Mary Shepard Mary Shepard Mary Eleanor Jessie Knox née Shepard (25 December 1909 – 4 September 2000) was an English illustrator of children's books. She is best known for the "Mary Poppins" stories written by P. L. Travers (1934 to 1988): "Mary Shepard: Putting Mary Poppins in the picture", "The Times" of London titled an obituary article. She used her married name Mary Knox outside the publishing industry. She was the daughter of E. H. Shepard, a famous illustrator of children's literature including "Winnie-the-Pooh" by A. A. Milne in the 1920s and a 1931 edition of "The Wind in the Willows" by
Mary Poppins (film) of the Travers–Disney correspondence is part of the Travers collection of papers in the Mitchell Library of New South Wales, Australia. The relationship between Travers and Disney is detailed in "Mary Poppins She Wrote", a biography of Travers, by Valerie Lawson. The biography is the basis for two documentaries on Travers, "The Real Mary Poppins", and Lisa Matthews' "The Shadow of Mary Poppins". Their relationship during the development of the film was also dramatized in the 2013 film "Saving Mr. Banks". Julie Andrews, who was making her feature film acting debut after a successful stage career, got the prime role