Julie Andrews
Overview
Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE (née Wells; born 1 October 1935) is an English
film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award
, Screen Actors Guild
and Academy Award
honors. In 1996, she famously declined the Tony Award
nomination for Best Actress in a Musical, an award she was favourited to win. Andrews is a former British child actress and singer who made her Broadway debut in 1954 with The Boy Friend
, and rose to prominence starring in other musicals such as My Fair Lady
and Camelot
, and in musical film
s such as Mary Poppins
(1964), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress
, and The Sound of Music
(1965): the roles for which she is still best-known.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
, Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
and Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
honors. In 1996, she famously declined the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nomination for Best Actress in a Musical, an award she was favourited to win. Andrews is a former British child actress and singer who made her Broadway debut in 1954 with The Boy Friend
The Boy Friend
The Boy Friend is a musical by Sandy Wilson. The musical's original 1954 London production ran for 2,078 performances, making it briefly the third-longest running musical in West End or Broadway history until it was surpassed by Salad Days...
, and rose to prominence starring in other musicals such as My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
and Camelot
Camelot (musical)
Camelot is a musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe . It is based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from the T. H. White tetralogy novel The Once and Future King....
, and in musical film
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
s such as Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins (film)
Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, produced by Walt Disney, and based on the Mary Poppins books series by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by...
(1964), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
, and The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music (film)
Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music is a 1965 American musical film directed by Robert Wise and starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The film is based on the Broadway musical The Sound of Music, with songs written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and with the musical...
(1965): the roles for which she is still best-known.
Quotations
Life is Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious|Supercalifragilisticexpialidocius.
Star weekly (29 April 1965)
Success is terrifying. Like happiness, it is often appreciated in retrospect. It's only later that you place it in perspective. Years from now, I'll look back and say, "God, wasn't it wonderful?"
This Week (18 September 1966)
Hopefully, I brought people a certain joy. That will be a wonderful legacy.
This Week (18 September 1966)
Can I give them what they think they're going to get from me? That's always the big question.
Screen Stories (November 1970)
I saw The Sound of Music again recently, and I loved it. Probably it's a more valuable film now than when it first came out, because some of the things it stood for have already disappeared. There's a kind of naive loveliness about it, and love goes by so fast ... love and music and happiness and family, that's what it's all about. I believe in these things. It would be awful not to, wouldn't it?
Photoplay (September 1973)
I'm more contented and at peace with myself now than I was as a box-office queen. I'm less uptight. I've even reached a stage where it doesn't shatter me if somebody prints something bad about me.
Saturday Evening Post (February 1980)
I think of part of myself as a very passionate person, but I don't think that comes across. I don't know where it comes from, that reserve or veneer of British niceness. But it doesn't bother me if other people don't spot the passion. I know it's there... As long as Blake Edwards|Blake knows.
The New York Times (14 March 1982)
As you become older, you become less judgmental and take offense less. But marriage is hard work; the illusion that you get married and live happily ever after is absolute rubbish.
The New York Times (14 March 1982)
Encyclopedia
Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE (née Wells; born 1 October 1935) is an English
film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award
, Screen Actors Guild
and Academy Award
honors. In 1996, she famously declined the Tony Award
nomination for Best Actress in a Musical, an award she was favourited to win. Andrews is a former British child actress and singer who made her Broadway debut in 1954 with The Boy Friend
, and rose to prominence starring in other musicals such as My Fair Lady
and Camelot
, and in musical film
s such as Mary Poppins
(1964), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress
, and The Sound of Music
(1965): the roles for which she is still best-known. Her voice, which originally spanned four octaves, was damaged by a throat operation in 1997.
Andrews had a revival of her film career in the 2000s in family films such as The Princess Diaries
(2001), its sequel The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
(2004), the Shrek
animated films (2004–2010), and Despicable Me
(2010). In 2003 Andrews revisited her first Broadway success, this time as a stage director, with a revival of The Boy Friend
at the Bay Street Theatre, Sag Harbor, New York
(and later at the Goodspeed Opera House, in East Haddam, Connecticut
in 2005).
Andrews is also an author of children's books, and in 2008 published an autobiography, Home: A Memoir of My Early Years
.
, Surrey, England. Her mother, Barbara Ward Wells (née Morris), was married to Edward Charles "Ted" Wells, a teacher of metal and woodworking, but Andrews was conceived as a result of an affair her mother had with a family friend.
With the outbreak of World War II
, Barbara and Ted Wells went their separate ways. Ted Wells assisted with evacuating children to Surrey
during the Blitz
, while Barbara joined Ted Andrews in entertaining the troops through the good offices of the Entertainments National Service Association
(ENSA). Barbara and Ted Wells were soon divorced. They both remarried: Barbara to Ted Andrews, in 1939; and Ted Wells to a former hairstylist working a lathe at a war factory that employed them both in Hinchley Wood
, Surrey.
Andrews lived briefly with Ted Wells and her brother John in Surrey. In about 1940, Ted Wells sent her to live with her mother and stepfather, who, the elder Wells thought, would be better able to provide for his talented daughter's artistic training. According to her 2008 autobiography Home, while Julie had been used to calling Ted Andrews "Uncle Ted", her mother suggested it would be more appropriate to refer to her stepfather as "Pop", while her father remained "Dad" or "Daddy" to her. Julie disliked this change.
The Andrews family was "very poor and we lived in a bad slum area of London," Andrews recalled, adding, "That was a very black period in my life." In addition, according to Andrews' 2008 memoir, her stepfather was an alcoholic. Ted Andrews twice, while drunk, tried to get into bed with his stepdaughter, resulting in Andrews putting a lock on her door. But, as the stage career of Ted and Barbara Andrews improved, they were able to afford to move to better surroundings, first to Beckenham
and then, as the war ended, back to the Andrews' home town of Hersham. The Andrews family took up residence at The Old Meuse, in West Grove; Hersham (now demolished) a house where Andrews' maternal grandmother happened to have served as a maid.
Julie Andrews' stepfather sponsored lessons for her, first at the Cone-Ripman School, an independent arts educational school in London, then with the famous concert soprano and voice instructor Madame Lilian Stiles-Allen
. "She had an enormous influence on me", Andrews said of Stiles-Allen, adding, "She was my third mother – I've got more mothers and fathers than anyone in the world." In her memoir Julie Andrews – My Star Pupil, Stiles-Allen records: "The range, accuracy and tone of Julie's voice amazed me ... she had possessed the rare gift of absolute pitch
" (though Andrews herself refutes this in her 2008 autobiography Home). According to Andrews: "Madame was sure that I could do Mozart and Rossini, but, to be honest, I never was". Of her own voice, she says "I had a very pure, white, thin voice, a four-octave range – dogs would come for miles around." After Cone-Ripman School, Andrews continued her academic education at the nearby Woodbrook School, a local state school in Beckenham
.
Julie Andrews got her big break when her stepfather introduced her to Val Parnell
, whose Moss Empires
controlled prominent venues in London. Andrews made her professional solo debut at the London Hippodrome singing the difficult aria "Je Suis Titania" from Mignon
as part of a musical revue called "Starlight Roof" on 22 October 1947. She played the Hippodrome for one year. Andrews recalled "Starlight Roof" saying, "There was this wonderful American person and comedian, Wally Boag
, who made balloon animals. He would say, 'Is there any little girl or boy in the audience who would like one of these?' And I would rush up onstage and say, 'I'd like one, please.' And then he would chat to me and I'd tell him I sang... I was fortunate in that I absolutely stopped the show cold. I mean, the audience went crazy."
On 1 November 1948, Julie Andrews became the youngest solo performer ever to be seen in a Royal Command Variety Performance
, at the London Palladium
, where she performed along with Danny Kaye
, the Nicholas Brothers
and the comedy team George and Bert Bernard for members of King George VI's family.
Julie Andrews followed her parents into radio and television. She reportedly made her television debut on the BBC program RadiOlympia Showtime on 8 October 1949. She garnered considerable fame throughout the United Kingdom for her work on the BBC radio comedy show Educating Archie
; she was a cast member from 1950 to 1952.
Andrews appeared on West End Theatre at the London Casino, where she played one year each as Princess Badroulbadour in Aladdin
and the egg in Humpty Dumpty
. She also appeared on provincial stages across United Kingdom in Jack and the Beanstalk and Little Red Riding Hood, as well as starring as the lead role in Cinderella.
In 1950 at the age of 14, Andrews was asked to sing at a party of a family friend, Katherine Norwalk, and it was then that she learned that Ted Wells was not her biological father.
. To the critics, Andrews was the stand-out performer in the show. Near the end of her Boy Friend contract, Andrews was asked to audition for My Fair Lady
on Broadway and got the part. In November 1955 Andrews was signed to appear with Bing Crosby
in what is regarded as the first made-for-television movie, High Tor
.
Andrews auditioned for a part in the Richard Rodgers
musical Pipe Dream
. Although Rodgers wanted her for Pipe Dream, he advised her to take the part in the Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner
musical My Fair Lady
if it were offered to her. In 1956, she appeared on stage in My Fair Lady as Eliza Doolittle
to Rex Harrison
's Henry Higgins. Rodgers was so impressed with Andrews' talent that concurrent with her run in My Fair Lady that she was featured in the Rodgers and Hammerstein
television musical, Cinderella
. Cinderella was broadcast live on CBS
on 31 March 1957 under the musical direction of Alfredo Antonini
and attracted an estimated 107 million viewers.
Andrews married set designer Tony Walton
on 10 May 1959 in Weybridge
, Surrey. They had first met in 1948 when Andrews was appearing at the London Casino in the show Humpty Dumpty. The couple filed for a divorce on 14 November 1967.
Between 1958 and 1962, Andrews appeared on such specials as CBS-TV's The Fabulous Fifties and NBC-TV's The Broadway of Lerner & Loewe. In addition to guest starring on The Ed Sullivan Show
, she also appeared on The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
, What's My Line?
, The Jack Benny Program
, The Bell Telephone Hour
, and The Garry Moore Show
. In June 1962 Andrews co-starred in Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall
, a CBS special with Carol Burnett
.
In 1960 Lerner and Loewe again cast her in a period musical as Queen Guinevere
in Camelot
, with Richard Burton
and newcomer Robert Goulet
. However movie studio head Jack Warner
decided Andrews lacked sufficient name recognition for her casting in the film version of My Fair Lady
; Eliza was played by the established film actress Audrey Hepburn
instead. As Warner later recalled, the decision was easy, "In my business I have to know who brings people and their money to a movie theatre box office. Audrey Hepburn had never made a financial flop."
Andrews and her husband headed back to Britain in September 1962 to await the birth of daughter Emma Katherine Walton
, who was born in London two months later. The family returned to the United States
in 1963 and Andrews began her work in the title role of Disney
's musical film Mary Poppins
. Walt Disney
had seen a performance of Camelot
and thought Andrews would be perfect for the role of the British nanny who is "practically perfect in every way!" Andrews initially declined because of pregnancy, but Disney politely insisted, saying, "We'll wait for you."
