Matthew Garber

Matthew Garber (March 25th, 1956 - June 13th, 1977) was a British child actor who played Michael Banks in Mary Poppins. His other roles included Geordie in The Three Lives of Thomasina and Rodney Winthrop in The Gnome-Mobile. Coincidentially, his fellow actress in these two films was Karen Dotrice, who had starred alongside him in Mary Poppins. Garber died on June 13th, 1977 at the age of 21 in London, England from pancreatitis as a result of eating raw meat while on a trip in India. In a later interview on Mary Poppins, Dick Van Dyke, one of Garber's co-stars from the film said that when they filmed the I Love To Laugh scene, Garber was afraid of going up on the wires during filming and was paid a penny every-time he had to do it. Garber was posthumously named a Disney Legend in 2004 and his younger brother Fergus Garber accepted the award on his behalf.