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Greer Garson
British-American actress

Greer Garson

The basics

Quick Facts

Intro
British-American actress
Gender
Female
Place of birth
London, England, UK
Place of death
Dallas, Dallas County, Texas, USA
Age
91 years
Education
King's College London
Awards
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
 
Academy Award for Best Actress
 
star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
 
Greer Garson
The details (from wikipedia)

Biography

Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson CBE (29 September 1904 – 6 April 1996) was a British-American actress and singer. She was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer who became popular during the Second World War for her portrayal of strong women on the homefront; listed by the Motion Picture Herald as one of America's top-ten box office draws from 1942 to 1946. She is the fourth most nominated woman for the Best Actress Oscar.

Garson received seven Academy Award nominations, including a record-tying five consecutive nominations (1941–1945) in the Best Actress category, winning the award for her performance in the title role of the 1942 film Mrs. Miniver.

Early life

Greer Garson was born on 29 September 1904 in Manor Park, East Ham (then in Essex, now part of London), the only child of Nancy Sophia "Nina" (née Greer; 1880-1958) and George Garson (1865–1906), a commercial clerk in a London importing business. Her father was born in London to Scottish parents, and her mother was born at Drumalore (usually spelled as Drumalure or Drumaloor), a townland near Belturbet in County Cavan, Ireland. The name Greer is a contraction of MacGregor, another family name.

Her maternal grandfather David Greer (c. 1848-1913 from Kilrea, County Londonderry), was an RIC sergeant stationed in Castlewellan, County Down. In the 1870s or 1880s he became a land steward to the wealthy Annesley family, who built the town of Castlewellan. While there, he lived in a large detached house called "Clairemount", which was built on the lower part of what was known as Pig Street, or locally known as the Back Way, near Shilliday's builder's yard. It was often erroneously reported Greer Garson was born there (The Macmillan International Film Encyclopedia gives her place of birth as County Down, and year of birth as 1908).

Garson read French and 18th-century literature at King's College London and did her postgraduate studies at the University of Grenoble. While aspiring to be an actress, she was appointed head of the research library of LINTAS in the marketing department of Lever Brothers. Her co-worker there, George Sanders, wrote in his autobiography that it was Garson who suggested he take up a career in acting.

Career

Garson's early professional appearances were on stage, starting at Birmingham Repertory Theatre in January 1932, when she was 27 years old. She appeared on television during its earliest years (the late 1930s), most notably starring in a 30-minute production of an excerpt of Twelfth Night in May 1937, with Dorothy Black. These live transmissions were part of the BBC's experimental service from Alexandra Palace, and this is the first known instance of a Shakespeare play performed on television. In 1936, she appeared in the West End in Charles Bennett's play Page From a Diary, and Noël Coward’s play Mademoiselle.

Garson in Pride and Prejudice (1940)

Louis B. Mayer discovered Garson while he was in London looking for new talent. Garson was signed to a contract with MGM in late 1937, but did not begin work on her first film, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, until late 1938. She received her first Oscar nomination for the role but lost to Vivien Leigh for Gone with the Wind. She received critical acclaim the next year for her role as Elizabeth Bennet in the 1940 film Pride and Prejudice.

Garson starred with Joan Crawford in When Ladies Meet, a 1941 poorly received and sanitized re-make of a Pre-Code version of the same name, which had starred Ann Harding and Myrna Loy. That same year, she became a major box-office star with the sentimental Technicolor drama Blossoms in the Dust, which brought her the first of five consecutive Best Actress Oscar nominations, tying Bette Davis's 1938–1942 record, which still stands.

Garson starred in two Academy Award nominated films in 1942: Mrs. Miniver and Random Harvest. She was nominated and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as a strong British wife and mother protecting the homefront during World War II in Mrs. Miniver, which co-starred Walter Pidgeon. The Guinness Book of World Records credits her with the longest Oscar acceptance speech, at five minutes and 30 seconds, after which the Academy Awards instituted a time limit.

In Random Harvest she co-starred with Academy Award winning actor Ronald Colman. The powerful, romantic World War I drama, set at the end of the war, with Colman as an amnesiac soldier and Garson as his love interest, received seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Actor for Colman and Best Picture. The film lost in all seven categories, with the Best Picture award going to Garson's other major film that year, Mrs. Miniver. However, The American Film Institute ranked it #36 on its list of 100 Greatest Love Stories of All Time, and it was one of Garson's favorite films.

