Greer Garson

On 28 September, 1933, Garson married Edward Alec Abbot Snelson, later Sir Edward. He was a British civil servant posted in India and Garson could not adjust to the life there. She also pined for theatre and returned to England within a short time. However, the actual divorce took place in 1943.

Subsequently, she married Richard Nay, a much younger actor, on 24 July, 1943. The marriage ended in a divorce in 1947.

In 1949, Garson married a millionaire businessman from Texas, Elijah. E. Fogelson. They remained together until his death in 1987. None of her marriages produced any children. However, the Fogelsons were known for their philanthropic work and ran several foundations.

Greer Garson was born on 29 September 1904 in Manor Park, Essex; now under Greater London. Her father, George Garson, was a commercial clerk in importing business; he died four months after her birth. Geer was brought up in London by her mother, Nina (née Nancy Sophia Greer). She did not have any sibling.

As a child, she was very delicate and suffered from chronic bronchitis. She later went to King’s College, London for her college education and earned her degree in French. Subsequently, she went to Université Grenoble-Alpes and earned her degree in 18th century literature from there.

Although her relatives wanted her to go into teaching profession she began her career as a market researcher in a London advertising firm. Later she gave it up to study acting with the Birmingham Repertory Theater.

Greer Garson stayed with Birmingham Repertory Theater for two years and made her stage debut in 1932 with ‘Street Scene’. Her performance drew the attention of the critics, who described her as a promising newcomer.

In 1935, Garson made her first West End appearance with ‘Golden Arrow’ at White Hall Theatre (now Trafalgar Studio). Although the play ran only 19 shows her performance was highly praised by the critics.

From 1935 to 1937, she participated in eight plays, including Bernard Shaw’s ‘Too True to Be Good’, at the West End. Concurrently, she also starred in number of television programs. Most notable of them was a 30-minute production of an excerpt of Twelfth Night.

In late 1937, during the performance of ‘Old Music’, she was noticed by Louis B. Mayer, the head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. At his insistence, she signed a one year contract with the studio for $500 per week and set off for Hollywood in the same year.

At the end of 1938, almost after a year-long wait, she was finally cast in her debut film ‘Good bye Mr. Chips’. The movie was released on 15 May 1939 and Garson, appearing as Katherine, the enchanting wife of school master Mr. Chips, was nominated for Academy Awards in the Best Actress category.

’Mrs. Miniver’, released in 1942, was probably Garson’s most important work. Appearing as Mrs. Miniver, her role depicted how the World War II affected the life of an ordinary British housewife. Later in 2009, the film was declared "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant by the Library of Congress and has been preserved for all time to come.