[56] At the family's cabin in Lake Arrowhead, where they vacationed on weekends and holidays, Withers had two motorbikes and a boat. Born Georgette Lizette Withers on March 12, 1917, in what was then British India, she was given what proved to be her lifelong nickname by her Indian nanny. Jane made her comeback in 1950s as a character actor. Googie Withers died on July 15, 2011 at the age of 94. A production of Somerset Maugham's The Circle at the Chichester Festival theatre in 1976 was so successful that it went to the West End, Canada and on tour in Britain. 'I didn't want, and never played, the genteel parts, the English-rose type. Withers was a loss to the British stage and screen when she followed her husband to his native Australia in the late 1950s. Googie Withers, British stage and screen actress, waits by the dartboard while Chips Rafferty gulps his drink and Jean Kent looks at her boots. She was a dancer and actress, with a lengthy career spanning some nine decades in theatre, film, and television. Googie Withers: her birthday, what she did before fame, her family life, fun trivia facts, popularity rankings, and more. At 85 she was still commanding attention on the West End stage, in Lady Windermere's Fan. The couple co-starred in 10 films, and they lived together in Sydney until McCallum died last year at the age of 91. At the same age she made her first professional appearance, in the chorus of a children's show at the Victoria Palace, London. [118] The couple lived on ranches in Midland, Texas, and New Mexico[40] with their three children. [109], Withers engaged in philanthropy throughout her life. Withers joined the Girl Scouts and her parents hosted the meeting in their home. [103] They separated in April 1953 and Withers was granted a divorce in July 1954, citing her husband's "excessive drinking and gambling". Her last role was in the 1996 Australian movie Shine, for which Geoffrey Rush won an Oscar. Her husband John McCallum predeceased her on 3 February 2010. Video, 1894 shipwreck confirms tale of treacherous lifeboat, Harry and Meghan told to 'vacate' Frogmore Cottage, Whiskey fungus forces Jack Daniels to stop construction, Rare Jurassic-era bug found at Arkansas Walmart, Havana Syndrome unlikely to have hostile cause - US, NFL hopeful accused of racing in deadly car crash, India PM Modi urges G20 to overcome divisions, Starbucks illegally fired workers over union - judge. She was a well-known actress during the war and post-war years. McCallum died last year at 91. Also that year, following the death of Sir Frank Tait, John McCallum became Managing Director of J.C. Williamson's. 1965, Googie played Lady Piper in Samuel Taylor's slick New York comedy Beekman Place . Googie Withers, a sly, stylish British star who was best liked by her public when she was behaving wickedly, died July 15 in Sydney, Australia, where she had lived for many years. They had married in 1948, and had two daughters, Joanna and Amanda, and. [77][78] She was also featured in several Big Little Books published by Whitman Publishing. Georgette Lizette "Googie" Withers CBE, AO (12 March 1917 - 15 July 2011) was a British entertainer who had a lengthy career in theatre, film, and television. A strong-willed woman with murderous . [28] In 1936, she starred in Paddy O'Day, Gentle Julia, Little Miss Nobody, and Pepper. The performance, which featured a tap dancing sequence with 50 chorus dancers, was staged as an opening-night benefit for diabetics. Photograph: BFI, Withers as firm but sensitive prison governor Faye Boswell in the ITV series Within These Walls, 1974-75. Shine. Georgette Lizette Withers, CBE, AO (12 March 1917 - 15 July 2011), known professionally as Googie Withers, was an English entertainer who was a dancer and actress with a lengthy career spanning some nine decades in theatre, film, and television. She was also appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2002. Georgette Googie Lizette McCallum (Withers) (12 Mar 1917 - certain 15 Jul 2011) retrieved. Hi there! [17], Withers's big break came after two years[18] when she landed a supporting role in the Shirley Temple film Bright Eyes (also 1934), also directed by Butler. Besides, my real name sounds even crazier. The Lady Vanishes . [34], Withers freely gave her input to screenwriters and directors. [53], To ease the pressured life of a child star, Withers's parents made sure she also had fun, but kept her activities supervised and close to home. Death. She went to do a screen test for them at the Riverside Studios and was invited to become an extra. Googie Withers DVD movie This is the story of one such bomber crew who were shot down and