As a result of her performance in Mary Poppins, Andrews won the 1964 Academy Award for Best Actress
and the 1965 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. She and her Mary Poppins co-stars also won the 1965 Grammy Award for Best Album for Children
. As a measure of "sweet revenge," as Poppins songwriter Richard M. Sherman
put it, Andrews closed her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes by saying, "And, finally, my thanks to a man who made a wonderful movie and who made all this possible in the first place, Mr. Jack Warner." Warner passed over Andrews in favor of Audrey Hepburn
for the starring role of Eliza Doolittle
in My Fair Lady
.
In 1964 she appeared opposite James Garner
in The Americanization of Emily
(1964), which she has described as her favourite film. In 1966, Andrews won her second Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and was also nominated for the 1965 Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Maria von Trapp
in The Sound of Music
.
After completing The Sound Of Music, Andrews appeared as a guest star on the NBC-TV variety series The Andy Williams Show, which gained her an Emmy nomination. She followed this television appearance with an Emmy Award-winning color special, The Julie Andrews Show, which featured Gene Kelly
and The New Christy Minstrels as guests. It aired on NBC-TV in November 1965.
In 1966 Andrews starred with Max von Sydow
in the epic Hawaii, with Paul Newman
in the Hitchcock
thriller Torn Curtain
, and as the title character of the 1920s spoof musical Thoroughly Modern Millie
, her last big cinema hit for the next fifteen years.
By the end of 1967, Andrews was the world's most successful film star. She had appeared in the most-watched television special Cinderella; the biggest Broadway musical of its time, My Fair Lady
; the largest-selling long-playing album, the original cast recording of My Fair Lady
; the biggest hit in Disney's history, Mary Poppins
; the highest grossing movie of 1966, Hawaii
; the biggest and second biggest hits in Universal's history, Thoroughly Modern Millie
and Torn Curtain
; and the biggest in 20th Century Fox's history, The Sound of Music
.
, a 1968 biopic of Gertrude Lawrence
, and Darling Lili
(1970), co-starring Rock Hudson
and directed by her soon-to-be second husband, Blake Edwards
(they married in 1969). The couple stayed married for 41 years until Edwards' death in 2010. She made only two other films in the 1970s, The Tamarind Seed and 10
.
In the 1970s, Edwards and Andrews adopted two daughters; Amy in 1974 and Joanna in 1975. Edwards' children from a previous marriage, Jennifer and Geoffrey, were 3 and 5 years older than Emma, Andrews' daughter with Tony Walton.
Andrews continued working in television. In 1969, she shared the spotlight with singer Harry Belafonte
for an NBC-TV special, An Evening with Julie Andrews and Harry Belafonte. In 1971 she appeared as a guest for the Grand Opening Special of Walt Disney World, and that same year she and Carol Burnett headlined a CBS special, Julie and Carol At Lincoln Center.
In 1972–1973, Andrews starred in her own television variety series, The Julie Andrews Hour
, on the ABC
network. The show won seven Emmy Award
s, but was cancelled after one season. Between 1973 and 1975, Andrews continued her association with ABC by headlining five variety specials for the network. She guest-starred on The Muppet Show
in 1977, and the following year, she appeared again with the Muppets on a CBS television variety special. The program, Julie Andrews: One Step Into Spring, aired in March 1978, to mixed reviews and mediocre ratings. In February 1980, Andrews headlined "Because We Care", a CBS-TV special with 30 major stars raising funds for Cambodian Famine victims.
In 1981, she appeared in Blake Edwards' S.O.B. (1981) in which she played Sally Miles, a character who agrees to "show my boobies" in a scene in the film-within-a-film. That was Andrews's first on-screen nude scene and got much attention as she poked fun at her own squeaky clean image.
In 1983, Andrews was chosen as the Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year
by the Harvard University
theatrical society. The roles of Victoria Grant and Count Victor Grezhinski in the film Victor Victoria earned Andrews the 1983 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, as well as a nomination for the 1982 Academy Award for Best Actress
, her third Oscar nomination.
In December 1987, Andrews starred in an ABC Christmas special, Julie Andrews: The Sound Of Christmas, which went on to win five Emmy Awards. Two years later, she was reunited for the third time with Carol Burnett for a variety special which aired on ABC in December 1989.
In 1991, Andrews made her television dramatic debut in the ABC made-for-TV movie, Our Sons
, co-starring Ann-Margret
. Andrews was named a Disney Legend within the year.
In the summer of 1992 Andrews starred in her first television sitcom, Julie, which aired on ABC
and co-starred James Farentino
. In December 1992 she hosted the NBC
holiday special, Christmas In Washington.
In 1993, she starred in a limited run at the Manhattan Theatre Club
in the American premiere of Stephen Sondheim's
revue, Putting It Together
. Between 1994 and 1995 Andrews recorded two solo albums – the first saluted the music of Richard Rodgers and the second paid tribute to the words of Alan Jay Lerner. In 1995, she starred in the stage musical version of Victor/Victoria
. It was her first appearance in a Broadway show in 35 years. Opening on Broadway on 25 October 1995 at the Marquis Theatre
, it later went on the road on a world tour. When she was the only Tony Award
nominee for the production, she declined the nomination saying that she could not accept because she felt the entire production was snubbed.
Andrews was forced to quit the show towards the end of the Broadway run in 1997 when she developed vocal problems. She subsequently underwent surgery to remove non-cancerous nodules
from her throat and was left unable to sing. In 1999 she filed a malpractice suit against the doctors at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital
, including Dr. Scott Kessler and Dr. Jeffrey Libin, who had operated on her throat. Originally, the doctors assured Andrews that she should regain her voice within six weeks, but Andrews' stepdaughter Jennifer Edwards
said in 1999 "it's been two years, and it [her singing voice] still hasn't returned." The lawsuit was settled in September 2000.
Despite the loss of her singing voice, she kept busy with many projects. In 1998, she appeared in a stage production of Dr. Dolittle in London. As recounted on the Julie Andrews website, she performed the voice of Polynesia the parrot and "recorded some 700 sentences and sounds, which were placed on a computer chip that sat in the mechanical bird's mouth. In the song "Talk To The Animals," Polynesia the parrot even sings."
The next year Andrews was reunited with James Garner for the CBS made-for-TV movie, One Special Night, which aired in November 1999.
In the 2000 New Year's Millennium Honours List, Andrews was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
(DBE) for services to the performing arts. She also appears at #59 on the 2002 List of "100 Greatest Britons
" sponsored by the BBC
and chosen by the public.
In 2001, Andrews received Kennedy Center Honors
. The same year she reunited with Sound of Music co-star Christopher Plummer
in a live television performance of On Golden Pond
(an adaptation of the 1979 play).
, her first Disney film since 1964's Mary Poppins. She starred as Queen Clarisse Marie Renaldi and reprised the role in a sequel, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
(2004). In The Princess Diaries 2, Andrews sang on film for the first time since having throat surgery. The song, "Your Crowning Glory" (a duet with Teen idol Raven-Symoné
), was set in a limited range of an octave to accommodate her recovering voice. The film's music supervisor, Dawn Soler, recalled that Andrews, "nailed the song on the first take. I looked around and I saw grips
with tears in their eyes."
Andrews continued her association with Disney when she appeared as the nanny in two 2003 made-for-television movies based on the Eloise books
, a series of children's books by Kay Thompson
about a child who lives in the Plaza Hotel
in New York City. Eloise at the Plaza
premiered in April 2003, and Eloise at Christmastime
was broadcast in November 2003. The same year she made her debut as a theatre director, directing a revival of The Boy Friend, the musical in which she made her 1954 Broadway debut, at the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, New York. Her production, which featured costume and scenic design by her former husband Tony Walton
, was remounted at the Goodspeed Opera House in 2005 and went on a national tour in 2006.
From 2005 to 2006 Andrews served as the Official Ambassador for Disneyland's 18-month-long, 50th anniversary celebration, the "Happiest Homecoming on Earth
", travelling to promote the celebration, and recording narration and appearing at several events at the park.
In 2004 Andrews performed the voice of Queen Lillian in the animated blockbuster Shrek 2
(2004), reprising the role for its sequels, Shrek the Third
(2007) and Shrek Forever After
(2010). Later, in 2007, she narrated Enchanted, a live-action Disney musical comedy that both poked fun and paid homage to classic Disney films such as Mary Poppins.
In January 2007 Andrews was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Screen Actors Guild
's awards and stated that her goals included continuing to direct for the stage and possibly to produce her own Broadway musical. She published Home: A Memoir of My Early Years
, which she characterised as "part one" of her autobiography, on 1 April 2008. Home chronicles her early years in Britain's music hall
circuit and ends in 1962 with her winning the role of Mary Poppins. For a Walt Disney video release she again portrayed Mary Poppins and narrated the story of The Cat That Looked at a King in 2004.
In July through early August 2008, Andrews hosted Julie Andrews' The Gift of Music, a short tour of the United States where she sang various Rodgers and Hammerstein
songs and symphonised her recently published book, Simeon's Gift. These were her first public singing performances in a dozen years, due to her failed vocal cord surgery.
On 8 May 2009, Andrews received the honorary George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Achievement in Music at the annual UCLA Spring Sing
competition in Pauley Pavilion
. Receiving the award she remarked, "Go Bruins. Beat SC ... strike up the band to celebrate every one of those victories."
, which opened to unfavourable reviews although the box office receipts were successful. On her promotion tour for the film, she also spoke of Operation USA
and the aid campaign to the Haiti disaster.
On 8 May 2010, Andrews made her London comeback after a 21-year absence (her last performance there was a Christmas concert at the Royal Festival Hall
in 1989). She performed at the O2 Arena
, accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
and an ensemble of five performers. Previous to it she appeared on British television (on 15 December 2009 and on many other occasions), and said that rumours that she would be singing were not true. Instead, she said she would be doing a form of "speak singing
". However in the concert she actually sang two solos and several duets and ensemble pieces. The evening, though well received by the 20,000 fans present, who gave her standing ovation after standing ovation, did not convince the critics.
On 18 May 2010, Andrews' 23rd book (this one also written with her daughter Emma) was published. In June 2010 the book, entitled The Very Fairy Princess, reached number 1 on the New York Times Best Seller List for Children's Books.
On 21 May 2010, her film Shrek Forever After
was released; in it Andrews reprises her role as the Queen.
On 9 July 2010, Despicable Me
, an animated movie in which Andrews lent her voice to Marlena, the evil mother of the main character Gru, voiced by Steve Carell
), opened to rave reviews and strong box office.
