Googie Withers expires at 94

Googie Withers expires at 94

MUMBAI: British actress Googie Withers, best known for her role in Alfred Hitchcock‘s The Lady Vanishes has expired. She was 94.
 
Born Georgette Lizette, Withers in the then British India, she was given her lifetime nickname by her Indian nanny. Her family moved back to Britain where she began acting at the age of 12. 

While she was a dancer in a West End Production in London, 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 leading to her stepping into the role. 

Withers appeared in dozens of films in the 1930s and 40s, but was probably best known for her role as Blanche in The Lady Vanishes in which she acted opposite Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave.

In 1958, Withers moved to Australia with her husband, Australian actor John McCallum.The couple co-starred in ten popular films together, and lived in Sydney until McCallum died last year when he was 91.