Julia Elizabeth Wells
14 min read
Reading time
2,657
Words
Published
149
Film credits
2
Books
21
Awards
Julie Andrews made her film debut in Mary Poppins 1964 and won the Oscar for Best Actress. She originated Eliza Doolittle on Broadway in My Fair Lady 1956. Her role in The Sound of Music 1965 made her a star. She was made a Dame in 1999.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Julie Andrews — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Julie Andrews by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Julie Andrews — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Julie Andrews was born Julia Elizabeth Wells on October 1, 1935, in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England. Her mother, Barbara Ward, and stepfather, Ted Andrews, were vaudeville performers who recognized her four-octave singing voice and launched her career in music halls. She trained at the Arts Educational Schools and Tring Park School for the Performing Arts, developing a five-octave coloratura soprano range that would define her early career.
Andrews made her Broadway debut in 1954 with The Boy Friend and became a star in 1956 as Eliza Doolittle in the hit musical My Fair Lady. She continued in television’s Cinderella 1957 and Broadway’s Camelot 1960.
Her film debut came in 1964 with Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. The following year, she starred in The Sound of Music 1965, which became the highest-grossing film of its time. Despite this success, she struggled with typecasting and several box office disappointments like Star! 1968 and Darling Lili 1970.
Andrews revitalized her career in the 1980s by taking on racier roles in films directed by her husband Blake Edwards, including 10 1979, S.O.B. 1981, and Victor/Victoria 1982, which earned her an Oscar nomination. Later, she found a new generation of fans with The Princess Diaries 2001 and its sequel, and voiced characters in animated hits like Shrek 2 2004 and Despicable Me 2010.
Julie Andrews married Tony Walton in 1959, and they had one daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, before divorcing in 1968. In 1969, she married filmmaker Blake Edwards, with whom she adopted two Vietnamese daughters, Amelia and Joanna. The couple remained together until Edwards’s death in 2010. Andrews suffered a vocal cord surgery in 1997 that permanently damaged her singing voice; she later received a settlement of nearly 30 million dollars. She is close friends with Carol Burnett, who is godmother to Emma.
Julie Andrews is the only actress to win an Oscar for a Walt Disney film, earning the Best Actress award for Mary Poppins 1964. She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1999 and has received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, Kennedy Center Honors, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her influence extends across generations, with her performances in Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music remaining cultural touchstones. She continues to captivate audiences with her voice, even after surgery, and is remembered as one of the most beloved entertainers of the 20th century.
The complete filmography of Julie Andrews — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Julie Andrews — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
Julie Andrews's bibliography — every authored, edited, and co-written book, ranked by edition count.
A wall of memorable lines from Julie Andrews — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
I Don’t Want to Be Thought of as Wholesome.
Singing Has Never Been Particularly Easy for Me.
Films Are Much More My Level. on Stage I Never Feel Quite Enough.
As My Mother Said, I Never Sprang Out of Bed with a Glad Shout! My Voice Needed Oiling and Then It Took Off.
A Lot of My Life Happened in Great, Wonderful Bursts of Good Fortune, and Then I Would Race to Be Worthy of It.
I’ve Learned Things About Myself Through Singing. I Used to Have a Certain Dislike of the Audience, Not as Individual People, but as a Giant Body Who Was Judging Me. of Course, It Wasn’t Really Them Judging Me. It Was Me Judging Me. Once I Got Past That Fear, It Freed Me Up, Not Just When I Was Performing but in Other Parts of My Life.
Bette Davis Was Always Marvelous.
As Soon as You Have One, All Those Dormant Maternal Instincts Start Popping Out All Over You, Like German Measles.
All Love Shifts and Changes. I Don’t Know If You Can Be Wholeheartedly in Love All the Time.
All Kinds of Things Have Been Printed, Including Much Gossip and Rumour and Finally I Feel Ready to Have My Say. I Want to Be as Honest as I Can.
Sometimes I’m so Sweet Even I Can’t Stand It.
I Would Love to Throw Custard Tarts at People.
Little-known facts about Julie Andrews — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
A settlement for Julie Andrews’ botched throat surgery was reported by the London press as nearly 21 million British pounds, about 30 million U.S. dollars.
Andrews said Walt Disney approached her to read for Mary Poppins after a Camelot performance, but she declined due to pregnancy. Disney replied, That’s all right. I’ll wait.
The song Your Crowning Glory from The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement 2004 was her first public song since throat surgery in 1997. She reportedly nailed it on the first take, bringing tears to the crew’s eyes.
