GREER GARSON
Name: Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson
Born: 29 September 1904 London, England
Died: 6 April 1996 Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson, CBE (September 29, 1904 - April 6, 1996) was an
Academy Award-winning English actress very popular during the World War II years
and was the leading lady in many pictures with Walter Pidgeon.
Known in childhood as "Eggy", Greer Garson was born in Manor
Park, Essex (now Greater London), England in 1904. She was the
only child of George Garson (1865-1906), a clerk born in London but with
Scottish lineage, and his Irish wife, Nancy ("Nina") Sophia Greer (d. 1958). Her
maternal grandfather was David Greer a RIC sergeant in Castlewellan Co Down
Northern Ireland in the 1880s and who later became a land steward to the
Annesleys wealthy landlords who built the the town of Castlewellan. He lived in
a large detached house built on the lower part of what was known as Pig Street
or known locally as the Back Way near Shilliday’s builder’s yard. The house was
called ‘Claremount’ and today the street is named Claremount Avenue. It was
often reported that Ms. Garson was born in this house. She was, in fact born in
London, but spent many of her childhood days in Castlewellan.
She was educated at the University of London, where she earned degrees in French
and 18th-century literature. She intended to become a teacher, but instead began
working with an advertising agency, and appeared in local theatrical productions.
She appeared on television during its earliest years, in the 1930s, most notably
in a thirty-minute production of an excerpt of Twelfth Night in May 1937,
alongside Peggy Ashcroft. This is the first known instance of a Shakespeare play
performed on television.
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 opposite Joan Crawford in When Ladies Meet in 1941 and that same
year, 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' 1938-1942 record, a record that
still stands. Garson won the Academy Award for Best Actress in
1942 for her role as a strong British wife and mother in the middle of World War
II in Mrs. Miniver. (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. ) She was also nominated
for Madame Curie (1943), Mrs. Parkington (1944), and The Valley of Decision (1945).
Garson was a popular dramatic actress for several years when she was teamed with
Clark Gable in his first film since returning from war service in 1945,
Adventure. The film was advertised with the catch-phrase "Gable's back and
Garson's got him!" Garson's popularity dropped somewhat in the late 1940s, but
she remained a popular film star until the mid 1950s. In 1951, she became a
naturalized 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.
Garson's last film, in 1967, was The Happiest Millionaire, although she made
infrequent television appearances. In 1968, she narrated the children's
television special The Little Drummer Boy which went on to become a classic
children's Christmas television programs which was broadcast annually for many
years.
Greer Garson and co-star Ralph Bellamy with Eleanor Roosevelt during filming of
Sunrise at Campobello (1960)
Name: Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson
Born: 29 September 1904 London, England
Died: 6 April 1996 Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson, CBE (September 29, 1904 - April 6, 1996) was an
Academy Award-winning English actress very popular during the World War II years
and was the leading lady in many pictures with Walter Pidgeon.
Known in childhood as "Eggy", Greer Garson was born in Manor
Park, Essex (now Greater London), England in 1904. She was the
only child of George Garson (1865-1906), a clerk born in London but with
Scottish lineage, and his Irish wife, Nancy ("Nina") Sophia Greer (d. 1958). Her
maternal grandfather was David Greer a RIC sergeant in Castlewellan Co Down
Northern Ireland in the 1880s and who later became a land steward to the
Annesleys wealthy landlords who built the the town of Castlewellan. He lived in
a large detached house built on the lower part of what was known as Pig Street
or known locally as the Back Way near Shilliday’s builder’s yard. The house was
called ‘Claremount’ and today the street is named Claremount Avenue. It was
often reported that Ms. Garson was born in this house. She was, in fact born in
London, but spent many of her childhood days in Castlewellan.
She was educated at the University of London, where she earned degrees in French
and 18th-century literature. She intended to become a teacher, but instead began
working with an advertising agency, and appeared in local theatrical productions.
She appeared on television during its earliest years, in the 1930s, most notably
in a thirty-minute production of an excerpt of Twelfth Night in May 1937,
alongside Peggy Ashcroft. This is the first known instance of a Shakespeare play
performed on television.
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 opposite Joan Crawford in When Ladies Meet in 1941 and that same
year, 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' 1938-1942 record, a record that
still stands. Garson won the Academy Award for Best Actress in
1942 for her role as a strong British wife and mother in the middle of World War
II in Mrs. Miniver. (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. ) She was also nominated
for Madame Curie (1943), Mrs. Parkington (1944), and The Valley of Decision (1945).
Garson was a popular dramatic actress for several years when she was teamed with
Clark Gable in his first film since returning from war service in 1945,
Adventure. The film was advertised with the catch-phrase "Gable's back and
Garson's got him!" Garson's popularity dropped somewhat in the late 1940s, but
she remained a popular film star until the mid 1950s. In 1951, she became a
naturalized 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.
Garson's last film, in 1967, was The Happiest Millionaire, although she made
infrequent television appearances. In 1968, she narrated the children's
television special The Little Drummer Boy which went on to become a classic
children's Christmas television programs which was broadcast annually for many
years.
Greer Garson and co-star Ralph Bellamy with Eleanor Roosevelt during filming of
Sunrise at Campobello (1960)