A highly regarded actress, whether on stage or in film and television, Googie Withers was born in Karachi (then part of British India but now in Pakistan). Her father was in the British navy and her mother was Dutch. The name Googie was given to her by a nanny. It has three meanings: in Tamil, it means a turning in the road; in Hindi, it means a clown; and in another dialect, it means dove or pigeon. Her family returned to England when she was seven and she began acting at the age of twelve. A student at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, she was a dancer in a West End production when she was offered work as a film extra in Michael Powell's The Girl in the Crowd (1935). This turned out to be her first big break; as the second lead had just been dismissed, Withers was immediately asked to step into the role.
During the 1930s, Withers was constantly in demand, playing lead roles in minor films and supporting roles in more prestigious productions. By 1939, she had appeared in twenty-five films, including All at Sea (1935), Dark World (1935), Crown v Stevens (1936), Crime Over London (1936), Paradise for Two (1937), and If I Were Boss (1938). In 1938, she was also cast by Alfred Hitchcock as one of Margaret Lockwood's friends in The Lady Vanishes (1938).
The 1940s saw her appear in at least sixteen films, including Bulldog Sees It Through (1940), Jeannie (1941), One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942), The Silver Fleet (1943), Dead of Night (1945), and Once Upon a Dream (1949). In 1947, while making The Loves of Joanna Godden, she met actor John McCallum (q.v.). They married in 1948, and the following year appeared together in the film Traveller's Joy. It was not until Waiting for Gillian (St James Theatre, London) in 1954, however, that they first acted together on stage. Withers's film roles during the 1950s included the devious Helen Nosseross in Night and the City (1950), White Corridors (1951), Derby Day (1952), and Port of Escape (1956).
When McCallum and Withers returned to Australia in 1958, the move was effectively permanent. While McCallum started to move his career more towards the production side of theatre, Withers continued to pursue her acting career, appearing in numerous stage productions throughout the 1960s. She first toured the country in the play Simon and Laura.
During the 1970s, Withers was cast as prison governor Faye Boswell in the television series Within These Walls. She starred on Broadway with Michael Redgrave in The Constant Wife, and in London with Alec Guinness in Exit the King. In Australia, she is best remembered for productions that include The Deep Blue Sea, Desire of the Moth, The First 400 Years (with Keith Michell), Beekman Place (for which she also designed the set), Stardust, The Cherry Orchard, and An Ideal Husband (the latter two productions were both for the Melbourne Theatre Company). Her first major Australian film role was in The Nickel Queen (1971) which was produced by her husband and co-starred her daughter, Joanna McCallum. She also made several guest appearances in the television series Boney (1972).
In 1986, Withers starred in the BBC adaptation of Hotel du Lac, followed a year later by another BBC production of Northanger Abbey. She also played Australian novelist Katharine Susannah Prichard (q.v.) in the 1996 film Shine (for which she and the other cast members were nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for 'Outstanding Performance By A Cast'). Withers was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2002. That same year, aged 85, she appeared (with Vanessa Redgrave) in Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan in London's West End.
Withers and McCallum have appeared together in numerous productions, both in the United Kingdom and Australia: the more notable of these performances include As It's Played (1974); The Kingfisher (1978/1988); W. Somerset Maugham's The Circle (ca.1982); On Golden Pond (1990, UK); High Spirits (1993, Australia), which was designed by their son, Nicholas McCallum; An Ideal Husband (1996/1997, UK and Australia); and Lady Windermere's Fan (1997).
