Greer Garson
Birthday:
September 29, 1904 in London, England, UK
Birth Name:
Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson
Height:
168 cm
Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson was born on September 29, 1904 in London, England, to Nancy Sophia (Greer) and George Garson, a commercial clerk. She was of Scottish and Ulster-Scots descent. Her childhood was a normal if not non-descript life. Greer showed no early signs of interest in becoming an actress. She was educated at the University of London w...
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Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson was born on September 29, 1904 in London, England, to Nancy Sophia (Greer) and George Garson, a commercial clerk. She was of Scottish and Ulster-Scots descent. Her childhood was a normal if not non-descript life. Greer showed no early signs of interest in becoming an actress. She was educated at the University of London with the intentions of becoming a teacher. Instead, she opted to work with an advertising agency. During this time, she appeared in local theatrical productions gaining a reputation as an extremely talented actress. She was discovered by Louis B. Mayer while he was on a visit to London looking for new talent. Greer was signed to a contract with MGM and appeared in her first American film in 1939. The movie in question was Au revoir Mr. Chips! (1939), which won rave reviews and garnered her a nomination as best actress, the first of six nominations. Already, she was a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood. The following year would see Greer in the highly acclaimed Orgueil et préjugés (1940) as "Elizabeth Bennet". 1941 saw her get a second nomination for her role as Edna Gladney in Les oubliés (1941). Garson won her first Academy Award for Madame Miniver (1942), a role which she would forever be known by. As Marie Curie in Madame Curie (1943), she would get another nomination and the same the next year in Mrs. Parkington (1944). It seemed that any movie she was a part of would surely be a success. Sure enough, in 1945, she won yet another nomination for her role as "Mary Rafferty" in La vallée du jugement (1945). But, through the 1940s, she was constantly typecast in roles that didn't allow for a lot of creativity. MGM felt that the roles she played were sure winners and, for the time being, they were right, but that didn't make Garson feel any better about it. She would stay with MGM until 1954. In 1946, Greer appeared in L'aventure (1945), which was a flop at the box-office. 1947's La femme de l'autre (1947) was no less a disaster. Her downward spiral stopped in the hit La dynastie des Forsyte (1949). The next year, she reprised her role as "Kay Miniver" in L'histoire des Miniver (1950). Unfortunately, it didn't fare too well.For the remainder of the 1950s, she endured several less-than-appreciated films. Then, 1960 found her cast in the role of Eleanor Roosevelt in Sunrise at Campobello (1960). This film was, perhaps, her finest work and landed her seventh Academy Award nomination. Her final appearances on the silver screen were in Dominique (1966) as "Mother Prioress" and Le plus Heureux des milliardaires (1967). After a few TV movies, Garson retired to the New Mexico ranch she shared with her husband, millionaire Buddy E.E. Fogelson. She concentrated on the environment and other various charities. By the 1980s, she was suffering from chronic heart problems prompting her to slow down. That was the cause of her death on April 6, 1996 in Dallas, Texas. She was 91. Show less «
"I remember her as gracious and beautiful. She had stature, but it didn't make her inaccessible. She wasn't somebody you'd poke and tell a d...Show more »
"I remember her as gracious and beautiful. She had stature, but it didn't make her inaccessible. She wasn't somebody you'd poke and tell a dirty joke to, but she gave off a real feeling of warmth" -- actress Eve Plumb, who costarred with Garson in the 1978 TV adaptation of Little Women (1978). Show less «
[Speaking in 1990] I'm not a keyhole peeper in real life, so why should I go to the cinema to be a keyhole peeper? Producers should have mor...Show more »
[Speaking in 1990] I'm not a keyhole peeper in real life, so why should I go to the cinema to be a keyhole peeper? Producers should have more courage. People will respond to stories with love and courage and happy endings instead of shockers. I think the mirror should be tilted slightly upward when it's reflecting life - toward the cheerful, the tender, the compassionate, the brave, the funny, the encouraging - and not tilted down to the troubled vistas of conflict. Show less «
If you're going to be typed, there are worse moulds in which you can be cast.
If you're going to be typed, there are worse moulds in which you can be cast.
All I know about getting something that you want is that there are three essential things: wanting, trying and getting the opportunity, the ...Show more »
All I know about getting something that you want is that there are three essential things: wanting, trying and getting the opportunity, the breaks. None works alone without the others. Wanting is basic. Trying is up to you. And the breaks - I do know this, they always happen. Show less «
[speaking in 1968] I've been offered nymphomaniacs, kleptomaniacs, pyromaniacs, homicidal maniacs and just plain maniacs. I think producers ...Show more »
[speaking in 1968] I've been offered nymphomaniacs, kleptomaniacs, pyromaniacs, homicidal maniacs and just plain maniacs. I think producers felt that after playing a long series of noble and admirable characters there would be quite a lot of shock value in seeing me play something altogether different. But I prefer upbeat stories that send people out of the theater feeling better than they did coming in. It's my cup of tea. Show less «
I do wish I could tell you my age but it's impossible. It keeps changing all the time.
I do wish I could tell you my age but it's impossible. It keeps changing all the time.
Starting out to make money is the greatest mistake in life. Do what you feel you have a flair for doing, and if you are good enough at it, t...Show more »
Starting out to make money is the greatest mistake in life. Do what you feel you have a flair for doing, and if you are good enough at it, the money will come. Show less «
When you can't wait for your ship to come in, you've got to row out to it.
When you can't wait for your ship to come in, you've got to row out to it.
Alice Bailey