the brave Dutch patriots who helped them home Behind these sombre words hid tales of death, destruction and derring-do. However, the cause of death is still unknown as her family has yet to reveal any details. [58] Withers's thirteenth birthday party saw 60 young guests come in costume and participate in a balloon dance and jitterbug contest; this party earned a two-page pictorial spread in Life magazine. Georgette Lizette Withers, CBE, AO (12 March 1917 - 15 July 2011), known professionally as Googie Withers, was an English entertainer who had a lengthy career in theatre, film, and television. (12 March 1917 - 15 July 2011) Biography. British actress Googie Withers, best known for her appearance in Alfred Hitchcocks The Lady Vanishes, died Friday, July 15, at her home in Sydney, Australia. [119][121] One of Withers's sons later died of cancer. She was married to John McCallum from 1948 until his death in 2010 and they had three children, Joanna, Nicholas and Amanda. January 24, 1948 - February 3, 2010 (his death, 3 children). [1][110] She also sent her personal doll collectionthen numbering some 3,500 dollson a two-year tour which raised $2.5million in funds for the U.S. war effort through 10-cent war savings stamp admissions. McCallum died last year at age 91. In 1932, she and her mother moved to Hollywood, where she appeared as an extra in many films until landing her breakthrough role as the spoiled, obnoxious Joy Smythe opposite Shirley Temple's angelic orphan Shirley Blake in the 1934 film Bright Eyes. She went to do a screen test for them at the Riverside Studios and was invited to become an extra. His real-life interpretation of Rachmaninov's Third Piano Concerto was used in the film and became a controversial attraction in the concert hall. [53] Her parents closely supervised her upbringing to make sure she did not grow up spoiled or entitled. [106] She served as a board member of the local branch of the American Cancer Society and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, and was instrumental in the development of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. [39] Since all but one of her films were low-budget B movies,[21][40] the studio held Withers to a lower standard than an A-movie actor whose films would cost the studio much more money. Birth Sign Pisces. Googie Withers is British by birth. [11][1] At age 3 she had her own radio show called Dixie's Dainty Dewdrop, where she also interviewed celebrities who were visiting Atlanta. SYDNEY, Australia (AP) Googie Withers, a British actress best known for her performance in the Alfred Hitchcock film "The Lady Vanishes," died on Friday at her home here. She was given She was interviewed in numerous documentary retrospectives of the Golden Age of Hollywood. JobAsk Mrs. Withers", "Behind-the-Scenes Talk With the Mother of Jane Withers", "Jane Withers to Have Airplane Party When She's 12", "Jane Withers' Birthday Party Moves to Boudoir Due to Flu", "Life Goes to Jane Withers' Birthday Party", "Younger Stars Best Behaved When On Party", "Jane Withers Signs $250,000 New Contract", "Jane Withers Has Armed Bodyguard to Boston Theatre", "Mrs. Ruth Withers Is Tops Among Filmland 'Mammas', "Local Girls to Model Jane Withers' Clothes", "Three Day Estate Auction at the Annapolis Sheraton", "1930s Baby Dolls: Withers, Quints and More", "Dream comes true for former child star Jane Withers", "Jane Withers speaks about Shirley Temple, donating 3,000 dolls (phone conversation)", "First Annual Youth in Film Awards: 1978-1979", "Living Legacy Award Recipient Biographies", "Jane Withers, Bill Moss Coming to Odessa Today", "Actress Jane Withers Divorces Wealthy Texan", "Madera County Air Crash Kills 4 Valley Businessmen", "Jane Withers Dies: Former Child Star And Voice Actress Was 95", "Jane Withers, Child Star Who Later Won Fame in Commercials, Dies at 95", "Filmography (Films and Roles) of Jane Withers", "JANE WITHERS - AUTOGRAPH NOTE SIGNED CIRCA 1942", "Shirley Temple: America's Little Darling (1992)", "Shirley Temple: The Biggest Little Star (1996)", "20th Century-Fox: The First 50 Years (1997)", "Hollywood at Your Feet: The Story of the Chinese Theatre Footprints (2000)", "That Beautiful Brat: A visit with Jane Withers", "Ad Men & Women: Favorite characters from TV commercials", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jane_Withers&oldid=1136845424, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox person with multiple spouses, Turner Classic Movies person ID same as Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Wrote screenplay under the pseudonym Jerrie Walters, This page was last edited on 1 February 2023, at 