Greer Garson

Greer Garson
from the trailer of That Forsyte Woman (1949)
Born	Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson 29 September 1904(1904-09-29) Manor Park, Essex (now part of Greater London), England, UK
Died	6 April 1996(1996-04-06) (aged 91) Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1937–82
Spouse	Edward Alec Abbot Snelson (1933–40) Richard Ney (1943–47) E. E. "Buddy" Fogelson (1949–87) (his death)

Greer Garson, CBE (29 September 1904 – 6 April 1996) was a British-born actress who was very popular during World War II, being listed by the Motion Picture Herald as one of America's top ten box office draws in 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, and 1946. As one of MGM's major stars of the 1940s, Garson received seven Academy Award nominations, winning the Best Actress award for Mrs. Miniver (1942).

Early life

Greer Garson was born Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson in Manor Park, Essex (now Greater London), England in 1904, the only child of George Garson (1865–1906), a clerk born in London, but with Scottish lineage, and his wife, Nina (née Nancy Sophia Greer; died 1958). Her maternal grandfather was David Greer, a RIC sergeant in Castlewellan, County Down, Ireland in the 1880s and who later became a land steward to the Annesley family (wealthy landlords who built 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 Garson was born in this house. She was, in fact, born in London, but spent much of her childhood in Castlewellan.

Education

She was educated at King's College London, where she earned degrees in French and 18th century literature, and at the University of Grenoble in France. She had intended to become a teacher, but instead began working with an advertising agency, and appeared in local theatrical productions.

Career

Garson in Pride and Prejudice (1940)

Greer Garson's early professional appearances were on stage, starting at Birmingham Repertory Theatre in January 1932. She appeared on television during its earliest years (the late 1930s), most notably starring in a thirty-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.

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 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 and co-star Walter Pidgeon in Mrs. Miniver (1942)

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 "She Put the Able in Gable!"; thereafter, the safer catchphrase was selected. Garson's popularity dropped somewhat in the late 1940s, but she remained a prominent film star until the mid-1950s, as she was known for her gorgeous red hair.

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. Greer was special guest on an episode of Father Knows Best (television series) playing herself.

On October 4, 1956, Garson appeared with Reginald Gardiner as the first two guest stars in the series premiere of NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford.

Garson's last film, in 1967, was Disney's The Happiest Millionaire, although she made infrequent television appearances. In 1968, she narrated the children's television special The Little Drummer Boy, which is is currently being aired on ABC Family.

Personal life

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 and Pakistani affairs. The actual marriage reportedly lasted only a few weeks, but was not formally dissolved until 1943.

Her second husband, whom she married (at age 39) in 1943, was Richard Ney (1916–2004), the younger actor (27 years old) who played her son in Mrs. Miniver. They divorced in 1947, with Garson claiming that Ney called her a "has-been" and belittled her age, as well as testimony from Garson that he also physically abused her. Ney eventually became a respected stock-market analyst and financial consultant.

In 1949, she married a millionaire Texas oilman and horse breeder, E. E. "Buddy" Fogelson (1900–1987), and in 1967, the couple retired to their "Forked Lightning Ranch" in New Mexico. Guided tours of the Forked Lightning Ranch are available every Sunday at Pecos National Historical Park in Pecos, NM. Call the Visitor Center at 505-757-7241. They purchased the U.S. Hall of Fame champion Thoroughbred Ack Ack from the estate of Harry F. Guggenheim in 1971, and were highly successful as breeders. They also maintained a home in Dallas, Texas, where Garson funded the Greer Garson Theater facility at Southern Methodist University.

Garson donated millions for the construction of the Greer Garson Theater at both the Santa Fe University of Art and Design and The Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University on three conditions: 1) that the stages be circular, 2) that the premiere production be William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and 3) that they have large ladies' rooms.

Garson was a devout Presbyterian.

Death

Greer Garson died from heart failure at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas on 6 April 1996, at the age of 91. She is interred beside her husband in the Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery in Dallas.

Filmography

List of film performances

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1939	Goodbye, Mr. Chips	Katherine Chipping	Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
1939	Remember?	Linda Bronson Holland
1940	Miracle of Sound, TheThe Miracle of Sound	Herself	colour test for Blossoms in the Dust
1940	Pride and Prejudice	Elizabeth Bennet
1941	Blossoms in the Dust	Edna Kahly Gladney	Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
1941	When Ladies Meet	Mrs. Claire Woodruff
1942	Mrs. Miniver	Mrs. Kay Miniver	Academy Award for Best Actress
1942	Random Harvest	Paula Ridgeway
1943	Youngest Profession, TheThe Youngest Profession	Herself - Guest Star
1943	Madame Curie	Marie Curie	Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
1944	Mrs. Parkington	Susie "Sparrow" Parkington	Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
1945	Valley of Decision, TheThe Valley of Decision	Mary Rafferty	Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
1945	Adventure	Emily Sears
1947	Desire Me	Marise Aubert
1948	Julia Misbehaves	Julia Packett
1949	That Forsyte Woman	Irene Forsyte
1950	Screen Actors	Herself - uncredited	short subject
1950	Miniver Story, TheThe Miniver Story	Mrs. Kay Miniver
1951	Law and the Lady, TheThe Law and the Lady	Jane Hoskins
1953	Scandal at Scourie	Mrs. Victoria McChesney
1953	Julius Caesar	Calpurnia
1954	Her Twelve Men	Jan Stewart
1955	Strange Lady in Town	Dr. Julia Winslow Garth
1960	Sunrise at Campobello	Eleanor Roosevelt	Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
1960	Pepe	Herself	Cameo appearance
1966	Singing Nun, TheThe Singing Nun	Mother Prioress
1967	Happiest Millionaire, TheThe Happiest Millionaire	Mrs. Cordelia Biddle
1968	Little Drummer Boy, TheThe Little Drummer Boy	"Our Story Teller"	as Ms. Greer Garson
1978	Little Women	Aunt Kathryn March
1986	Directed by William Wyler	Herself	documentary

References

Notes

10. Greer Garson's mother's maiden name was not Greer, it was McGregor. Greer is a contraction of her mother's maiden name.

Bibliography

• Sarvady, Andrea, Leading Ladies: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actresses of the Studio Era (edited by Frank Miller), (TCM Film Guides), San Francisco, Chronicle Books, 2006, ISBN 0-8118-5248-2
• Troyan, Michael, A Rose for Mrs. Miniver: The Life of Greer Garson, Lexington, University Press of Kentucky, 1999, ISBN 0-8131-2094-2

External links

• Greer Garson test footage for her role in Goodbye Mr Chips
• Garson's New York Times obituary
• Elwy Yost interview with Greer Garson from TVO's Saturday Night at the Movies circa 1985
• Greer Garson - Tribute site
• Greer Garson at the Internet Movie Database
• Greer Garson at AllRovi
• Greer Garson at the TCM Movie Database
• Greer Garson at the Internet Broadway Database

• Pecos National Historical Park Forked Lightning Page
• Everything About Greer Garson - fan website