British actress Googie Withers, a Hollywood golden age staple best known for her appearance in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes, has died at her home in Australia. She was 94. Born Georgette Lizette Withers in what was then British India, she was given her lifetime nickname by her Indian nanny. Her fa-mily moved back to Britain where she began acting at age 12.
She was a dancer in a West End production in London when she was offered work in 1935 as a film extra in The Girl in the Crowd. Soon after starting work, director Michael Powell fired one of the female leads and she stepped into the role. Withers appeared in dozens of films in the 1930s and 40s, but was probably best kn-own for her role as Blanche in The Lady Vanishes playing opposite Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave. In 1958, Withers moved to Australia with her husband, Australian actor John McCallum. The couple costarred in 10 popular films together, and they liv-ed in Sydney until McCallum died last year at age 91.
Theatre producer John Frost says Withers and her husband were known for their glamour and work ethic. “She was an extraordinary person, and John and Googie together were probably the last of a breed of actor-manager and wife team to tour the world and work constantly,” Frost told Australia’s ABC television news. —AP