Glynis Johns(1923-2024)

Stephen Sondheim wrote "Send in the Clowns", in "A Little Night Music", with shorter phrasing to accommodate her. Although her voice, alternately described as smoky or silvery or wistful, was lovely, she was unable to sustain notes for long.

[1991, on her return to the musical "A Little Night Music"] I've been doing songs from the show off and on through the years. So I've never really been away. Even a few months ago, I was singing "Send in the Clowns" for a charity performance. But my doctors were advising that I not work for a couple of months -- that I needed to relax, take it easy, do physiotherapy for my dental problems. More specifically, I had to make the decision about whether I wanted to come back playing another role: to hear somebody else eight performances a week, doing something that I was used to doing. You know, "Clowns" was written for me.