The Death of Greer Garson (1996)

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Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson CBE (29 September 1904 – 6 April 1996) was an English actress and singer. She was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer popularized during the Second World War for her portrayal of strong women on the homefront; listed by the Motion Picture Herald as one of America's top-ten box office draws from 1942 to 1946. She is the fourth most nominated woman for the Best Actress Oscar.[1]

Garson received seven Academy Award nominations, including a record-tying five consecutive nominations (1941–45) in the Best Actress category, winning the award for her performance in the title role of the 1942 film Mrs. Miniver.[2]

Greer Garson was born on 29 September 1904[3] in Manor Park, East Ham (then in Essex, now part of London), the only child of Nancy Sophia "Nina" (née Greer; 1880-1958) and George Garson (1865–1906), a commercial clerk in a London importing business. Her father was born in London to Scottish parents,[3] and her mother was born at Drumalore (usually spelled as Drumalure or Drumaloor), a townland near Belturbet in County Cavan, Ireland.[4] The name Greer is a contraction of MacGregor, another family name.[5]

Her maternal grandfather David Greer (c. 1848-1913 from Kilrea, County Londonderry), was an RIC sergeant stationed in Castlewellan, County Down. In the 1870s or 1880s he became a land steward to the wealthy Annesley family, who built the town of Castlewellan. While there, he lived in a large detached house called "Clairemount", which was built on the lower part of what was known as Pig Street, or locally known as the Back Way, near Shilliday's builder's yard. It was often erroneously reported Greer Garson was born there (The Macmillan International Film Encyclopedia gives her place of birth as County Down, and year of birth as 1908).[6]

Garson read French and 18th-century literature at King's College London and did her postgraduate studies at the University of Grenoble. While aspiring to be an actress, she was appointed head of the research library of LINTAS in the marketing department of Lever Brothers. Her co-worker there, George Sanders, wrote in his autobiography that it was Garson who suggested he take up a career in acting.[7][8]

Career
Garson's early professional appearances were on stage, starting at Birmingham Repertory Theatre in January 1932, when she was 27 years old. She appeared on television during its earliest years (the late 1930s), most notably starring in a 30-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.[9] In 1936, she appeared in the West End in Charles Bennett's play Page From a Diary.

Garson in Pride and Prejudice (1940)
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.[10]

Garson starred with Joan Crawford in When Ladies Meet, a 1941 poorly received and sanitized re-make of a Pre-Code version of the same name, which had starred Ann Harding and Myrna Loy. That same year, she became a major box-office star with the sentimental Technicolor drama Blossoms in the Dust, which brought her the second of five consecutive Best Actress Oscar nominations, tying Bette Davis's 1938–1942 record, which still stands.[11]

Garson starred in two Academy Award nominated films in 1942: Mrs. Miniver and Random Harvest. She was nominated and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as a strong British wife and mother protecting the homefront during World War II in Mrs. Miniver, which co-starred Walter Pidgeon.[12] The Guinness Book of World Records credits her with the longest Oscar acceptance speech,[13] at five minutes and 30 seconds,[14] after which the Academy Awards instituted a time limit.