Child Actor. Born Matthew Adam Garber, the son of Louis L. Garber, an actor, in Stepney, London. He was attending Saint Paul's Primary School in Winchester Hill, when at the age of seven, a family friend, actor Roy Dotrice, recommended him to Walt Disney Studios who were then casting a new movie which would feature his daughter, Karen Dotrice. Matthew made an impression, and was signed to appear in 'The Three Lives of Thomasina' (1963). With the wrap of the film, the two children were recast almost immediately, as Jane and Michael Banks in the Disney feature, 'Mary Poppins' (1964). He would appear in only one more film, 'The Gnome-Mobile' (1967) for which a press release described him as enjoying pulling practical jokes, playing sports, and reading, while his constant co-star described him as having a great sense of fun and danger, a daredevil. He completed his schooling, graduating in 1972, before traveling to India in 1976. There, he unknowingly contracted hepatitis which went undiagnosed and untreated. Within the year, he became so ill, that his father was called upon to bring him back to London for treatment. The hepatitis had, at that point, affected his pancreas, however, and he succumbed to haemorrhagic necrotising pancreatitis at the age of 21. Matthew Garber was posthumously named a Disney Legend in 2004 alongside his frequent co-star Karen Dotrice.
Child Actor. Born Matthew Adam Garber, the son of Louis L. Garber, an actor, in Stepney, London. He was attending Saint Paul's Primary School in Winchester Hill, when at the age of seven, a family friend, actor Roy Dotrice, recommended him to Walt Disney Studios who were then casting a new movie which would feature his daughter, Karen Dotrice. Matthew made an impression, and was signed to appear in 'The Three Lives of Thomasina' (1963). With the wrap of the film, the two children were recast almost immediately, as Jane and Michael Banks in the Disney feature, 'Mary Poppins' (1964). He would appear in only one more film, 'The Gnome-Mobile' (1967) for which a press release described him as enjoying pulling practical jokes, playing sports, and reading, while his constant co-star described him as having a great sense of fun and danger, a daredevil. He completed his schooling, graduating in 1972, before traveling to India in 1976. There, he unknowingly contracted hepatitis which went undiagnosed and untreated. Within the year, he became so ill, that his father was called upon to bring him back to London for treatment. The hepatitis had, at that point, affected his pancreas, however, and he succumbed to haemorrhagic necrotising pancreatitis at the age of 21. Matthew Garber was posthumously named a Disney Legend in 2004 alongside his frequent co-star Karen Dotrice.
Bio by: Iola
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