Julie Andrews - Biography

Last Editor: babybutterflygirl56				Julie Andrews Biography -   Name : Julie Andrews Birth Name : Julia Elizabeth Wells Date of Birth : October 1, 1935 Place of Birth : Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, UK Height : 5' 7 Education : Private tutors Nationality : British Profession : actress Claim to Fame : as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady (1956) Sometimes credited as : Dame Julie Andrews, Julie Andrews ( I )

Julie Andrews Trivia -

Is singing again in THE PRINCESS DIARIES 2: ROYAL ENGAGEMENT after throat operation in 1997. (March 18, 2004) Is desperately hoping that her vocal chords will recover to ensure she will one day sing again -- The actress has yet to recover from an operation on the tender area in 1997 and fears that the damage may be permanent, but she is keeping her spirits up, and is even making her directorial debut later this year in New York. (July 4, 2003) Has thrown a planned documentary on her movie THE SOUND OF MUSIC into jeopardy for refusing to allow her image to be used in it -- Michael McLean, a talent manager who served as one of the casting directors on the film, says Andrews plans to make a 40th anniversary special of her own in 2005, tied to the movie and that the documentary could seriously detract from broadcast network interest in her project. (April 24, 2003) Is still drawing audiences more than 40 years after gaining superstar status on Broadway and in film. The actress remains busy with movie roles and writing her autobiography and children's books. (March 25, 2003) Is going to star in the ABC TV-movie versions of the hilarious kids' classics ELOISE AT THE PLAZA and ELOISE AT CHRISTMASTIME. (October 9, 2002) Served as Goodwill Ambassador for UNIFEM. (1992) Recalled that, during the filming of the magnificent opening musical sequence of THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965), the strong downdraft from the helicopter with the cameraman kept knocking her down as she ran up and down the mountain. Moreover, even though this was the first scene in the film, it was actually the final sequence shot in Europe before the cast and crew returned to the United States. Her movie MY FAIR LADY opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre in 1956. The author of the Poppins books, P.L. Travers, approved heartily of the casting of Andrews for the film MARY POPPINS (1964) after hearing her only on the telephone. Andrews granted the interview from her bed after the delivery of her daughter, Emma Walton. Rex Harrison wanted her for the role of Eliza in MY FAIR LADY (1964), since they had played together in the Broadway version. MARY POPPINS: Mary Martin, who originated the role of Maria on Broadway and co-produced the film, would eventually see nearly $80,000,000 from the film. In contrast, Andrews earned just $225,000 for her performance. Nominated for over 13 Golden Globes. Was pregnant with her daughter when she was asked to star in MARY POPPINS. Walt Disney waited two years for Julie to do the movie. Has been married for over 30 years to Blake Edwards. Taught all the kids how to say Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious in THE SOUND OF MUSIC.

Julie Andrews Detailed Biography -

Born Julia Elizabeth Wells in England in 1935, she was discovered as a child to have a freakish but undeniably lovely four-octave singing voice. Her mother and stepfather, both Vaudeville performers, immediately got her into a singing career, and she performed in music halls throughout her childhood and teens, always being immensely popular. At age 20, she performed in a London Palladium production of "Cinderella," launching her stage career. She came to Broadway in 1954 with "The Boy Friend." It was a hit, and Julie Andrews became a bona fide star two years later in 1956, in the role of Eliza Doolittle in the unprecedented hit "My Fair Lady." Her star status continued in 1957, when she starred in the hit TV-production of Cinderella (1957) (TV). and through 1960, when she played Guenevere in "Camelot." She also starred in many TV-specials, notably one with Carol Burnett. In 1963, Walt Disney asked if she would like to star in his upcoming production, a lavish musical fantasy that combined live-action and animation. Julie said she would do it if she did not get to play Eliza in the pending film production of My Fair Lady (1964). She didn't, and so she made an auspicious film debut in Disney's Mary Poppins (1964), a huge hit which got her the Academy Award for Best Actress. (Audrey Hepburn, who played Eliza in the My Fair Lady film, wasn't even nominated.) Now Julie was a real star, and it was her star power that helped make her third film, The Sound of Music (1965), the highest-grossing movie of its day and one of the highest-grossing of all time. The only problem was that now audiences identified her only with singing, sugary-sweet nannies and governesses. Therefore, they could not accept her in dramatic roles (The Americanization of Emily (1964), and definitely not in a Hitchcock thriller Torn Curtain (1966)). However, the musicals Julie subsequently made were casualties of the boom in musical film she helped to create. Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), Star! (1968), and Darling Lili (1970) all bombed at the box office. Fortunately, Julie did not let this keep her down. She did work in nightclubs and hosted a TV variety series in the 1970s. Then she made a comeback to movies with an appearence in 10 (1979), directed by husband Blake Edwards. He helped continue to keep her on the rise by directing her in subsequent roles that were entirely different than anything she had been seen in before. There was the movie star who bared her breasts onscreen in S.O.B. (1981) and the woman playing a man playing a woman in Victor/Victoria (1982), and the sheer novelty of seeing Julie Andrews in these roles, not to mention her brilliant performances in both of them, undoubtedly helped make them successes. She continued acting throughout the 1980s and 1990s in movies and TV, hosting several specials and starring in a short-lived sitcom. In 1995, she returned to Broadway to star in the musical version of "Victor/Victoria" and was again a smash. Sadly, an operation on her vocal chords left her singing voice badly damaged in 1998, but she has not let even this stop her, giving a showstopping appearence at the 1999 Tony Awards and appearing in the TV-movie _"One Special Night" (1999) (qv). Julie Andrews, in all her many incarnations, will no doubt keep us very entertained for years to come.