On 28 October 2010, Andrews appeared, along with the actors who portrayed the cinematic Von Trapp family members, on Oprah to commemorate the film's 45th anniversary. A few days later, her 24th book, Little Bo in Italy, was published.
On 15 December 2010, Andrews' husband Blake Edwards died of complications of pneumonia at the Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California. Andrews was by her husband's side when he died.
In February 2011, Andrews received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
and, with her daughter Emma
, a Grammy for best spoken word album for children (for A Collection of Poems, Songs and Lullabies), at the 53rd Grammy Awards
ceremony.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
, Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
and Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
honors. In 1996, she famously declined the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nomination for Best Actress in a Musical, an award she was favourited to win. Andrews is a former British child actress and singer who made her Broadway debut in 1954 with The Boy Friend
The Boy Friend
The Boy Friend is a musical by Sandy Wilson. The musical's original 1954 London production ran for 2,078 performances, making it briefly the third-longest running musical in West End or Broadway history until it was surpassed by Salad Days...
, and rose to prominence starring in other musicals such as My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
and Camelot
Camelot (musical)
Camelot is a musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe . It is based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from the T. H. White tetralogy novel The Once and Future King....
, and in musical film
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
s such as Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins (film)
Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, produced by Walt Disney, and based on the Mary Poppins books series by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by...
(1964), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
, and The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music (film)
Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music is a 1965 American musical film directed by Robert Wise and starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The film is based on the Broadway musical The Sound of Music, with songs written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and with the musical...
(1965): the roles for which she is still best-known. Her voice, which originally spanned four octaves, was damaged by a throat operation in 1997.
Andrews had a revival of her film career in the 2000s in family films such as The Princess Diaries
The Princess Diaries (film)
The Princess Diaries is a 2001 comedy film produced by singer and actress Whitney Houston and directed by Garry Marshall. It is based on Meg Cabot's 2000 novel of the same name...
(2001), its sequel The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement is the 2004 sequel to 2001's The Princess Diaries.Most of the cast returned from the first film, including Anne Hathaway, Julie Andrews, Héctor Elizondo, and Heather Matarazzo...
(2004), the Shrek
Shrek
Shrek is a 2001 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, featuring the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow. Loosely based on William Steig's 1990 fairy tale picture book Shrek!...
animated films (2004–2010), and Despicable Me
Despicable Me
Despicable Me is a 2010 American computer-animated 3D comedy film from Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment that was released on July 9, 2010 in the United States. The film features the voices of Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews, Will Arnett, Kristen Wiig, and...
(2010). In 2003 Andrews revisited her first Broadway success, this time as a stage director, with a revival of The Boy Friend
The Boy Friend
The Boy Friend is a musical by Sandy Wilson. The musical's original 1954 London production ran for 2,078 performances, making it briefly the third-longest running musical in West End or Broadway history until it was surpassed by Salad Days...
at the Bay Street Theatre, Sag Harbor, New York
Sag Harbor, New York
Sag Harbor is an incorporated village in Suffolk County, New York, United States, with parts in both the Towns of East Hampton and Southampton. The population was 2,313 at the 2000 census....
(and later at the Goodspeed Opera House, in East Haddam, Connecticut
East Haddam, Connecticut
East Haddam is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,333 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water....
in 2005).
Andrews is also an author of children's books, and in 2008 published an autobiography, Home: A Memoir of My Early Years
Home: A Memoir of My Early Years
Home: A Memoir of My Early Years is a best-selling memoir written by Julie Andrews. It was published on April 1, 2008 by Hyperion.Home tells the story of Julie Andrews' life up until 1963, when she left England for Hollywood to shoot Mary Poppins and is intended as part one of a two part memoir...
.
Early life
Julia Elizabeth Wells was born on 1 October 1935 in Walton-on-ThamesWalton-on-Thames
Walton-on-Thames is a town in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey in South East England. The town is located south west of Charing Cross and is between the towns of Weybridge and Molesey. It is situated on the River Thames between Sunbury Lock and Shepperton Lock.- History :The name "Walton" is...
, Surrey, England. Her mother, Barbara Ward Wells (née Morris), was married to Edward Charles "Ted" Wells, a teacher of metal and woodworking, but Andrews was conceived as a result of an affair her mother had with a family friend.
With the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Barbara and Ted Wells went their separate ways. Ted Wells assisted with evacuating children to Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
during the Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
, while Barbara joined Ted Andrews in entertaining the troops through the good offices of the Entertainments National Service Association
Entertainments National Service Association
The Entertainments National Service Association or ENSA was an organisation set up in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. ENSA operated as part of the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes...
(ENSA). Barbara and Ted Wells were soon divorced. They both remarried: Barbara to Ted Andrews, in 1939; and Ted Wells to a former hairstylist working a lathe at a war factory that employed them both in Hinchley Wood
Hinchley Wood
Hinchley Wood is a residential community approximately south-west of London, England. At the 2001 census it consisted of 1,429 households with a population of 3,674. It developed largely because of the railway line which passes through the area, and many of its residents are commuters to London. ...
, Surrey.
Andrews lived briefly with Ted Wells and her brother John in Surrey. In about 1940, Ted Wells sent her to live with her mother and stepfather, who, the elder Wells thought, would be better able to provide for his talented daughter's artistic training. According to her 2008 autobiography Home, while Julie had been used to calling Ted Andrews "Uncle Ted", her mother suggested it would be more appropriate to refer to her stepfather as "Pop", while her father remained "Dad" or "Daddy" to her. Julie disliked this change.
The Andrews family was "very poor and we lived in a bad slum area of London," Andrews recalled, adding, "That was a very black period in my life." In addition, according to Andrews' 2008 memoir, her stepfather was an alcoholic. Ted Andrews twice, while drunk, tried to get into bed with his stepdaughter, resulting in Andrews putting a lock on her door. But, as the stage career of Ted and Barbara Andrews improved, they were able to afford to move to better surroundings, first to Beckenham
Beckenham
Beckenham is a town in the London Borough of Bromley, England. It is located 8.4 miles south east of Charing Cross and 1.75 miles west of Bromley town...
and then, as the war ended, back to the Andrews' home town of Hersham. The Andrews family took up residence at The Old Meuse, in West Grove; Hersham (now demolished) a house where Andrews' maternal grandmother happened to have served as a maid.
Julie Andrews' stepfather sponsored lessons for her, first at the Cone-Ripman School, an independent arts educational school in London, then with the famous concert soprano and voice instructor Madame Lilian Stiles-Allen
Lilian Stiles-Allen
Lilian Stiles-Allen was a British soprano of the mid 20th century.She was born Lilian Elizabeth Allen, and later added her mother's maiden name....
. "She had an enormous influence on me", Andrews said of Stiles-Allen, adding, "She was my third mother – I've got more mothers and fathers than anyone in the world." In her memoir Julie Andrews – My Star Pupil, Stiles-Allen records: "The range, accuracy and tone of Julie's voice amazed me ... she had possessed the rare gift of absolute pitch
Absolute pitch
Absolute pitch , widely referred to as perfect pitch, is the ability of a person to identify or re-create a given musical note without the benefit of an external reference.-Definition:...
" (though Andrews herself refutes this in her 2008 autobiography Home). According to Andrews: "Madame was sure that I could do Mozart and Rossini, but, to be honest, I never was". Of her own voice, she says "I had a very pure, white, thin voice, a four-octave range – dogs would come for miles around." After Cone-Ripman School, Andrews continued her academic education at the nearby Woodbrook School, a local state school in Beckenham
Beckenham
Beckenham is a town in the London Borough of Bromley, England. It is located 8.4 miles south east of Charing Cross and 1.75 miles west of Bromley town...
.
Early career in the United Kingdom
Julie Andrews performed spontaneously and unbilled on stage with her parents for about two years beginning in 1945. "Then came the day when I was told I must go to bed in the afternoon because I was going to be allowed to sing with Mummy and Pop in the evening," Andrews explained. She would stand on a beer crate to reach the microphone and sing, sometimes a solo or as a duet with her stepfather, while her mother played piano. "It must have been ghastly, but it seemed to go down all right."Julie Andrews got her big break when her stepfather introduced her to Val Parnell
Val Parnell
Valentine Charles Parnell , known as Val Parnell, was a British television producer and theatrical impresario.-Life and career:...
, whose Moss Empires
Moss Empires
Moss Empires was a British company formed in Edinburgh from the merger of the theatre companies owned by Sir Edward Moss and Sir Oswald Stoll in 1898. This created the largest British chain of music halls...
controlled prominent venues in London. Andrews made her professional solo debut at the London Hippodrome singing the difficult aria "Je Suis Titania" from Mignon
Mignon
Mignon is an opéra comique in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre. The Italian version was translated by Giuseppe Zaffira. The opera is mentioned in James Joyce's The Dead,...
as part of a musical revue called "Starlight Roof" on 22 October 1947. She played the Hippodrome for one year. Andrews recalled "Starlight Roof" saying, "There was this wonderful American person and comedian, Wally Boag
Wally Boag
Wallace Vincent "Wally" Boag was an American performer known for his starring role in Disney's long-running stage show the Golden Horseshoe Revue. This is not a poster. It was an advertisement published in Variety....
, who made balloon animals. He would say, 'Is there any little girl or boy in the audience who would like one of these?' And I would rush up onstage and say, 'I'd like one, please.' And then he would chat to me and I'd tell him I sang... I was fortunate in that I absolutely stopped the show cold. I mean, the audience went crazy."
On 1 November 1948, Julie Andrews became the youngest solo performer ever to be seen in a Royal Command Variety Performance
Royal Variety Performance
The Royal Variety Performance is a gala evening held annually in the United Kingdom, which is attended by senior members of the British Royal Family, usually the reigning monarch. In more recent years Queen Elizabeth II and The Prince of Wales have alternately attended the performance...
, at the London Palladium
London Palladium
The London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety...
, where she performed along with Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian...
, the Nicholas Brothers
Nicholas Brothers
The Nicholas Brothers were a famous African American team of dancing brothers, Fayard and Harold . With their highly acrobatic technique , high level of artistry and daring innovations, they were considered by many the greatest tap dancers of their day...
and the comedy team George and Bert Bernard for members of King George VI's family.
Julie Andrews followed her parents into radio and television. She reportedly made her television debut on the BBC program RadiOlympia Showtime on 8 October 1949. She garnered considerable fame throughout the United Kingdom for her work on the BBC radio comedy show Educating Archie
Educating Archie
Educating Archie was a BBC Light Programme comedy show broadcast from June 1950 to February 1958 on Sunday lunchtimes featuring ventriloquist Peter Brough and his doll Archie Andrews. The programme was successful despite a ventriloquist on radio seeming strange, though in the United States, Edgar...
; she was a cast member from 1950 to 1952.
