Greer Garson, our Star of the Month for May, often laughingly referred to herself as "MGM's Glorified Mama" - not an unreasonable label, actually, since her home studio of MGM so often cast her as a wise and compassionate wife and/or mother. She was the movies' beloved Mrs. Chips, Mrs. Gladney, Mrs. Miniver, Mrs. Parkington, Madame Curie and Mrs. Forsyte, to name a few, including the wives of Julius Caesar and F.D.R. But whomever, or whatever, Greer Garson played, audiences adored her and trusted her. Her name on a marquee was an absolute guarantee that the film she was in would be classy, literate, stylish and thoroughly watchable. From 1943-46, Greer Garson was the one woman other than Betty Grable whose name could guarantee a film's box-office pull. Movie exhibitors constantly voted her their "Star of the Year." She was presented a plaque as the Queen of New York's Radio City Music Hall because more of her films played there (14) than those of any other actress; they also played for the most number of weeks (83) of any actress.

She was also an Academy Award® nominee five years in a row as "Best Actress" (1941-45), a record no one has topped and only Bette Davis (1938-1942) has matched. For the record, her own favorite Garson film was not Mrs. Miniver (airing May 13), which made her such a legend as well as an Oscar® winner. It was Random Harvest, which you can see three times this month (May 8, 9 and 20). Ironically, Garson didn't want to do Miniver at all. She didn't dislike the part, only the idea that she'd have to play the mother of a grown son, something which in the 1940s could dash chances of ever again playing an attractive leading lady. (Norma Shearer had earlier turned down the film for the same reason; Norma, however, had the clout to get her own way. Greer, at that point, did not.)

One thing people never really knew about Greer Garson was her real age: the bios all said she was born in 1908, a date put forth by MGM when she made her film debut in 1939's Goodbye, Mr. Chips (airing May 6), it was an alteration designed to hide the fact that she was in her mid-thirties, far beyond the usual age of a movie beginner. (Her actual birth year: 1904.) Nor was she born in County Down, Ireland, as stated in her studio bio and later obits. (The real locale: London.)

Always spirited, lively and full of conversation, she was also a breathtaking sight in person - no one who ever saw G.G. enter a room, with that ravishing red hair and magnetic personality, could easily forget it. She died in 1996 at the age of 92 and has long been one of our favorites here at TCM. If you have reason to wonder why she caused such a fuss, and won all those awards and so consistently filled all those 6200 seats in the Radio City Music Hall, we have 21 dandy examples this month on TCM, which will explain it better than words ever could.

by Robert Osborne