and earned her a Laurel Award for Best Female Supporting Performance.
Her final films were in the 1990s, starring in While You Were Sleeping with American star Sandra Bullock in 1995, and featuring as Molly Shannon's grandmother in Superstar in 1999.
The veteran icon was the recipient of several awards and nominations throughout her stellar longstanding career, including, the Golden Globe Awards, the Tony Awards, the Drama Desk Awards, the Laurel Awards, and the Laurence Olivier Awards.
She also earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for playing the widowed saloon and hotel owner Mrs. Firth in the 1960 movie The Sundowners.
She is one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood, becoming the oldest living Academy Award nominee in any acting category after the death of Olivia de Havilland in 2020 and also taking her place as the oldest living Disney Legend after Betty White sadly passed away in 2021.
Johns was based in Hollywood for the latter part of her career until her retirement in the early 2000s. She was married four times and outlived every husband, as well as her only son.
Back in October, Johns made headlines when she celebrated her 100th birthday.
Speaking from a residential home in Beverly Hills, she was asked by ABC 7 how if feels to be turning 100, to which, she quipped: "It doesn't make any difference to me.
"Well, I looked very good for every age."
She added that she was delighted that her work will continue to entertain us for decades to come, saying: "That's what I hoped."
Our thoughts are with Johns' family, friends, and fans at this time.
