Who Is Still Alive From ‘Mary Poppins’?
60 years ago, Mary Poppins flew down from the skies over London and into the lives of the Banks children, creating a classic family film in the process. The film was a near-instant sensation when it was released, and became an essential part of the Disney back catalog in the intervening decades. In the years since, Mary Poppins has inspired sequels, knock-offs, and even a parody episode of The Simpsons.
But how much do you actually know about the people behind the iconic film? Read on to learn about how everyone’s lives tuned out after the credits rolled — and which members of the cast are still with us today.
Julie Andrews (89)
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Mary Poppins wasn’t just Julie Andrews’ first major film role — it is also the only film that netted Andrews a Best Actress Oscar. Though she was already known as a live theater powerhouse, Poppins established Andrews as a star who could bring musicals to life on the big screen, as well — a reputation that grow exponentially the following year, when she appeared as Maria in The Sound of Music.
She followed it up with a starring role in 1967’s Thoroughly Modern Millie, but throughout the ’70s, none of Andrews’ roles hit with quite the same force. She remedied that in 1982 with Victor/ Victoria, a musical about an aging diva who performs a gender-bending cabaret act in 1930s Paris. The film, directed by Andrews’ husband Blake Edwards, was a hit, and nabbed her her first Best Actress Oscar nomination since the ’60s.
Though botched vocal surgery in the late ’90s left Andrews unable to sing publicly, she connected with a new generation of fans from her role in The Princess Diaries films, and today appears as a voice actor on Bridgerton.
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Dick Van Dyke (98)
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Mary Poppins is the absolutely rare ’60s film where both iconic leads are still with us! Before he played chimney sweep Bert, Van Dyke was already famous as the star of The Dick Van Dyke Show. In the years that followed, he starred in 1968’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, as well as some less-successful comedies, and appeared as a regular cast member on The Carol Burnett Show.
After spending much of the ’80s as a popular TV drama guest star, he got his own crime procedural, Diagnosis: Murder, which ran from 1993 to 2001. In the 2000s, he returned to the big screen, most notably in the Night at the Museum films; and in 2018, he played Mr. Dawes Jr in Mary Poppins Returns. Despite being nearly 100 years old, Van Dyke keeps trying new things — in 2023, at the age of 97, he became the oldest person to ever compete on The Masked Singer and in 2024 the oldest person to win an Emmy at age 98. He will soon be celebrating his 99th birthday on Dec. 13.
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Karen Dotrice (69)
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The daughter of two stage actors, Dotrice was drafted into the family business at age 4, and made her film debut in 1963 in The Three Lives of Thomasina, alongside her Mary Poppins brother Matthew Garber. After playing Jane Banks, she and Garber again re-teamed for 1967’s The Gnome-Mobile. Later, on her own, she appeared in a number of British television programs throughout the 1970s. Her final movie role was in 1978’s The Thirty Nine Steps, a remake of the 1935 Hitchcock film.
Dotrice generally quit acting in the 1980s, later saying it was because she was asked to do nude scenes when she felt she was too young; she also has since said that she regrets being a child actor, and would take back those experiences and have a normal childhood if she could. She made a cameo in Mary Poppins Returns, and she has done some voice acting for Disney spoken word adaptations. She now lives in California.
Of course, many cast members didn’t make it to the film’s 60th anniversary.
David Tomlinson (d. 2002)
Tomlinson, who played the irritable-yet-secretly sweet Mr. Banks, died on June 24, 2000 at the age of 83. Tomlinson became an icon of Disney’s live action film, appearing in The Love Bug in 1969 and Bedknobs and Broomsticks in 1971. He retired from acting in 1980 to spend more time with his family.
Glynis Johns (d. 2024)
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Johns, who played the flighty suffragette Mrs. Banks, died in January 2024, at the age of 100 (!). A South African native, Johns began as a child actor, appearing on stage in a London play at the age of 8. After spending the 1940s starring in numerous British comedies and thrillers, she headed for the United States, where she appeared in films like the 1958 Lana Turner vehicle Another Time, Another Place, and briefly starred in her own TV show, Glynis.
Mary Poppins wasn’t her final accomplishment, however — she originated the role of Desiree in the Broadway musical A Little Night Music. The song “Send in the Clowns” was written for her to sing, and she delivered — the role won her a Tony for Best Actress. In the ’80s, she concentrated on theater work, but made a memorable cameo as Diane’s mother on Cheers. The ’90s saw her pop up as a wacky grandma in multiple films, most memorably in While You Were Sleeping. Her final role was as the grandmother in the 1999 SNL-related film Superstar.
Hermoine Baddeley (d. 1986)
Before she played Ellen, the Banks family’s maid, Baddeley had already been nominated for an Oscar — for the 1959 film Room at the Top. But her biggest role might have arrived a decade after Mary Poppins. Baddeley won a Golden Globe in 1975 for her role on Maude, where she played another maid (!). Her final film role was as the voice of Auntie Shrew in the 1982 cartoon The Secrets of NIMH. She died in 1986, at the age of 79.
Matthew Garber (d. 1977)
Everett Collection
Garber began acting after his real-life friend Karen Doltrice’s father referred him to Disney’s talent department. He appeared in three movies, each a Disney film where he acted alongside Doltrice: 1963’s The Three Lives of Thomasina; Mary Poppins, where he played young Michael Banks; and a 1967 called The Gnome-Mobile. In 1976, Garber contracted hepatitis on a trip to India with his father. The disease spread throughout his body, and he died on hemorrhagic necrotizing pancreatitis in 1977, at the age of 21.
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