'Whatever happened to ... ' Mary Poppins's Perky Charges

by Kristina Lanier

The Christian Science Monitor, August 27, 1998 page 9

Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber played the troublemaking siblings Jane and Michael Banks in the 1964 Walt Disney film "Mary Poppins."

The child stars had debuted as a team in "The Three Lives of Thomasina" the year before. They later appeared in Disney's forgettable "The Gnome-Mobile" in 1967.

Mr. Garber dropped out of the public eye after his work for Disney. He died in 1977.

Ms. Dotrice, daughter of film and stage actor Roy Dotrice, continued to work in film and TV. She appeared in a number of British TV series and films. Her last movie was a 1978 remake of "The Thirty-Nine Steps."

She married a fellow actor in 1986 and bore a son. The couple divorced in 1992.

In 1994, Dotrice married Worldwide TV Productions president Edwin Nalle. They had a daughter in 1995 and a son a year later.

Dotrice's latest project was a "Mary Poppins Read-Along" she recorded for Walt Disney last year.

A Walt Disney publicist says Dotrice is "quite content being a stay-at-home mom" and actively avoids publicity.

© 1998 The Christian Science Publishing Society

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