Classic Movies - Greer Garson

Greer Garson, September 29, 1904 - April 6, 1996

Today, let’s talk Classic Movies of Greer Garson! One of the most popular actresses of the 1940’s, the lovely redhead was in her mid-thirties before she made her first motion picture. Greer Garson was an English stage actress when she was discovered by MGM mogul, Louis B. Mayer. With her beautiful speaking voice and elegant manner, Mayer was initially unsure of how best to use her talent and she refused to play supporting roles. Finally, Ms. Garson was cast as “Mrs. Chips” in the beloved classic, Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939), with Robert Donat in the title role. The part was relatively small and she was so disappointed by it that she was about to give up on her film career and return to England when she was nominated for an Academy Award for best actress. Although she did not win the award, audiences loved her, and throughout the next decade, Greer Garson would prove to be one of Hollywood's finest actresses.

Several of Greer Garson’s best pictures include Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (1940), with Laurence Olivier; Blossoms in the Dust (1941), her first of eight pairings with Walter Pidgeon; Random Harvest (1942), with Ronald Colman; Madame Curie (1943), with Walter Pidgeon; The Valley of Decision (1945), with Gregory Peck; Adventure (1945), with Clark Gable; and Julia Misbehaves (1948), a delightful comedy with Walter Pidgeon and Elizabeth Taylor. All in all, Greer Garson was nominated seven times for best actress “Oscars”, her last coming in 1960 for her portrayal of First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, in Sunrise at Campobello, with Ralph Bellamy as FDR.

Out of the seven nominations she received, Greer Garson won only one Academy Award and that was for the classic film we are featuring today. That film is 1942’s Mrs. Miniver, with Walter Pidgeon and Teresa Wright. Ms. Garson (in the title role) is outstanding as the courageous wife and mother who, along with her family, must endure the bombings, blackouts, and horror of war on the British home-front early in World War II. This film also won several more Academy Awards, including best picture; best director, William Wyler; and best supporting actress, Teresa Wright. You might be interested to know that Greer Garson’s acceptance speech was approximately 5½ minutes long and still holds the record as the longest ever given. Also, of interest, is the fact that Greer Garson actually married Richard Ney, the young man who played her son, Vin, in Mrs. Miniver. Due to an age difference of at least 12 years (accounts vary), their marriage in 1943 caused quite a stir. It ended, unfortunately, in 1947.

During the 1950’s, Greer Garson’s film career began to wane. There was a sequel to Mrs. Miniver called The Miniver Story (1950), but it didn’t compare to the original. Greer Garson did appear in two family favorites of the 1960’s, The Singing Nun (1966), starring Debbie Reynolds and Disney’s The Happiest Millionaire (1967), with Fred MacMurray. She was charming in both, but it was in the decade of the “forties” that Greer Garson’s star shone most brightly.

More information about Greer Garson:
Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson - born in London on September 29, 1904. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1942 for her role as a British matron pluckily surviving in the midst of war in Mrs. Miniver, and she received more nominations during the 1940s.

Greer Garson's Academy Awards and Nominations:
1940 Goodbye, Mr. Chips
1942 Blossoms In the Dust
1943 Mrs. Miniver (best actress)
1944 Madame Curie
1945 Mrs. Parkington
1946 The Valley of Decision
1961 Sunrise at Campobello

**Trivia Question for Today: When Greer Garson starred with Clark Gable in Adventure, he had recently returned to Hollywood from active military service in World War II. What was the catch phrase or “tagline” used to promote the film? The answer will appear in our next blog, so check in every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for more from "Let’s Talk Classic Movies".

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: James Stewart accepted Gary Cooper’s Honorary Academy Award in 1961. John Wayne accepted Mr. Cooper’s “Oscar” for 1952’s High Noon. Ironically, I once heard that John Wayne did not really like High Noon due to the fact that Sheriff Will Kane (Cooper) dropped his tin star in the dirt and left town at the end of the picture. Mr. Wayne didn’t think this was a gesture a lawman should make. What do you think?