Andrews appeared on West End Theatre at the London Casino, where she played one year each as Princess Badroulbadour in Aladdin
Aladdin (musical)
Aladdin, is a musical/pantomime written by Sandy Wilson for the inaugural Christmas Pantomime at the newly refurbished Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith...
and the egg in Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English language nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle and one of the best known in the English-speaking world. He is typically portrayed as an egg and has appeared or been referred to in a large number of works of literature and popular culture...
. She also appeared on provincial stages across United Kingdom in Jack and the Beanstalk and Little Red Riding Hood, as well as starring as the lead role in Cinderella.
In 1950 at the age of 14, Andrews was asked to sing at a party of a family friend, Katherine Norwalk, and it was then that she learned that Ted Wells was not her biological father.
Early career in the United States
On 30 September 1954 on the eve of her 19th birthday, Julie Andrews made her Broadway debut portraying "Polly Browne" in the already highly successful London musical The Boy FriendThe Boy Friend
The Boy Friend is a musical by Sandy Wilson. The musical's original 1954 London production ran for 2,078 performances, making it briefly the third-longest running musical in West End or Broadway history until it was surpassed by Salad Days...
. To the critics, Andrews was the stand-out performer in the show. Near the end of her Boy Friend contract, Andrews was asked to audition for My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
on Broadway and got the part. In November 1955 Andrews was signed to appear with Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
in what is regarded as the first made-for-television movie, High Tor
High Tor
High Tor is a 1936 play by Maxwell Anderson. Twenty years after the original production, Anderson adapted it into a television musical with Arthur Schwartz.-Play:...
.
Andrews auditioned for a part in the Richard Rodgers
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
musical Pipe Dream
Pipe Dream (musical)
Pipe Dream is the seventh stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II; it premiered on Broadway on November 30, 1955. The work is based on John Steinbeck's short novel Sweet Thursday—Steinbeck wrote the novel, a sequel to Cannery Row, in the hope of having it adapted into...
. Although Rodgers wanted her for Pipe Dream, he advised her to take the part in the Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner
Alan Jay Lerner
Alan Jay Lerner was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre for both the stage and on film...
musical My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
if it were offered to her. In 1956, she appeared on stage in My Fair Lady as Eliza Doolittle
Eliza Doolittle
Eliza Sophie Caird , better known by her stage name Eliza Doolittle, is an English singer–songwriter from London, who signed to the Parlophone record label in October 2008. Her debut self-titled album, Eliza Doolittle was released on 12 July 2010, where it debuted at number 3 in the UK...
to Rex Harrison
Rex Harrison
Sir Reginald Carey “Rex” Harrison was an English actor of stage and screen. Harrison won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards.-Youth and stage career:...
's Henry Higgins. Rodgers was so impressed with Andrews' talent that concurrent with her run in My Fair Lady that she was featured in the Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
television musical, Cinderella
Cinderella (TV)
Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella is a musical written for television, with music by Richard Rodgers and a book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based upon the fairy tale Cinderella, particularly the French version Cendrillon, ou la Petite Pantoufle de Vair, by Charles Perrault...
. Cinderella was broadcast live on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
on 31 March 1957 under the musical direction of Alfredo Antonini
Alfredo Antonini
Alfredo Antonini was a leading Italian/American symphony conductor and composer who was active on the international concert stage as well as on the CBS radio and television networks from the 1930s through the 1960s...
and attracted an estimated 107 million viewers.
Andrews married set designer Tony Walton
Tony Walton
Tony Walton is an English set and costume designer.Walton was born in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, United Kingdom. He began his career in 1957 with the stage design for Noel Coward's Broadway production of Conversation Piece. Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s he designed for the New...
on 10 May 1959 in Weybridge
Weybridge
Weybridge is a town in the Elmbridge district of Surrey in South East England. It is bounded to the north by the River Thames at the mouth of the River Wey, from which it gets its name...
, Surrey. They had first met in 1948 when Andrews was appearing at the London Casino in the show Humpty Dumpty. The couple filed for a divorce on 14 November 1967.
Between 1958 and 1962, Andrews appeared on such specials as CBS-TV's The Fabulous Fifties and NBC-TV's The Broadway of Lerner & Loewe. In addition to guest starring on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
, she also appeared on The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show is an American variety series hosted by Dinah Shore, and broadcast on NBC from October 1956 to June 1963. The series was sponsored by the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors and its theme song, sung by Shore, was "See the U.S.A...
, What's My Line?
What's My Line?
What's My Line? is a panel game show which originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, with several international versions and subsequent U.S. revivals. The game tasked celebrity panelists with questioning contestants in order to determine their occupations....
, The Jack Benny Program
The Jack Benny Program
The Jack Benny Program, starring Jack Benny, is a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th-century American comedy.-Cast:*Jack Benny - Himself...
, The Bell Telephone Hour
The Bell Telephone Hour
The Bell Telephone Hour is a long-run concert series which began April 29, 1940 on NBC Radio and was heard on NBC until June 30, 1958. Sponsored by Bell Telephone, it showcased the best in classical and Broadway music, reaching eight to nine million listeners each week. It continued on television...
, and The Garry Moore Show
The Garry Moore Show
The Garry Moore Show is the name for several separate American variety series on the CBS television network in the 1950s and 1960s. Hosted by experienced radio performer, Garry Moore, the series helped launch the careers of many comedic talents, such as Don Adams, George Gobel, Carol Burnett, Don...
. In June 1962 Andrews co-starred in Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall
Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall
Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall is an American musical comedy television showcase starring Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett. It was broadcast on CBS on June 11, 1962. Mike Nichols wrote the script and co-wrote "You're So London" with Ken Welch. The show was produced by Bob Banner and directed by...
, a CBS special with Carol Burnett
Carol Burnett
Carol Creighton Burnett is an American actress, comedian, singer, dancer and writer. Burnett started her career in New York. After becoming a hit on Broadway, she made her television debut...
.
In 1960 Lerner and Loewe again cast her in a period musical as Queen Guinevere
Guinevere
Guinevere was the legendary queen consort of King Arthur. In tales and folklore, she was said to have had a love affair with Arthur's chief knight Sir Lancelot...
in Camelot
Camelot (musical)
Camelot is a musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe . It is based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from the T. H. White tetralogy novel The Once and Future King....
, with Richard Burton
Richard Burton
Richard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
and newcomer Robert Goulet
Robert Goulet
Robert Gerard Goulet was a Canadian American entertainer as a singer and actor. He played the role of Lancelot in the Broadway musical Camelot of 1960.-Early life:...
. However movie studio head Jack Warner
Jack Warner
Jack Leonard "J. L." Warner , born Jacob Warner in London, Ontario, was a Canadian American film executive who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California...
decided Andrews lacked sufficient name recognition for her casting in the film version of My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady (film)
My Fair Lady is a 1964 musical film adaptation of the Lerner and Loewe stage musical, of the same name, based on the 1938 film adaptation of the original stage play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. The ballroom scene and the ending were taken from the previous film adaptation , rather than from...
; Eliza was played by the established film actress Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century...
instead. As Warner later recalled, the decision was easy, "In my business I have to know who brings people and their money to a movie theatre box office. Audrey Hepburn had never made a financial flop."
Career peak
Emma Walton Hamilton
Emma Walton Hamilton is an actress and an author of children's books. She is the daughter of actress and singer Julie Andrews and set and costume designer Tony Walton. She has published over 23 books with her mother including The Very Fairy Princess and Dumpy the Dumptruck...
, who was born in London two months later. The family returned to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1963 and Andrews began her work in the title role of Disney
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
's musical film Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins (film)
Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, produced by Walt Disney, and based on the Mary Poppins books series by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by...
. Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
had seen a performance of Camelot
Camelot (musical)
Camelot is a musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe . It is based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from the T. H. White tetralogy novel The Once and Future King....
and thought Andrews would be perfect for the role of the British nanny who is "practically perfect in every way!" Andrews initially declined because of pregnancy, but Disney politely insisted, saying, "We'll wait for you."
As a result of her performance in Mary Poppins, Andrews won the 1964 Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
and the 1965 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. She and her Mary Poppins co-stars also won the 1965 Grammy Award for Best Album for Children
Grammy Award for Best Album for Children
The Grammy Award for Best Album for Children has been awarded since 1959. Prior to 1992, the award was known as Best Recording for Children and was therefore open to any audio recording, whether it was an album, a single song, a recording of a book, or the audio from a television show or movie...
. As a measure of "sweet revenge," as Poppins songwriter Richard M. Sherman
Sherman Brothers
The Sherman Brothers are an American songwriting duo that specialize in musical films, made up of Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman ....
put it, Andrews closed her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes by saying, "And, finally, my thanks to a man who made a wonderful movie and who made all this possible in the first place, Mr. Jack Warner." Warner passed over Andrews in favor of Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century...
for the starring role of Eliza Doolittle
Eliza Doolittle
Eliza Sophie Caird , better known by her stage name Eliza Doolittle, is an English singer–songwriter from London, who signed to the Parlophone record label in October 2008. Her debut self-titled album, Eliza Doolittle was released on 12 July 2010, where it debuted at number 3 in the UK...
in My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady (film)
My Fair Lady is a 1964 musical film adaptation of the Lerner and Loewe stage musical, of the same name, based on the 1938 film adaptation of the original stage play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. The ballroom scene and the ending were taken from the previous film adaptation , rather than from...
.
In 1964 she appeared opposite James Garner
James Garner
James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...
in The Americanization of Emily
The Americanization of Emily
The Americanization of Emily is a 1964 American comedy-drama war film written by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Arthur Hiller, loosely adapted from the novel of the same name by William Bradford Huie who had been a SeaBee officer on D-Day....
(1964), which she has described as her favourite film. In 1966, Andrews won her second Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and was also nominated for the 1965 Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Maria von Trapp
Maria von Trapp
Maria Augusta von Trapp , also known as Baroness Maria von Trapp, was the stepmother and matriarch of the Trapp Family Singers...
in The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music (film)
Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music is a 1965 American musical film directed by Robert Wise and starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The film is based on the Broadway musical The Sound of Music, with songs written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and with the musical...
.
After completing The Sound Of Music, Andrews appeared as a guest star on the NBC-TV variety series The Andy Williams Show, which gained her an Emmy nomination. She followed this television appearance with an Emmy Award-winning color special, The Julie Andrews Show, which featured Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
and The New Christy Minstrels as guests. It aired on NBC-TV in November 1965.
In 1966 Andrews starred with Max von Sydow
Max von Sydow
Max von Sydow is a Swedish actor. He has also held French citizenship since 2002. He has starred in many films and had supporting roles in dozens more...
in the epic Hawaii, with Paul Newman
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
in the Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
thriller Torn Curtain
Torn Curtain
Torn Curtain is a 1966 American political thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Paul Newman and Julie Andrews.-Plot:On a cruise ship en route to Copenhagen, Michael Armstrong , an esteemed American physicist and rocket scientist, is to attend a scientific conference...