12:58. All about Quentin Tarantino's mother as he explains why he never shared a penny of his fortune with her. Georgette Lizette (Googie) Withers, actress: born Karachi 12 March 1917; married 1948 John McCallum (died 2010; one son, two daughters); died Sydney 15 July 2011. Afterwards, he praised her timing and called over her mother to compliment her on Jane's talent and predict that she would go far. DEATH DATE Jul 15, 2011 (age 94) Birth Sign Pisces. Born . Georgette Lizette Withers; Login to edit . After becoming a student at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts at age 12, she began acting. Angry protests erupt over Greek rail disaster, Explosive found in check-in luggage at US airport, 1894 shipwreck confirms tale of treacherous lifeboat. Large gallery of Googie Withers pics. [31] But she and her fans grew dissatisfied with the juvenile roles being offered her as she matured. At 12, while a boarder at Fredville Park private school near Dover, she took dancing lessons, initially to straighten bandy legs. [119], In October 1955, Withers remarried, to singer Kenneth Errair of The Four Freshmen, with whom she had two more children. Born Georgette Lizette Withers on March 12, 1917 in Karachi, India, she was known as "Googie" from an early age. Pink String and Sealing Wax. She became one of the most popular child stars in Hollywood in the 1930s and early 1940s, with her films ranking in the top ten list for box-office gross in 1937 and 1938. Her last two film roles were in 1994s Country Life, an adaptation of Chekhovs Uncle Vanya set in Australia, and the 1996 Australian movie Shine, for which Geoffrey Rush won an Oscar. It was a ruin during Jane Austen's day and was only partially rebuilt in 1829, a good twelve years after her death. [106] She taught Sunday school at the Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church together with the actresses Eleanor Powell and Gloria Hatrick McLean. Ms. Withers won an acting award for her part as a prison governor in the 1970s British television series Within These Walls. She starred in the 1986 BBC adaptation of Anita Brookners novel Hotel du Lac and in a 1987 BBC production of Jane Austens Northanger Abbey.. VALE GOOGIE WITHERS. [112] On February 8, 1960, she was recognized for her contribution to film with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6119 Hollywood Boulevard. She was popular for being a Movie Actress. [50][51], Withers's bratty screen persona continued into her teens. A notable British film and stage actress in England where she grew up and Australia which would become her adopted home, Googie Withers became best known for a series of melodramas at Ealing. She was set to earn $2,750 a week in the first year of the contract and $3,000 per week in the second year. She was a dancer in a West End production in London when she was offered work in 1935 as a film extra in The Girl in the Crowd.. In the event, Jean Kent provided one of the most harrowing moments to that date in British cinema when she tried to destroy her husband's remaining hopes with such vicious hatred that the scene was often booed and hissed in 1950s cinemas. Withers began filming her first starring vehicle, Ginger (1935), on her ninth birthday. [108] In 2013, she donated 6,000 of her dolls to a history museum in California. [32] A natural mimic, she did impersonations of film celebrities both on and off the set. Withers then tied the knot with Kenneth Errair in 1955 and they had two children. Her crew, dubbed the "Withers Family", worked on all her subsequent films. Biography. [88][97] The character of Josephine was described by the Los Angeles Times as being "one of the longest-running continuing characters in TV. The death of Jane Withers was confirmed by her daughter on Saturday. The divorce impacted Jane harshly, as she suffered from emotional strain and was admitted to the hospital for five months. View the most popular Googie Withers pix. Cart. [29] In 1937, she performed in comedies, dramas, and a Western with lead roles in The Holy Terror, Angel's Holiday, Wild and Woolly, Can This Be Dixie?, 45 Fathers, and Checkers. British actress Googie Withers has died at her home in Australia aged 94. 