What happened to the original stars of Mary Poppins?

Julie Andrews

Dame Julie Andrews, now 81, has enjoyed a stellar career both on stage and the silver screen. She made her feature film debut in Mary Poppins, a part which earned her the Best Actress Academy Award for her performance in the titular role. The following year, she went on to star in another huge musical hit, playing Maria in The Sound of Music, while in more recent years she has starred in movies including The Princess Diaries, Shrek and Despicable Me.

In total, Dame Julie has won an Oscar, a BAFTA, five Golden Globes, three Grammys, two Emmys and the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dick Van Dyke

Quite incredibly, at the grand age of 91, Dick Van Dyke is still acting in films. The American star, who played the lovable, all-singing, all-dancing chimneysweep Bert in Mary Poppins, appeared in Night at the Museum as recently as 2014, and this week confirmed he will be having a "little song and dance" in the upcoming Mary Poppins sequel, Mary Poppins Returns.  

Dick's other film credits include Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Dick Tracy and Curious George, and he is the recipient of five Primetime Emmys, a Tony and a Grammy, and was honoured with the SAG Lifetime Achievement Awards in 2013. 

David Tomlinson

David Tomlinson became known to generations of children thanks to his role as George Banks, head of the Banks family, in Mary Poppins. The English star, who overcame a stutter to become an actor, also appeared in 1971's Bedknobs and Broomsticks as fraudulent magician Professor Emelius Browne, and in the 1968 movie The Love Bug.

His last film role was in the Peter Sellers movie The Fiendish Plot of Dr Fu Manchu, after which he retired to spend more time with his family. David passed away in 2000 at the age of 83 after suffering a sudden stroke. 

Glynis Johns

South Africa-born Welsh actress Glynis Johns is perhaps best known for playing suffragette Winifred Banks in Mary Poppins – although she has also enjoyed a successful stage career, winning a Tony Awards in 1973 for her Broadway performance in A Little Night Music.

The 93-year-old star, who has been married three times, made her last film appearance in the 1999 movie Superstar.

Karen Dotrice

Former child actress Karen Dotrice found international fame thanks to her role as Jane Banks in Mary Poppins. She later went on to appear in five TV programmes between 1972 and 1978, when she also starred in her only feature film as an adult, The Thirty-Nine Steps.

Her acting career concluded with a short run playing Desdemona in the 1981 pre-Broadway production of Othello. In 1984, Karen retired to focus on motherhood, although she has since provided commentary for a number of Disney projects, and has also resumed making public appearances.  

Matthew Garber

Matthew Garber won over the hearts of audiences playing the young Michael Banks in the 1964 film – but his life was cut tragically short just 13 years after Mary Poppins was released.

The British child actor - who starred in two other Disney films, The Three Lives of Thomasina and The Gnome-Mobile, all three times with on-screen sister Karen Dotrice – contracted hepatitis while in India, and later died of pancreatitis in 1977 aged just 21. 

Jane Darwell

She might have only had one line in the film, but Bird Woman Jane Darwell's performance is nevertheless one of the most memorable. Far from a bit-part actress, Jane was already a well-known and highly-respected Hollywood star, having earned an Oscar for her role in the 1940 film, The Grapes of Wrath.

Jane made over 100 films in her career, Mary Poppins being her last, and she passed away in 1967 at the age of 87.