, and as the title character of the 1920s spoof musical Thoroughly Modern Millie
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Thoroughly Modern Millie is a 1967 American musical film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Julie Andrews. The screenplay by Richard Morris focuses on a naive young woman who finds herself in the midst of a series of madcap adventures when she sets her sights on marrying her wealthy boss.The...
, her last big cinema hit for the next fifteen years.
By the end of 1967, Andrews was the world's most successful film star. She had appeared in the most-watched television special Cinderella; the biggest Broadway musical of its time, My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
; the largest-selling long-playing album, the original cast recording of My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
; the biggest hit in Disney's history, Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins (film)
Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, produced by Walt Disney, and based on the Mary Poppins books series by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by...
; the highest grossing movie of 1966, Hawaii
Hawaii (film)
Hawaii is a 1966 American film directed by George Roy Hill and based on the novel of the same name by James A. Michener. It tells the story of an 1820s Yale University divinity student who, along with his new bride , becomes a Calvinist missionary in the Hawaiian Islands...
; the biggest and second biggest hits in Universal's history, Thoroughly Modern Millie
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Thoroughly Modern Millie is a 1967 American musical film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Julie Andrews. The screenplay by Richard Morris focuses on a naive young woman who finds herself in the midst of a series of madcap adventures when she sets her sights on marrying her wealthy boss.The...
and Torn Curtain
Torn Curtain
Torn Curtain is a 1966 American political thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Paul Newman and Julie Andrews.-Plot:On a cruise ship en route to Copenhagen, Michael Armstrong , an esteemed American physicist and rocket scientist, is to attend a scientific conference...
; and the biggest in 20th Century Fox's history, The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music (film)
Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music is a 1965 American musical film directed by Robert Wise and starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The film is based on the Broadway musical The Sound of Music, with songs written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and with the musical...
.
Mid-career
Andrews next appeared in two of Hollywood's most expensive and infamous flops: Star!Star! (film)
Star! is a 1968 American musical film directed by Robert Wise. The screenplay by William Fairchild is based upon the life and career of British performer Gertrude Lawrence.-Plot:...
, a 1968 biopic of Gertrude Lawrence
Gertrude Lawrence
Gertrude Lawrence was an English actress, singer and musical comedy performer known for her stage appearances in the West End theatre district of London and on Broadway.-Early life:...
, and Darling Lili
Darling Lili
Darling Lili is a 1970 American musical film. The screenplay was written by William Peter Blatty and Blake Edwards, who also directed. The cast included Julie Andrews, Rock Hudson, and Jeremy Kemp.-Plot:...
(1970), co-starring Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson
Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...
and directed by her soon-to-be second husband, Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards was an American film director, screenwriter and producer.Edwards' career began in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon turned to writing radio scripts at Columbia Pictures...
(they married in 1969). The couple stayed married for 41 years until Edwards' death in 2010. She made only two other films in the 1970s, The Tamarind Seed and 10
10 (film)
10 is a 1979 romantic comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and starring Bo Derek, Dudley Moore, and Julie Andrews. Considered a trend-setting film at the time, and one of the year's biggest box office hits, the film made superstars of Derek and Moore....
.
In the 1970s, Edwards and Andrews adopted two daughters; Amy in 1974 and Joanna in 1975. Edwards' children from a previous marriage, Jennifer and Geoffrey, were 3 and 5 years older than Emma, Andrews' daughter with Tony Walton.
Andrews continued working in television. In 1969, she shared the spotlight with singer Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
for an NBC-TV special, An Evening with Julie Andrews and Harry Belafonte. In 1971 she appeared as a guest for the Grand Opening Special of Walt Disney World, and that same year she and Carol Burnett headlined a CBS special, Julie and Carol At Lincoln Center.
In 1972–1973, Andrews starred in her own television variety series, The Julie Andrews Hour
The Julie Andrews Hour
The Julie Andrews Hour is a television variety series starring Julie Andrews that was produced by ATV and distributed by ITC Entertainment. It aired on the ABC network in the United States....
, on the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
network. The show won seven Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
s, but was cancelled after one season. Between 1973 and 1975, Andrews continued her association with ABC by headlining five variety specials for the network. She guest-starred on The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
in 1977, and the following year, she appeared again with the Muppets on a CBS television variety special. The program, Julie Andrews: One Step Into Spring, aired in March 1978, to mixed reviews and mediocre ratings. In February 1980, Andrews headlined "Because We Care", a CBS-TV special with 30 major stars raising funds for Cambodian Famine victims.
In 1981, she appeared in Blake Edwards' S.O.B. (1981) in which she played Sally Miles, a character who agrees to "show my boobies" in a scene in the film-within-a-film. That was Andrews's first on-screen nude scene and got much attention as she poked fun at her own squeaky clean image.
In 1983, Andrews was chosen as the Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year
Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year
The Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year award is bestowed annually by the Hasty Pudding Theatricals society at Harvard University. It has been awarded annually by the society members since 1951 to performers deemed to have made a "lasting and impressive contribution to the world of entertainment."The...
by the Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
theatrical society. The roles of Victoria Grant and Count Victor Grezhinski in the film Victor Victoria earned Andrews the 1983 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, as well as a nomination for the 1982 Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
, her third Oscar nomination.
In December 1987, Andrews starred in an ABC Christmas special, Julie Andrews: The Sound Of Christmas, which went on to win five Emmy Awards. Two years later, she was reunited for the third time with Carol Burnett for a variety special which aired on ABC in December 1989.
In 1991, Andrews made her television dramatic debut in the ABC made-for-TV movie, Our Sons
Our Sons
Our Sons is a 1991 made-for-TV movie starring Julie Andrews and Ann-Margret as two mothers of gay sons, one of whom is dying of AIDS. As a small town waitress, Ann-Margret's character must overcome her own homophobia and learn to love her son unconditionally. In the process, she cements a lasting...
, co-starring Ann-Margret
Ann-Margret
Ann-Margret Olsson is a Swedish-American actress, singer and dancer whose professional name is Ann-Margret. She became famous for her starring roles in Bye Bye Birdie, Viva Las Vegas, The Cincinnati Kid, Carnal Knowledge, and Tommy...
. Andrews was named a Disney Legend within the year.
In the summer of 1992 Andrews starred in her first television sitcom, Julie, which aired on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
and co-starred James Farentino
James Farentino
James Farentino is an American actor. He has appeared in almost one hundred roles, among them in The Final Countdown, Jesus of Nazareth, and Dynasty.-Career:...
. In December 1992 she hosted the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
holiday special, Christmas In Washington.
In 1993, she starred in a limited run at the Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club is a theater company located in New York City. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has grown since its founding in 1970 from an Off-Off Broadway showcase into one of the country’s most acclaimed...
in the American premiere of Stephen Sondheim's
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
revue, Putting It Together
Putting It Together
Putting it Together is a musical revue showcasing the songs of Stephen Sondheim. Drawing its title from a song in Sunday in the Park with George, it was devised by Sondheim and Julia McKenzie...
. Between 1994 and 1995 Andrews recorded two solo albums – the first saluted the music of Richard Rodgers and the second paid tribute to the words of Alan Jay Lerner. In 1995, she starred in the stage musical version of Victor/Victoria
Victor/Victoria (musical)
Victor/Victoria is a musical with a book by Blake Edwards, music by Henry Mancini, lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and additional musical material by Frank Wildhorn...
. It was her first appearance in a Broadway show in 35 years. Opening on Broadway on 25 October 1995 at the Marquis Theatre
Marquis Theatre
The Marquis Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 1535 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan.Situated on the third floor of the Marriott Marquis Hotel, the 1611-seat venue was designed by developer/architect John C. Portman, Jr...
, it later went on the road on a world tour. When she was the only Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nominee for the production, she declined the nomination saying that she could not accept because she felt the entire production was snubbed.
Andrews was forced to quit the show towards the end of the Broadway run in 1997 when she developed vocal problems. She subsequently underwent surgery to remove non-cancerous nodules
Nodule (medicine)
For use of the term nodule in dermatology, see Nodule In medicine, a nodule refers to a relatively hard, roughly spherical abnormal structure....
from her throat and was left unable to sing. In 1999 she filed a malpractice suit against the doctors at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital
Mount Sinai Hospital, New York
Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, is one of the oldest and largest teaching hospitals in the United States. In 2011-2012, Mount Sinai Hospital was ranked as one of America's best hospitals by U.S...
, including Dr. Scott Kessler and Dr. Jeffrey Libin, who had operated on her throat. Originally, the doctors assured Andrews that she should regain her voice within six weeks, but Andrews' stepdaughter Jennifer Edwards
Jennifer Edwards
Jennifer Edwards is an American actress best known for playing the title role in the NBC made-for-television movie Heidi , which aired on November 17, 1968...
said in 1999 "it's been two years, and it [her singing voice] still hasn't returned." The lawsuit was settled in September 2000.
Despite the loss of her singing voice, she kept busy with many projects. In 1998, she appeared in a stage production of Dr. Dolittle in London. As recounted on the Julie Andrews website, she performed the voice of Polynesia the parrot and "recorded some 700 sentences and sounds, which were placed on a computer chip that sat in the mechanical bird's mouth. In the song "Talk To The Animals," Polynesia the parrot even sings."
The next year Andrews was reunited with James Garner for the CBS made-for-TV movie, One Special Night, which aired in November 1999.
In the 2000 New Year's Millennium Honours List, Andrews was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(DBE) for services to the performing arts. She also appears at #59 on the 2002 List of "100 Greatest Britons
100 Greatest Britons
100 Greatest Britons was broadcast in 2002 by the BBC. The programme was the result of a vote conducted to determine whom the United Kingdom public considers the greatest British people in history. The series, Great Britons, included individual programmes on the top ten, with viewers having further...
" sponsored by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and chosen by the public.
In 2001, Andrews received Kennedy Center Honors
Kennedy Center Honors
The Kennedy Center Honors is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. The Honors have been presented annually since 1978 in Washington, D.C., during gala weekend-long events which culminate in a performance for—and...
. The same year she reunited with Sound of Music co-star Christopher Plummer
Christopher Plummer
Arthur Christopher Orne Plummer, CC is a Canadian theatre, film and television actor. He made his film debut in 1957's Stage Struck, and notable early film performances include Night of the Generals, The Return of the Pink Panther and The Man Who Would Be King.In a career that spans over five...
in a live television performance of On Golden Pond
On Golden Pond (2001 film)
On Golden Pond is a 2001 television adaptation of the play starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The movie originally aired on April 29, 2001 and was promoted as a live television event...
(an adaptation of the 1979 play).
Career revival
In 2001, Andrews appeared in The Princess DiariesThe Princess Diaries (film)
The Princess Diaries is a 2001 comedy film produced by singer and actress Whitney Houston and directed by Garry Marshall. It is based on Meg Cabot's 2000 novel of the same name...