Garson and co-star Walter Pidgeon in The Miniver Story (1950), a sequel to the successful award winning Mrs. Miniver

Garson also received Oscar nominations for her performances in the films Madame Curie (1943), Mrs. Parkington (1944), and The Valley of Decision (1945). She frequently co-starred with Walter Pidgeon, ultimately making eight pictures with him: Blossoms in the Dust (1941), Mrs. Miniver (1942), Madame Curie, Mrs. Parkington, Julia Misbehaves (1948), That Forsyte Woman (1949), The Miniver Story (1950), and Scandal at Scourie (1953).

Garson was partnered with Clark Gable after his return from war service in Adventure (1945). The film was advertised with the catch-phrase "Gable's back, and Garson's got him!". Gable argued for "He put the Arson in Garson"; she countered with "She put the Able in Gable!"; thereafter, the safer catchphrase was selected.

Garson's popularity declined somewhat in the late 1940s, but she remained a prominent film star until the mid-1950s. In 1951, she became a naturalised citizen of the United States. She made only a few films after her MGM contract expired in 1954. In 1958, she received a warm reception on Broadway in Auntie Mame, replacing Rosalind Russell, who had gone to Hollywood to make the film version. In 1960, Garson received her seventh and final Oscar nomination for Sunrise at Campobello in which she played Eleanor Roosevelt, this time losing to Elizabeth Taylor for BUtterfield 8.

Greer was a special guest on an episode of the TV series Father Knows Best, playing herself. On 4 October 1956, Garson appeared with Reginald Gardiner as the first two guest stars of the series in the premiere of NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford. She appeared as a mystery guest on What's My Line on 25 October 1953 and again on 6 April 1958 to promote her appearance on stage in Auntie Mame. She also served as a panelist rather than a guest on the What's My Line episode which aired on 12 May 1957.

She returned to MGM for a role in The Singing Nun (1966) starring Debbie Reynolds. Her last film appearance was in the 1967 feature, Walt Disney's The Happiest Millionaire, although she made infrequent television appearances afterwards. In 1968, she narrated the children's television special The Little Drummer Boy. Her final role for television was in a 1982 episode of The Love Boat.

Personal life

Garson in That Forsyte Woman (1949)

Garson was married three times. Her first marriage, on 28 September 1933, was to Edward Alec Abbot Snelson (1904–1992), later Sir Edward, a British civil servant who became a noted judge and expert in Indian affairs. After a honeymoon in Germany, he returned to his appointment at Nagpur, a town in central India, and she chose to return to her mother and the theatre in Britain. Snelson reportedly grieved at losing her and would watch multiple screenings of any film of hers that played in Nagpur. The marriage was not formally dissolved until 1943.

Her second marriage, on 24 July 1943, was to Richard Ney (1916–2004), a young actor who had played her son in Mrs. Miniver. The relationship was under constant scrutiny owing to their 12-year age difference. MGM tried to publicize that Garson was merely three years older than Ney and to portray the image of a happy couple, but the marriage was troubled. They were divorced in 1947, after several attempts at reconciliation. Ney eventually became a stock-market analyst, financial consultant, and author.

Her third marriage in 1949, was to millionaire Texas oilman and horse breeder, E.E. "Buddy" Fogelson (1900–1987).

Buddy Fogelson and Garson in 1948
Residence at Forked Lightning Ranch, New Mexico

In 1967, the couple retired to their Forked Lightning Ranch in New Mexico. They purchased the US Hall of Fame champion Thoroughbred Ack Ack from the estate of Harry F. Guggenheim in 1971, and were successful as breeders. They also maintained a home in Dallas, where Garson funded the Greer Garson Theatre facility at Southern Methodist University.She founded a permanent endowment for the Fogelson Honors Forum at Texas Christian University (TCU), Buddy Fogelson's alma mater, in nearby Fort Worth.

In 1951, Garson became a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and the United States. She was a registered Republican and in 1966 was asked to run for Congress on the Republican ticket against Democrat Earle Cabell but declined.She was a devout Presbyterian.

During her later years, Garson was recognised for her philanthropy and civic leadership. She donated several million dollars for the construction of the Greer Garson Theatre at both the Santa Fe University of Art and Design and at Southern Methodist University's Meadows School of the Arts on three conditions: 1) the stages be circular, 2) the premiere production be A Midsummer Night's Dream, and 3) they have large ladies' rooms.

