In the mid-1960s, Mary Poppins opened her umbrella and whisked us away into her magical world. But life isn’t a fairytale. Sometimes it can turn into a nightmare, as was the tragic fate of one of the film’s young stars… Released in 1964 and combining live action with animation, ‘Mary Poppins’ is one of the last classic Disney films made under the direct supervision of Walt Disney himself.
Many of the film’s main actors were fortunate in life. Julie Andrews, who played the famous nanny and concluded a brilliant career, will soon turn 90. Her co-star Dick Van Dyke (the banker Bert) is even getting ready to celebrate his 100th birthday. Karen Dotrice, who played young Jane Banks, left acting in 1984 to dedicate herself to her family. She will be 70 in November. However, Matthew Garber, who played her brother Michael Banks, was far less lucky.
The freckle-faced boy with an open smile was a perfect choice for the role of Michael. He immediately won the hearts of the cast and crew. As the son of actors hired by Disney the previous year, he was remembered by colleagues as cheerful and witty. Under his contract with the studio, Matthew was to be reunited with his ‘sister’ from Mary Poppins, Karen Dotrice, in the film The Gnome-Mobile, which was released in 1967. Dotrice remembers Garber, whom she adored as a ‘little devil’ who loved fun and danger. “He could have become a racing car driver,” she said. But fate had other plans.
In 1977, at the age of 21, Matthew decided to travel the world. While in India, the young man contracted hepatitis. As his condition rapidly deteriorated, Garber was urgently rushed back to London. Doctors, however, were unable to stop the devastating disease, and on June 13, he died of hemorrhagic necrotizing pancreatitis in hospital. Three days later, the former Disney star’s body was cremated.
A quarter-century after his sad passing, in 2004, Matthew was posthumously named a Disney Legend. He remains forever in the memory of millions of viewers who, rewatching Mary Poppins, smile once more at his childhood mischief, when it seemed as though his whole life was still ahead of him.