, her first Disney film since 1964's Mary Poppins. She starred as Queen Clarisse Marie Renaldi and reprised the role in a sequel, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement is the 2004 sequel to 2001's The Princess Diaries.Most of the cast returned from the first film, including Anne Hathaway, Julie Andrews, Héctor Elizondo, and Heather Matarazzo...
(2004). In The Princess Diaries 2, Andrews sang on film for the first time since having throat surgery. The song, "Your Crowning Glory" (a duet with Teen idol Raven-Symoné
Raven-Symoné
Raven-Symoné Christina Pearman , known professionally as Raven-Symoné , or simply Raven, is an American actress, singer, songwriter, comedian, dancer, television producer and model. Symoné launched her successful career in 1989 after appearing in The Cosby Show as Olivia...
), was set in a limited range of an octave to accommodate her recovering voice. The film's music supervisor, Dawn Soler, recalled that Andrews, "nailed the song on the first take. I looked around and I saw grips
Grip (job)
In the U.S. and Canada, grips are lighting and rigging technicians in the filmmaking and video production industries. They constitute their own department on a film set and are directed by a key grip. Grips have two main functions...
with tears in their eyes."
Andrews continued her association with Disney when she appeared as the nanny in two 2003 made-for-television movies based on the Eloise books
Eloise (books)
Eloise is the name of the protagonist in a series of children's books written by Kay Thompson and illustrated by Hilary Knight.Eloise is a six-year-old girl who lives in the "room on the tippy-top floor" of the Plaza Hotel in New York with her Nanny, her pug dog Weenie, and her turtle Skipperdee. A...
, a series of children's books by Kay Thompson
Kay Thompson
Kay Thompson was an American author, composer, musician, actress and singer. She is best known as the creator of the Eloise children's books.-Background:Catherine Louise Fink was born in St...
about a child who lives in the Plaza Hotel
Plaza Hotel
The Plaza Hotel in New York City is a landmark 20-story luxury hotel with a height of and length of that occupies the west side of Grand Army Plaza, from which it derives its name, and extends along Central Park South in Manhattan. Fifth Avenue extends along the east side of Grand Army Plaza...
in New York City. Eloise at the Plaza
Eloise at the Plaza
Eloise at the Plaza is a live-action film based on the Eloise series of children's books drawn and written by Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight...
premiered in April 2003, and Eloise at Christmastime
Eloise at Christmastime
Eloise at Christmastime is a live-action film based on the 1958 book of the same name written by Kay Thompson and illustrated by Hilary Knight. The film was produced by Handmade Films and DiNovi Pictures for Walt Disney Television with distribution handled by the ABC Television Network. It was...
was broadcast in November 2003. The same year she made her debut as a theatre director, directing a revival of The Boy Friend, the musical in which she made her 1954 Broadway debut, at the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, New York. Her production, which featured costume and scenic design by her former husband Tony Walton
Tony Walton
Tony Walton is an English set and costume designer.Walton was born in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, United Kingdom. He began his career in 1957 with the stage design for Noel Coward's Broadway production of Conversation Piece. Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s he designed for the New...
, was remounted at the Goodspeed Opera House in 2005 and went on a national tour in 2006.
From 2005 to 2006 Andrews served as the Official Ambassador for Disneyland's 18-month-long, 50th anniversary celebration, the "Happiest Homecoming on Earth
Happiest Homecoming on Earth
The Happiest Homecoming on Earth was the eighteen-month-long celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Disneyland theme park, which officially opened on July 17, 1955...
", travelling to promote the celebration, and recording narration and appearing at several events at the park.
In 2004 Andrews performed the voice of Queen Lillian in the animated blockbuster Shrek 2
Shrek 2
Shrek 2 is a 2004 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film, produced by DreamWorks Animation and directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon. It is the second installment in the Shrek film series and the sequel to 2001's Shrek...
(2004), reprising the role for its sequels, Shrek the Third
Shrek the Third
Shrek the Third is a 2007 American animated film, and the third film in the Shrek series. It was produced by Jeffrey Katzenberg for DreamWorks Animation, and is distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was released in U.S. theaters on May 18, 2007...
(2007) and Shrek Forever After
Shrek Forever After
Shrek Forever After, taglined as The Final Chapter, is a 2010 animated fantasy-comedy film, and the fourth and final installment in the Shrek film series, produced by DreamWorks Animation. The film was released by Paramount Pictures in cinemas on May 20, 2010 in Russia, and on May 21 in the United...
(2010). Later, in 2007, she narrated Enchanted, a live-action Disney musical comedy that both poked fun and paid homage to classic Disney films such as Mary Poppins.
In January 2007 Andrews was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
's awards and stated that her goals included continuing to direct for the stage and possibly to produce her own Broadway musical. She published Home: A Memoir of My Early Years
Home: A Memoir of My Early Years
Home: A Memoir of My Early Years is a best-selling memoir written by Julie Andrews. It was published on April 1, 2008 by Hyperion.Home tells the story of Julie Andrews' life up until 1963, when she left England for Hollywood to shoot Mary Poppins and is intended as part one of a two part memoir...
, which she characterised as "part one" of her autobiography, on 1 April 2008. Home chronicles her early years in Britain's music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
circuit and ends in 1962 with her winning the role of Mary Poppins. For a Walt Disney video release she again portrayed Mary Poppins and narrated the story of The Cat That Looked at a King in 2004.
In July through early August 2008, Andrews hosted Julie Andrews' The Gift of Music, a short tour of the United States where she sang various Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
songs and symphonised her recently published book, Simeon's Gift. These were her first public singing performances in a dozen years, due to her failed vocal cord surgery.
On 8 May 2009, Andrews received the honorary George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Achievement in Music at the annual UCLA Spring Sing
UCLA Spring Sing
Spring Sing is UCLA's oldest and greatest musical tradition, an annual music competition held in May at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion. The competition brings together UCLA students to perform as solo artists, duets, bands, and a cappella groups in front of an audience of over 7,000 UCLA students, alumni,...
competition in Pauley Pavilion
Pauley Pavilion
Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, commonly known as Pauley Pavilion, is an indoor arena located in the Westwood Village district of Los Angeles, California, on the campus of UCLA. It is home to the UCLA Bruins men's and women's basketball teams...
. Receiving the award she remarked, "Go Bruins. Beat SC ... strike up the band to celebrate every one of those victories."
2010–present
In January 2010, for the second consecutive time, Andrews was the official USA presenter of the New Year's Day Vienna concert. Andrews also had a supporting role in the film Tooth FairyTooth Fairy (film)
For other uses, see Tooth Fairy .Tooth Fairy is a 2004 short film about a father who forgets to leave money for his daughter from the "tooth fairy"...
, which opened to unfavourable reviews although the box office receipts were successful. On her promotion tour for the film, she also spoke of Operation USA
Operation USA
Operation USA is a non profit humanitarian organization dedicated to helping communities alleviate the effects of disaster, disease, and endemic poverty throughout the world by providing privately-funded relief, reconstruction, humanitarian aid and development aid...
and the aid campaign to the Haiti disaster.
On 8 May 2010, Andrews made her London comeback after a 21-year absence (her last performance there was a Christmas concert at the Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
in 1989). She performed at the O2 Arena
The O2 arena (London)
The O2 Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the centre of The O2, a large entertainment complex on the Greenwich peninsula in London, England.With a capacity of up to 20,000 depending on the event, it is second largest...
, accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national orchestra"...
and an ensemble of five performers. Previous to it she appeared on British television (on 15 December 2009 and on many other occasions), and said that rumours that she would be singing were not true. Instead, she said she would be doing a form of "speak singing
Sprechgesang
Sprechgesang and Sprechstimme are musical terms used to refer to an expressionist vocal technique between singing and speaking. Though sometimes used interchangeably, sprechgesang is a term directly related to the operatic recitative manner of singing , whereas sprechstimme is...
". However in the concert she actually sang two solos and several duets and ensemble pieces. The evening, though well received by the 20,000 fans present, who gave her standing ovation after standing ovation, did not convince the critics.
On 18 May 2010, Andrews' 23rd book (this one also written with her daughter Emma) was published. In June 2010 the book, entitled The Very Fairy Princess, reached number 1 on the New York Times Best Seller List for Children's Books.
On 21 May 2010, her film Shrek Forever After
Shrek Forever After
Shrek Forever After, taglined as The Final Chapter, is a 2010 animated fantasy-comedy film, and the fourth and final installment in the Shrek film series, produced by DreamWorks Animation. The film was released by Paramount Pictures in cinemas on May 20, 2010 in Russia, and on May 21 in the United...
was released; in it Andrews reprises her role as the Queen.
On 9 July 2010, Despicable Me
Despicable Me
Despicable Me is a 2010 American computer-animated 3D comedy film from Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment that was released on July 9, 2010 in the United States. The film features the voices of Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews, Will Arnett, Kristen Wiig, and...
, an animated movie in which Andrews lent her voice to Marlena, the evil mother of the main character Gru, voiced by Steve Carell
Steve Carell
Steven John "Steve" Carell is an American comedian, actor, voice artist, producer, writer, and director. Although Carell is notable for his role on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, he found greater fame in the late 2000s for playing Michael Scott on The Office...
), opened to rave reviews and strong box office.
On 28 October 2010, Andrews appeared, along with the actors who portrayed the cinematic Von Trapp family members, on Oprah to commemorate the film's 45th anniversary. A few days later, her 24th book, Little Bo in Italy, was published.
On 15 December 2010, Andrews' husband Blake Edwards died of complications of pneumonia at the Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California. Andrews was by her husband's side when he died.
In February 2011, Andrews received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded by the Recording Academy to "performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording."...
and, with her daughter Emma
Emma Walton Hamilton
Emma Walton Hamilton is an actress and an author of children's books. She is the daughter of actress and singer Julie Andrews and set and costume designer Tony Walton. She has published over 23 books with her mother including The Very Fairy Princess and Dumpy the Dumptruck...
, a Grammy for best spoken word album for children (for A Collection of Poems, Songs and Lullabies), at the 53rd Grammy Awards
53rd Grammy Awards
The 53rd annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights prior to the telecast on February 11. Nominations were...
ceremony.
