Born in Ireland, Greer Garson, known for her screen portrayals of beautiful yet extremely kind and humanistic characters, began her acting career on the London stage, where she was noticed by Louis B. Mayer who signed her to a Hollywood contract. Mayer insisted she not appear in any movie, but the right movie, hence the reason she sat idle for the first year of her contract until the movie Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) came along. A string of successful movies followed, including Blossoms in the Dust (1941), which would team her for the first time with who would become her frequent leading man, Walter Pidgeon.