The actress suffered a back injury during her first 18 months at MGM while waiting for a role Mayer deemed worthy of her, and was nearly released from her contract. Her back was injured again while filming Desire Me in Monterey on 26 April 1946 when a wave knocked her and co-star Richard Hart from the rocks where they were rehearsing. A local fisherman and extra in the film rescued Garson from the surf and potential undertow. She was bruised and in shock and required by doctors to rest for several days. The injury to her back would require several surgeries over the coming years.

Death

Garson lived her final years in a penthouse suite at the Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, where she died from heart failure on 6 April 1996, at the age of 91. She is interred beside her husband in the Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery in Dallas.

Honours

Garson received an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from Southern Methodist University in 1991.

In 1993, Queen Elizabeth II recognised Garson's achievements by investing her as Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

Garson received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 8 February 1960 located at 1651 Vine Street in Los Angeles, CA.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1939Goodbye, Mr. ChipsKatherine ChippingNominated – Academy Award for Best Actress
Remember?Linda Bronson Holland
1940The Miracle of SoundHerselfColour test for Blossoms in the Dust
Pride and PrejudiceElizabeth Bennet
1941Blossoms in the DustEdna Kahly GladneyNominated – Academy Award for Best Actress
When Ladies MeetMrs. Claire Woodruff
1942Mrs. MiniverMrs. Kay MiniverAcademy Award for Best Actress
Random HarvestPaula Ridgeway
1943The Youngest ProfessionHerself – Guest Star
Madame CurieMarie CurieNominated – Academy Award for Best Actress
1944Mrs. ParkingtonSusie "Sparrow" ParkingtonNominated – Academy Award for Best Actress
1945The Valley of DecisionMary RaffertyNominated – Academy Award for Best Actress
AdventureEmily Sears
1947Desire MeMarise Aubert
1948Julia MisbehavesJulia Packett
1949That Forsyte WomanIrene Forsyte
1950Screen ActorsHerselfShort subject, uncredited
The Miniver StoryMrs. Kay Miniver
1951The Law and the LadyJane Hoskins
1953Scandal at ScourieMrs. Victoria McChesney
Julius CaesarCalpurnia
1954Her Twelve MenJan Stewart
1955Strange Lady in TownDr. Julia Winslow Garth
1956The Little FoxesRegina GiddensTV Movie
1960Sunrise at CampobelloEleanor RooseveltGolden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama,
National Board of Review Award for Best Actress,
Nominated – Academy Award for Best Actress
PepeHerselfCameo
Captain Brassbound's ConversionLady Cicely WaynfleteTV Movie
1963Invincible Mr. DisraeliMary Anne DisraeliTV Movie
1966The Singing NunMother Prioress
1967The Happiest MillionaireMrs. Cordelia Biddle
1968The Little Drummer Boy"Our Story Teller"Credited as Miss Greer Garson
1974Crown MatrimonialQueen MaryTV Movie
1976The Little Drummer Boy, Book II"Our Story Teller"Credited as Miss Greer Garson
1978Little WomenAunt Kathryn MarchTV Miniseries
1986Directed by William WylerHerselfDocumentary

Box Office Ranking

YearUS RankUK Rank
19429th
19436th1st
19446th3rd
19453rd3rd
19467th4th

Television appearances

YearTitleRoleNotes
1953
1958
What's My LineMystery GuestAirdates: October 25, 1953
April 6, 1958
1955Producers' ShowcaseElena KrugEpisode: "Reunion in Vienna"
1956-1960General Electric TheaterVarious3 Episodes
1957Telephone TimeLiza Richardson
Father Knows BestHerself
1962The DuPont Show of the WeekJuliette Harben
1965The Red Skelton Hour Christmas SpecialHerself and "Old Granny"
1968-1970Rowan & Martin's Laugh-InGuest Performer5 Episodes
1970The VirginianFrances B. Finch
1982The Love BoatAlice BaileyEpisode: "The Tomorrow Lady"

Radio appearances

YearProgramEpisode/source
1942The Screen Guild TheaterThe Philadelphia Story
1945The Screen Guild TheaterMy Favorite Wife
1946Academy AwardBrief Encounter
1946Lux Radio TheatreMrs. Parkington
1952Lux Radio TheatreThe African Queen
1953Suspense'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Sources

  • Katz, Ephraim (1994). The Macmillan International Film Encyclopedia. Pan Macmillan Limited. p. 511. ISBN 0-333-61601-4.
  • Sarvady, Andrea (2006). Leading Ladies: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actresses of the Studio Era. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. ISBN 0811852482.
  • Troyan, Michael (1999). A Rose for Mrs. Miniver: The Life of Greer Garson. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0813120942.
The contents of this page are sourced from Wikipedia article. The contents are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
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