Matthew Garber was only 21 years old when he died, leaving behind just three film roles — all of them Disney productions — yet his work has been watched by generations of viewers. Garber was born on March 25, 1956, in Stepney, London. His parents were both stage performers, though they never achieved widespread fame. As a boy, he attended St.
Paul’s Primary School in Winchmore Hill and later Highgate School. He was known as a bright and lively child who loved playing practical jokes on his friends, and he also enjoyed sports and reading Shakespeare. His entry into the film industry came through Roy Dottrice, the father of his future co-star Karen Dotrice. Dottrice brought Garber to the attention of Disney Studios, leading to his screen debut at the age of seven in the 1963 film “The Three Lives of Thomasina.
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Garber is best remembered today for playing Michael Banks in Disney’s “Mary Poppins” in 1964. He was cast alongside Karen Dotrice, who played his on-screen sister Jane. The film was a massive success, winning five Academy Awards and turning Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, and Glynis Johns into international household names. Garber and Dotrice teamed up for a third and final time in 1967 for “The Gnome-Mobile.
” In the film, they played the grandchildren of a wealthy lumber tycoon, portrayed by Walter Brennan, who leads the children on an adventure to protect a forest of gnomes from dying out. After his childhood acting career came to an end, Garber stepped away from the screen. In 1976 and 1977, he was traveling in India, where he contracted hepatitis. He returned to London in June 1977, hoping to receive better medical treatment, but it was already too late — the disease had spread to his pancreas.
On June 13, 1977, Garber died at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, London. The cause of death was hemorrhagic necrotizing pancreatitis. He was 21 years old. He never married and had no children.
He was cremated, and his remains were scattered at East Finchley Cemetery and Crematorium. In 2004, Garber was posthumously named a Disney Legend, recognizing the lasting impact of his short film career. Although he made only three movies in his brief life, all of them with Karen Dotrice by his side, the films he left behind continue to be seen by audiences around the world.
