Greer Garson, A Mature Hollywood Debutante

Greer Garson was one of the most popular actresses in Hollywood during the 1940’s and holds the record, with Betty Davis, of consecutive Academy Award nominations for Best Actress. She received five nominations between 1941 and 1945 including winning in 1942 for her performance in the title role of ‘Mrs Miniver', her best known movie.

She was famous for her grace, her elegant acting and refined, well-modulated way of delivering her lines. Such was her regal bearing and popularity that she became known as the Queen of Hollywood.

Greer is unusual by Hollywood standards in that she started in the acting and movie business relatively late in life. Before her move to Hollywood in 1939 this English born actress had gained a university degree from King’s College, London, had gone on to post-graduate studies in France and had been married to and separated from her childhood sweetheart. She also worked full time in an advertising agency before she ever went on stage.

She was in her late twenties when she began to appear in amateur productions and realised that she had a genuine aptitude for acting. After making her professional debut, aged 28 in 1932 she quickly rose to the top echelon of British actresses including working with Laurence Olivier.

In 1937, after being seen onstage by Louis B. Mayer, who was visiting London, she was given a contract by MGM and the following year, accompanied by her mother, the 34 year old Greer moved to Hollywood. She was not the traditional teenage beauty queen, but the following year she took Hollywood and the world by storm with her acclaimed performance in ‘Goodbye Mr Chips’ for which she received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. A major Hollywood career had begun.

For movre information visit the Greer Garson biography page and the 'Mrs Miniver' page on Hollywood's Golden Age. See also the Mrs Miniver Oscar page on Hollywood Oscars.com