Mary Wickes was the first actress to play Mary Poppins on screen, debuting in the role 15 years before Julie Andrews. Long before the iconic 1964 Walt Disney musical, Wickes brought P.L. Travers’ famous nanny to life in a live, one-hour television broadcast.
On December 19, 1949, CBS aired an adaptation of Mary Poppins as an episode of the popular anthology series Studio One. Wickes starred as the titular magical nanny. She was joined by E.G. Marshall as Mr. Banks and child actor Tommy Rettig as Michael Banks. Wickes’ performance closely mirrored P.L. Travers’ original 1934 book. Her version of Mary Poppins was much pricklier, stern, and authoritative than the sweeter version later popularized by Disney.
Because it was broadcast live, the production relied on crude yet impressive physical special effects. Wickes was flown across the studio airspace using a meat hook and pulley system, and a mechanical trick allowed her to appear to slide upward on a staircase banister.
The 1949 broadcast successfully reignited Hollywood’s interest in adapting the book series into a feature film. Years later, when Walt Disney secured the rights to produce his musical adaptation, author P.L. Travers actually favored Mary Wickes for the role because of how well Wickes fit her original literary vision. Wickes, who was already working with Disney at the time as the live-action reference model for Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmatians (1961), actively asked to be considered.
However, Disney was determined to make a musical and went in a younger direction, casting Julie Andrews in her legendary film debut. Friends of Wickes later shared that she was deeply heartbroken by the snub. Despite this, she kept a framed photograph of herself in her 1949 Mary Poppins costume in her home for the rest of her life.
While she missed out on the Disney feature film, Mary Wickes enjoyed a highly successful six-decade career as one of Hollywood’s most recognizable character actresses.
Leave a Reply