Andrews originated Eliza Doolittle on Broadway in My Fair Lady, but Audrey Hepburn was cast in the film version 1964 due to Andrews’ lack of film experience. Ironically, the film My Fair Lady won many Oscars but not Best Actress, while Andrews won that very award for Mary Poppins 1964.
Andrews possessed a five-octave coloratura soprano range until a vocal nodule surgery mishap ruined her singing voice.
She had one of her ankle bone joints replaced with a titanium implant to avoid being confined to a wheelchair. She turned down the role of Aunt Emma in The Wolf of Wall Street 2013 due to recovery from the operation.
Her husband Blake Edwards reported that she would probably never sing again because the throat surgery had ruined her voice.
Andrews changed her last name from Wells to Andrews when her mother married her stepfather Ted Andrews.
She is the only actress to be nominated for and win the Oscar in the Lead Actress category for a Walt Disney film Mary Poppins, 1964.
She thanked only Walt Disney by name in her Oscar acceptance speech.
She was created a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II on the Millennium New Year’s Honours List on December 31, 1999.
After the success of Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music, she declined huge offers for more nanny roles with the explanation: I’ve done that.
Andrews has perfect pitch.
She turned down her Tony nomination for Victor/Victoria for Best Actress in a Musical in 1996 because the rest of the cast and crew were overlooked.
She learned to play the guitar specifically for the role of Maria in The Sound of Music 1965.
She could sing notes only dogs could hear at the age of seven.
She returned to work four months after giving birth to her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton to begin filming Mary Poppins 1964.
She spent time in a psychiatric clinic to cope with trauma from her throat surgery.
She was the youngest person ever to appear in a Royal Command Performance, performing for King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, and Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret.
A rose has been named after her.
Her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is directly in front of the new addition to the Chinese Theatre, dedicated on October 5, 1979.
She is best friends with Carol Burnett, who is godmother to her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton.
She has owned a chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland, for many years, paying for the town’s Christmas lights annually and presenting the prize for the Gstaad Tennis Open.
She adopted two daughters from Vietnam with Blake Edwards: Amelia Edwards born 1974 and Joanna Lynne Edwards born 1975.
She was one of the first women to be named a Disney Legend, inducted in 1991 alongside animator Mary Blair.
Two of her films, Mary Poppins 1964 and The Sound of Music 1965, have been selected for the National Film Registry.
In 1969, when MGM cancelled a proposed Irving Berlin musical biography, she sued the studio and collected her $1,250,000 salary.
She was chosen for her third film role in The Sound of Music before her previous two films had been released.
She met husband Blake Edwards after hearing his remark that she was likely so sweet she probably has violets between her legs; she sent him violets with a note, and they began dating.
Audrey Hepburn was cast as Eliza Doolittle in the film My Fair Lady over Andrews, but Hepburn’s singing was dubbed by Marni Nixon, who later appeared with Andrews in The Sound of Music.
She preferred singing bright and sunny music and avoided sad songs to protect her voice.
She first saw Blake Edwards at a party while on her honeymoon with first husband Tony Walton, but they did not become friends until years later.
She received a 2011 Lifetime Achievement Grammy.
She was selected by Walt Disney Company as the Official Ambassador for Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary Celebration.
She was voted the 59th greatest Briton in a 2002 BBC poll.
During the Vietnam War, she and Blake Edwards became involved with the Committee of Responsibility, which brought injured children to the US, leading them to adopt two Vietnamese orphans.
In the 1960s she sported a bumper sticker reading Mary Poppins is a junkie.
She played the same role of Victoria Grant in the Broadway musical adaptation of Victor/Victoria 1982 and turned down a Tony nomination for it.
She was considered to voice Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast 1991.
She sings scales rather than songs in the shower.
She is one of four actresses to win the Best Actress Oscar for their film debut; the others are Shirley Booth, Barbra Streisand, and Marlee Matlin.
She played Eliza in My Fair Lady for two years on Broadway and 18 months in London without missing a performance.
She received a standing ovation at the 75th Annual Academy Awards 2003 when she presented a short film celebration sequence.
When Tony Walton proposed to her, he gave her a brooch instead of a ring.
Her performance as Mary Poppins is ranked #45 on Premiere Magazine’s 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.
She uses the pen-name Julie Edwards.
She turned down the role of Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly! 1969.
She has won both the Best Actress Oscar and the Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical Golden Globe for the same performance, one of fifteen actresses to do so.
The Americanization of Emily 1964 is the only black and white movie she ever made.
On September 7, 2000, her malpractice suit against two New York Mt. Sinai Hospital doctors who allegedly botched her throat surgery was settled for an undisclosed sum.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Julie Andrews.
Celebrities similar to Julie Andrews — same craft, ranked by reach.
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