British actress Googie Withers, born Georgette Withers, professionally adopted her nickname "Googie" only when she embarked upon her career. The daughter of a British military officer stationed in what is now West Pakistan, the convent-educated Withers prepared for a life on-stage by studying at the Italia Conti, the Helena Lehminski Academy, and the Buddy Bradley School of Dancing. Her first professional engagement, at age 12, was as a chorus singer. In films from 1934, Withers hit her peak popularity in the 1940s with such efforts as On Approval (1944), Pink String and Sealing Wax (1946), and It Always Rains on Sunday (1948). Her onscreen forte was elegant shrewery, often of a homicidal or self-destructive nature. After her mid-'50s marriage to actor John McCallum, Withers relocated to Australia, toting up impressive stage credits "down under." She resumed her film and TV career in character roles in the mid-'80s. Googie Withers was the subject of her husband's 1979 biographical volume Life with Googie.
by Hal Erickson
biography