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | La Rosa di Bagdad La Rosa di Bagdad La Rosa di Bagdad is a 1949 Italian animated film. In 1952, the film was dubbed into English, retitled The Singing Princess and starring Julie Andrews in her first film and first venture into voice-over work... |
Princess Zeila | dubbed voice for the 1952 English-language version |
| 1964 | Mary Poppins Mary Poppins (film) Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, produced by Walt Disney, and based on the Mary Poppins books series by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by... |
Mary Poppins Mary Poppins (character) Mary Poppins is a fictional character and the protagonist of P. L. Travers' Mary Poppins books and all of its adaptations. She is a magical nanny of unknown origins who arrives at the Banks home in Cherry Tree Lane where she is given charge of the Banks children and teaches them valuable lessons... |
Academy Award for Best Actress Academy Award for Best Actress Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer -Best British Director, Producer or Writer in the First Film:*2006 - Red Road - Andrea Arnold**Black Sun – Gary Tarn**Pierrepoint – Christine Langan**London to Brighton – Paul Andrew Williams... |
| 1965 | Emily Barham | ||
| 1965 | Salzburg Sight and Sound | Herself | short subject |
| 1965 | Maria von Trapp Maria von Trapp Maria Augusta von Trapp , also known as Baroness Maria von Trapp, was the stepmother and matriarch of the Trapp Family Singers... |
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress Academy Award for Best Actress Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... |
|
| 1966 | Torn Curtain Torn Curtain Torn Curtain is a 1966 American political thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Paul Newman and Julie Andrews.-Plot:On a cruise ship en route to Copenhagen, Michael Armstrong , an esteemed American physicist and rocket scientist, is to attend a scientific conference... |
Dr. Sarah Louise Sherman | |
| 1966 | Hawaii Hawaii (film) Hawaii is a 1966 American film directed by George Roy Hill and based on the novel of the same name by James A. Michener. It tells the story of an 1820s Yale University divinity student who, along with his new bride , becomes a Calvinist missionary in the Hawaiian Islands... |
Jerusha Bromley | |
| 1967 | Think Twentieth | Herself | short subject |
| 1967 | Thoroughly Modern Millie Thoroughly Modern Millie Thoroughly Modern Millie is a 1967 American musical film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Julie Andrews. The screenplay by Richard Morris focuses on a naive young woman who finds herself in the midst of a series of madcap adventures when she sets her sights on marrying her wealthy boss.The... |
Millie Dillmount | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |
| 1968 | Star! Star! (film) Star! is a 1968 American musical film directed by Robert Wise. The screenplay by William Fairchild is based upon the life and career of British performer Gertrude Lawrence.-Plot:... |
Gertrude Lawrence Gertrude Lawrence Gertrude Lawrence was an English actress, singer and musical comedy performer known for her stage appearances in the West End theatre district of London and on Broadway.-Early life:... |
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |
| 1970 | Darling Lili Darling Lili Darling Lili is a 1970 American musical film. The screenplay was written by William Peter Blatty and Blake Edwards, who also directed. The cast included Julie Andrews, Rock Hudson, and Jeremy Kemp.-Plot:... |
Lili Smith (Schmidt) | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |
| 1971 | Herself (uncredited) | short subject | |
| 1972 | Julie | Herself | documentary |
| 1974 | Judith Farrow | ||
| 1979 | 10 10 (film) 10 is a 1979 romantic comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and starring Bo Derek, Dudley Moore, and Julie Andrews. Considered a trend-setting film at the time, and one of the year's biggest box office hits, the film made superstars of Derek and Moore.... |
Samantha Taylor | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |
| 1980 | Little Miss Marker Little Miss Marker (1980 film) Little Miss Marker is a 1980 American comedy-drama written and directed by Walter Bernstein, based on a short story by Damon Runyon. The film stars Walter Matthau, Tony Curtis, Julie Andrews, Bob Newhart and new arrival Sara Stimson... |
Amanda Worthington | |
| 1981 | S.O.B. | Sally Miles | |
| 1982 | Victor Victoria | Victor/Victoria | Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress Academy Award for Best Actress Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... |
| 1982 | Trail of the Pink Panther Trail of the Pink Panther Trail of the Pink Panther is a 1982 comedy film starring Peter Sellers. It was the seventh film in the Pink Panther series, and the last in which Peter Sellers starred as Inspector Jacques Clouseau, although Sellers died before production began and the film thus contains no original material... |
Charwoman (uncredited) | |
| 1983 | Marianna | ||
| 1986 | That's Life! That's Life! (film) That's Life! is a 1986 film with Jack Lemmon and Julie Andrews, directed by Blake Edwards.The film was made independently by Edwards using largely his own finances and was distributed by Columbia Pictures... |
Gillian Fairchild | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |
| 1986 | Duet for One Duet for One Duet for One is a film adapted from an award-winning British play, a two-hander by Tom Kempinski, about a world-famous concert violinist named Stephanie Anderson who is suddenly struck with multiple sclerosis. It is set in London and directed by Andrei Konchalovsky... |
Stephanie Anderson | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama |
| 1991 | Mrs. Pamela Piquet | Cin cin – USA title | |
| 2000 | Relative Values Relative Values Relative Values is a 2000 British comedy film adaptation of the 1950s play of the same name by Noel Coward. It stars Julie Andrews, Colin Firth, William Baldwin, Stephen Fry and Jeanne Tripplehorn, and was directed by Eric Styles.... |
Felicity Marshwood | |
| 2001 | Queen Clarisse Renaldi | ||
| 2002 | Unconditional Love | Herself (uncredited) | performer: Getting to Know You |
| 2003 | Eloise at the Plaza Eloise at the Plaza Eloise at the Plaza is a live-action film based on the Eloise series of children's books drawn and written by Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight... |
Nanny | |
| 2003 | Eloise at Christmastime Eloise at Christmastime Eloise at Christmastime is a live-action film based on the 1958 book of the same name written by Kay Thompson and illustrated by Hilary Knight. The film was produced by Handmade Films and DiNovi Pictures for Walt Disney Television with distribution handled by the ABC Television Network. It was... |
Nanny | |
| 2004 | Shrek 2 Shrek 2 Shrek 2 is a 2004 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film, produced by DreamWorks Animation and directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon. It is the second installment in the Shrek film series and the sequel to 2001's Shrek... |
Queen Lillian | voice |
| 2004 | Queen Clarisse Renaldi | ||
| 2007 | Shrek the Third Shrek the Third Shrek the Third is a 2007 American animated film, and the third film in the Shrek series. It was produced by Jeffrey Katzenberg for DreamWorks Animation, and is distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was released in U.S. theaters on May 18, 2007... |
Queen Lillian | voice |
| 2007 | Enchanted | Narrator | voice |
| 2010 | Tooth Fairy Tooth Fairy (film) For other uses, see Tooth Fairy .Tooth Fairy is a 2004 short film about a father who forgets to leave money for his daughter from the "tooth fairy"... |
Lily | |
| 2010 | Shrek Forever After Shrek Forever After Shrek Forever After, taglined as The Final Chapter, is a 2010 animated fantasy-comedy film, and the fourth and final installment in the Shrek film series, produced by DreamWorks Animation. The film was released by Paramount Pictures in cinemas on May 20, 2010 in Russia, and on May 21 in the United... |
Queen Lillian | voice |
| 2010 | Despicable Me Despicable Me Despicable Me is a 2010 American computer-animated 3D comedy film from Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment that was released on July 9, 2010 in the United States. The film features the voices of Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews, Will Arnett, Kristen Wiig, and... |
Gru's Mom (Marlena) | voice |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Ford Star Jubilee Ford Star Jubilee Ford Star Jubilee was a usually live, ninety minute, color anthology series that aired once a month on Saturday nights on CBS at 9:00 P.M., E.S.T. from the fall of 1955 to the fall of 1956... |
Lise | High Tor High Tor High Tor is a 1936 play by Maxwell Anderson. Twenty years after the original production, Anderson adapted it into a television musical with Arthur Schwartz.-Play:... |
| 1957 | Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella | Cinderella | Original live broadcast, 31 March |
| 1959 | Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling."... 's The Gentle Flame |
Trissa | BBC broadcast 25 December |
| 1962 | Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall | Herself | |
| 1965 | Host | ||
| 1969 | Herself | "An Evening with Julie Andrews and Harry Belafonte" | |
| 1971 | Julie and Carol at Lincoln Center | Herself | |
| 1972–73 | Host | ||
| 1973 | Julie on Sesame Street Julie on Sesame Street Julie Andrews and Perry Como teamed up to do a 1973 television special called Julie on Sesame Street. The only Sesame Street The Special was filmed in UK at the Elstree Studios by Associated Television-Broadcast dates:... |
Herself | |
| 1974 | Julie and Dick at Covent Garden | Herself | |
| 1974 | Julie and Jackie: How Sweet It Is | Herself | |
| 1975 | Julie: My Favorite Things | Herself | |
| 1978 | Julie Andrews: One Step Into Spring | Herself – host | |
| 1987 | Julie Andrews: The Sound of Christmas | Herself | |
| 1989 | Julie & Carol: Together Again | Herself | |
| 1990 | Julie Andrews in Concert | Herself | |
| 1991 | Our Sons | Audrey Grant | aka Too Little, Too Late |
| 1992 | Julie | Julie Carlisle | Series cancelled after 3 months |
| 1993 | Sound of Orchestra | ||
| 1999 | One Special Night | Catherine | |
| 2001 | On Golden Pond On Golden Pond (2001 film) On Golden Pond is a 2001 television adaptation of the play starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The movie originally aired on April 29, 2001 and was promoted as a live television event... |
Ethel Thayer | |
| 2003 | Eloise at the Plaza Eloise at the Plaza Eloise at the Plaza is a live-action film based on the Eloise series of children's books drawn and written by Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight... |
Nanny | |
| 2003 | Eloise at Christmastime Eloise at Christmastime Eloise at Christmastime is a live-action film based on the 1958 book of the same name written by Kay Thompson and illustrated by Hilary Knight. The film was produced by Handmade Films and DiNovi Pictures for Walt Disney Television with distribution handled by the ABC Television Network. It was... |
Nanny | |
| 2009 | Great Performances: "From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2009" Vienna New Year's Concert The New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic is a concert of classical music that takes place each year in the morning of January 1 in Vienna, Austria... |
Herself | Narrator / Host, succeeding Walter Cronkite Walter Cronkite Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll... |
| 2010 | Todos contra Juan | Herself | Argentinian TV sitcom |
Stage
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 | Polly Brown | ||
| 1956 | My Fair Lady My Fair Lady My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe... |
Eliza Doolittle | Nominated — Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical |
| 1961 | Camelot Camelot (musical) Camelot is a musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe . It is based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from the T. H. White tetralogy novel The Once and Future King.... |
Queen Guinevere | Nominated — Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical |
| 1993 | Putting It Together Putting It Together Putting it Together is a musical revue showcasing the songs of Stephen Sondheim. Drawing its title from a song in Sunday in the Park with George, it was devised by Sondheim and Julia McKenzie... |
Amy | |
| 1995 | Victor/Victoria Victor/Victoria (musical) Victor/Victoria is a musical with a book by Blake Edwards, music by Henry Mancini, lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and additional musical material by Frank Wildhorn... |
Victor/Victoria | Nominated — Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical (nomination declined) |
Honors
| Year | Award | Category | Result | For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Theatre World Award Theatre World Award The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:... |
Outstanding Broadway Debut | Won | |
| 1957 | Tony Award Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway... |