47 pictures of Googie Withers. She made 38 films before retiring at age 21 in 1947. Googie (Georgette Lizette) Withers, actor, born 12 March 1917; died 15 July 2011, A striking presence on stage and in the great days of British film, she played the prison governor of TV's Within These Walls, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Googie Withers in Dead of Night (1945). Withers sang the Jule Styne-Sammy Cahn torch song "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry" written for the play; this was soon after covered by Frank Sinatra and Kate Smith and became a jazz and pop standard. She was a performer in stage, film, and television. The actress played the wife jealous of a mermaid her husband has discovered in the 1948 British fantasy Miranda., According to the Sydney Morning Herald, She was dubbed the best bad girl in British films thanks to her ability to portray women of a haughty sexuality., Born Georgette Lizette Withers in what was then British India, she received her lifetime nickname by her Indian nanny. She appeared in many other films, including It Always Rains On Sunday (1947), in which she sheltered a killer on the run, played by John McCallum, an Australian actor she married in 1948. She herself was profiled in a 45-minute A&E Biography which aired in 2003. She also appeared in a number of other early Powell films. [1][2] Ruth had had her own aspirations to be an actress nixed by her parents. Recent images. [16] Included in her contract was the right to choose the crew members who would work on her productions. [4] The family recited blessings at mealtime and devoted themselves to charitable works, which stood with Jane her entire life. 2010. Veteran British stage and screen actress Googie Withers, . Ms. Withers was the first non-Australian to be named an officer of the Order of Australia, in 1980. 2023 BBC. Read about our approach to external linking. She was usually present on the sound stage but did not watch Jane film her scenes; nor did she ever issue instructions or objections to studio personnel. [113][114], In 1979, Withers was the first recipient of the Young Artist Former Child Star Lifetime Achievement Award at the 1st Youth in Film Awards ceremony. (Thanks to Brian) TV Deaths None known Others like you also viewed Lorraine Toussaint Claudia Gerini At 16 she was the youngest member of the chorus of Nice Goings On and was soon appearing in other popular musicals. [1][100] In 1995, she was asked to record several lines of dialogue in imitation of the vocal patterns of Mary Wickes, who had recorded the voice of Laverne the gargoyle in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) and had died during post-production. In 1996, she portrayed a writer who furthers the career of pianist David Helfgott, played by Geoffrey Rush, in the popular film Shine., When she was 85 in 2002, Ms. Withers shared the stage in Londons West End with her husband and Vanessa Redgrave in Oscar Wildes Lady Windermeres Fan.. The captain, who tried to run a Birmingham foundry after leaving the Royal Navy through poor health, was a high-handed man who clashed with fellow directors whom he openly despised, and lost his job. The woman who was once called "the best bad girl in British films" was always prepared to help make up any deficiency in that respect. In 2002, when she was 85, Withers appeared with Vanessa Redgrave in Oscar Wildes Lady Windermeres Fan in the West End. [31] In 1939 she appeared in four more comedy roles: The Arizona Wildcat, Boy Friend, Chicken Wagon Family, and Pack Up Your Troubles. In 1958 Ms. Withers and her husband, the Australian actor John McCallum, moved to Australia. [108] In 2004, the Los Angeles Times reported Withers had distributed more than 42,000 items for safekeeping among friends. She also had a notable role in the Jules Dassins London-shot film noir Night and the City (1950), starring Richard Widmark, in which she played the greedy, ambitious wife of a casino owner. [1][120] In June 1968, Errair died in a plane crash near Bass Lake, California. In the early 1940s, Hollywood's child-star genre that had catapulted Withers to fame was on the decline. [86], Withers's father died the following year. Googie Withers (1917-2011), Actress. [39] Additionally, the lower rental fees for Withers's B movies allowed her films to be screened in many more small theaters, expanding Withers's popularity. According to Jane's novel, Northanger Abbey was surrounded by extensive gardens, and I wondered how the director would pull off the scene where the general boasted of his fruit trees. ; and No, No, Nanette, Withers was financially comfortable and chose to spend most of her time raising her children.[10][93]. All about Quentin Tarantino's mother as he explains why he never shared a penny of his fortune with her. Withers made her screen debut in the 1951 comedy "The Lavender Hill Mob". Googie Withers was born on the 12th of March, 1917. She was a dancer in a West End production in London when she was offered work in 1935 as a film extra in The Girl in the Crowd.. 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