Best Actress in a Musical | Nominated | My Fair Lady My Fair Lady My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe... |
| Emmy Award Emmy Award An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various... |
Best Actress in a Single Performance – Lead or Support | Nominated | Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (CBS) | |
| 1961 | Tony Award Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway... |
Best Actress in a Musical | Nominated | Camelot Camelot (musical) Camelot is a musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe . It is based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from the T. H. White tetralogy novel The Once and Future King.... |
| 1964 | Academy Award | Best Actress Academy Award for Best Actress Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... |
Won | Mary Poppins Mary Poppins (film) Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, produced by Walt Disney, and based on the Mary Poppins books series by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by... |
| Golden Globe | Best Actress – Musical or Comedy | Won | Mary Poppins Mary Poppins (film) Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, produced by Walt Disney, and based on the Mary Poppins books series by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by... |
|
| BAFTA | Most Promising Newcomer | Won | Mary Poppins Mary Poppins (film) Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, produced by Walt Disney, and based on the Mary Poppins books series by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by... |
|
| Laurel Awards Laurel Awards The Laurel Awards were cinema awards to honor pictures, actors, actresses, directors and composers. This award was created by Motion Picture Exhibitor magazine, and ran from 1958 to 1968, then 1970 and 1971.... |
Musical Performance, Female | Won | Mary Poppins Mary Poppins (film) Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, produced by Walt Disney, and based on the Mary Poppins books series by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by... |
|
| Grammy Awards | Best Recording For Children | Won | Mary Poppins Mary Poppins (film) Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, produced by Walt Disney, and based on the Mary Poppins books series by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by... (Album) |
|
| 1965 | Emmy Award Emmy Award An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various... |
Outstanding Individual Achievements in Entertainment (Actors and Performers) | Nominated | |
| Academy Award | Best Actress Academy Award for Best Actress Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... |
Nominated | ||
| Golden Globe | Best Actress – Musical or Comedy | Won | ||
| BAFTA | Best British Actress | Nominated | ||
| Laurel Awards Laurel Awards The Laurel Awards were cinema awards to honor pictures, actors, actresses, directors and composers. This award was created by Motion Picture Exhibitor magazine, and ran from 1958 to 1968, then 1970 and 1971.... |
Musical Performance, Female | Won | ||
| 1966 | BAFTA | Best British Actress | Nominated | |
| 1967 | Golden Globe | Best Actress – Musical or Comedy | Nominated | Thoroughly Modern Millie Thoroughly Modern Millie Thoroughly Modern Millie is a 1967 American musical film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Julie Andrews. The screenplay by Richard Morris focuses on a naive young woman who finds herself in the midst of a series of madcap adventures when she sets her sights on marrying her wealthy boss.The... |
| Golden Globe | Henrietta Award – World Film Favorite – Female | Won | ||
| Laurel Awards Laurel Awards The Laurel Awards were cinema awards to honor pictures, actors, actresses, directors and composers. This award was created by Motion Picture Exhibitor magazine, and ran from 1958 to 1968, then 1970 and 1971.... |
Female Comedy Performance | Won | Thoroughly Modern Millie Thoroughly Modern Millie Thoroughly Modern Millie is a 1967 American musical film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Julie Andrews. The screenplay by Richard Morris focuses on a naive young woman who finds herself in the midst of a series of madcap adventures when she sets her sights on marrying her wealthy boss.The... |
|
| Laurel Awards Laurel Awards The Laurel Awards were cinema awards to honor pictures, actors, actresses, directors and composers. This award was created by Motion Picture Exhibitor magazine, and ran from 1958 to 1968, then 1970 and 1971.... |
Female Star | Won | ||
| 1968 | Golden Globe | Best Actress – Musical or Comedy | Nominated | Star! Star! (film) Star! is a 1968 American musical film directed by Robert Wise. The screenplay by William Fairchild is based upon the life and career of British performer Gertrude Lawrence.-Plot:... |
| Golden Globe | Henrietta Award – World Film Favorite – Female | Won | ||
| 1970 | Golden Globe | Best Actress – Musical or comedy | Nominated | Darling Lili Darling Lili Darling Lili is a 1970 American musical film. The screenplay was written by William Peter Blatty and Blake Edwards, who also directed. The cast included Julie Andrews, Rock Hudson, and Jeremy Kemp.-Plot:... |
| 1972 | Emmy Award Emmy Award An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various... |
Outstanding Single Program – Variety or Musical – Variety and Popular Music | Nominated | Julie and Carol at Lincoln Center |
| 1973 | Golden Globes | Best Motion Picture Actress – Musical/Comedy | Nominated | |
| Emmy Awards | Outstanding Variety Musical Series | Won | ||
| 1979 | Golden Globe | Best actress – Musical or Comedy | Nominated | 10 10 (film) 10 is a 1979 romantic comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and starring Bo Derek, Dudley Moore, and Julie Andrews. Considered a trend-setting film at the time, and one of the year's biggest box office hits, the film made superstars of Derek and Moore.... |
| 1981 | Emmy Award Emmy Award An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various... |
Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children's Programming - Performers | Nominated | Julie Andrews' Invitation to the Dance with Rudolph Nureyev (The CBS Festival of Lively Arts For Young People) |
| 1982 | Academy Award | Best Actress Academy Award for Best Actress Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... |
Nominated | Victor Victoria |
| Golden Globe | Best Actress – Musical or Comedy | Won | Victor Victoria | |
| 1983 | Hasty Pudding Theatricals Hasty Pudding Theatricals The Hasty Pudding Theatricals, known informally simply as The Pudding, is a theatrical student society at Harvard University, known for its burlesque musicals and for its status as the oldest collegiate theatrical organization in the United States... |
Woman of the Year Woman of the Year Woman of the Year is a romantic comedy film. The movie is about an emancipated woman, chosen "Woman of the Year", and her colleague-turned-husband and their efforts to negotiate a path to marital bliss.... |
Won | |
| People's Choice Award | Film Acting | Won | ||
| 1986 | Golden Globe | Best Actress – Musical or Comedy | Nominated | That's Life! That's Life! That's Life! was a magazine-style television series on BBC1 between 26 May 1973 and 19 June 1994, presented by Esther Rantzen throughout the entire run, with various changes of co-presenters. The show was generally recorded about an hour prior to transmission, which was originally on Saturday... |
| Golden Globe | Best Actress – Drama | Nominated | Duet for One Duet for One Duet for One is a film adapted from an award-winning British play, a two-hander by Tom Kempinski, about a world-famous concert violinist named Stephanie Anderson who is suddenly struck with multiple sclerosis. It is set in London and directed by Andrei Konchalovsky... |
|
| 1991 | Disney Legend | In Film | Won | |
| 1993 | Women in Film Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards First presented in 1977, Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards are presented to honor women in communications and media. The awards include the Crystal Award, the Lucy Award, the Dorothy Arzner Directors Award, the MaxMara Face of the Future Award, and the Kodak Vision Award... |
Crystal Award | Recipient | |
| 1995 | Emmy Awards | Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program | Nominated | |
| 1996 | Tony Award Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway... |
Best Actress in a Musical | Nominated | Victor/Victoria Victor/Victoria (musical) Victor/Victoria is a musical with a book by Blake Edwards, music by Henry Mancini, lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and additional musical material by Frank Wildhorn... |
| Grammy Award Grammy Award A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry... |
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance | Nominated | "Broadway: The Music Of Richard Rodgers" | |
| 2001 | Kennedy Center Honors Kennedy Center Honors The Kennedy Center Honors is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. The Honors have been presented annually since 1978 in Washington, D.C., during gala weekend-long events which culminate in a performance for—and... |
Kennedy Center Honoree | Won | |
| Society of Singers Society of Singers Society of Singers, known appropriately as "SOS" is the only nonprofit 5013 charitable organization devoted exclusively to helping professional singers.-Foundation:... |
Society of Singers Life Achievement | Won | Lifetime Achievement | |
| Donostia Award Donostia Award The Donostia Award is an honorific award given every year to one, two or three actors in the San Sebastián International Film Festival. It was created in 1986.-Award winners:*2011: Glenn Close.*2010: Julia Roberts.*2009: Ian McKellen.... |
San Sebastian International Film Festival San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of San Sebastián .-History:The festival was founded in 1953... |
Won | Lifetime Achievement | |
| 2004 | Emmy Awards | Supporting Actress, Miniseries or a Movie | Nominated | Eloise at Christmastime Eloise at Christmastime Eloise at Christmastime is a live-action film based on the 1958 book of the same name written by Kay Thompson and illustrated by Hilary Knight. The film was produced by Handmade Films and DiNovi Pictures for Walt Disney Television with distribution handled by the ABC Television Network. It was... |
| Golden Plate Award Academy of Achievement The Academy of Achievement is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization founded in 1961 by photographer Hy Peskin. He established the Academy of Achievement to bring aspiring young people together with accomplished people... |
Academy of Achievement Academy of Achievement The Academy of Achievement is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization founded in 1961 by photographer Hy Peskin. He established the Academy of Achievement to bring aspiring young people together with accomplished people... |
Won | ||
| 2005 | Emmy Awards | Outstanding Nonfiction Series | Won | Broadway: The American Musical |
| 2006 | Screen Actors Guild Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide... |
Life Achievement Award Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award The Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award is given by the Screen Actors Guild's National Honors and Tributes Committee "for outstanding achievement in fostering the finest ideals of the acting profession." The award predates the 1st Screen Actors Guild Awards by over thirty years, having been... |
Won | Lifetime Achievement |
| 2009 | UCLA George and Ira Gershwin Award | Lifetime Musical Achievement | Won | Lifetime Musical Achievement |
| 2011 | Prince Rainier Award Princess Grace Foundation-USA The Princess Grace Foundation-USA is a national foundation in the United States which is dedicated to identifying and assisting emerging talent in theater, dance, and film by awarding grants in the form of scholarships, apprenticeships, and fellowships. It was named after Princess Grace of Monaco.... |
Outstanding contribution to motion picture, television and theater arts | Recipient | |
| Grammy Awards | Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded by the Recording Academy to "performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording."... |
Won | Lifetime Achievement | |
| Grammy Awards | Best Spoken Word Album For Children Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children The Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works containing quality "spoken word" performances aimed at children... |
Won | Julie Andrews' Collection Of Poems, Songs, And Lullabies |
External links
- Footage of Julie Andrews, aged 13, singing for King George VI
- Julie Andrews: Prim and Improper
- The American Musical, Stars Over Broadway – Julie Andrews (PBS)
- Young Julie Andrews on What's My Line?What's My Line?What's My Line? is a panel game show which originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, with several international versions and subsequent U.S. revivals. The game tasked celebrity panelists with questioning contestants in order to determine their occupations....