Julie Andrews Biography

Biography

Julie Andrews

Overview

• Born
  October 1, 1935 · Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, UK
• Birth name
  Julia Elizabeth Wells
• Nickname
  • Jules
• Height
  5′ 8″ (1.73 m)

Mini Bio

• Julia Elizabeth Wells was born on October 1, 1935, in England. Her
  mother, Barbara Ward (Morris), and stepfather, both vaudeville
  performers, discovered her freakish but undeniably lovely four-octave
  singing voice and immediately got her a singing career. She performed
  in music halls throughout her childhood and teens, and at age 20, she
  launched her stage career in a London Palladium production of
  "Cinderella".
  
  Andrews came to Broadway in 1954 with "The Boy Friend", and became a
  bona fide star two years later in 1956, in the role of Eliza Doolittle
  in the unprecedented hit "My Fair Lady". Her star status continued in
  1957, when she starred in the TV-production of
  Cinderella (1957) and
  through 1960, when she played "Guenevere" in "Camelot".
  
  In 1963, Walt Disney asked Andrews if she
  would like to star in his upcoming production, a lavish musical fantasy
  that combined live-action and animation. She agreed on the condition if
  she didn't get the role of Doolittle in the pending film production of
  My Fair Lady (1964). After
  Audrey Hepburn was cast in My
  Fair Lady, Andrews made an auspicious film debut in Walt Disney's
  Mary Poppins (1964), which earned
  her an Academy Award for Best Actress.
  
  Andrews continued to work on Broadway, until the release of
  The Sound of Music (1965), the
  highest-grossing movie of its day and one of the highest-grossing of
  all time. She soon found that audiences identified her only with
  singing, sugary-sweet nannies and governesses, and were reluctant to
  accept her in dramatic roles in
  The Americanization of Emily (1964)
  and Alfred Hitchcock's thriller
  Torn Curtain (1966). In addition,
  the box-office showings of the musicals Julie subsequently made
  increasingly reflected the negative effects of the musical-film boom
  that she helped to create.
  Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967)
  was for a time the most successful film Universal had released, but it
  still couldn't compete with Mary Poppins or The Sound of Music for
  worldwide acclaim and recognition.
  Star! (1968) and
  Darling Lili (1970) also bombed at
  the box office.
  
  Fortunately, Andrews did not let this keep her down. She worked in
  nightclubs and hosted a TV variety series in the 1970s. In 1979,
  Andrews returned to the big screen, appearing in films directed by her
  husband Blake Edwards, with roles
  that were entirely different from anything she had been seen in before.
  Andrews starred in 10 (1979),
  S.O.B. (1981) and
  Victor/Victoria (1982), which
  earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
  
  She continued acting throughout the 1980s and 1990s in movies and TV,
  hosting several specials and starring in a short-lived sitcom. In 2001,
  she starred in
  The Princess Diaries (2001),
  alongside then-newcomer Anne Hathaway. The
  family film was one of the most successful G-Rated films of that year,
  and Andrews reprised her role as Queen Clarisse Renaldi in
  The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004).
  In recent years, Andrews appeared in
  Tooth Fairy (2010), as well as a
  number of voice roles in Shrek 2 (2004),
  Shrek the Third (2007),
  Enchanted (2007),
  Shrek Forever After (2010),
  and Despicable Me (2010).
  - IMDb Mini Biography By: Tommy Peter and Volker Boehm

Family

• Spouses
  Blake Edwards(November 12, 1969 - December 15, 2010) (his death, 2 children)
  Tony Walton(May 10, 1959 - May 7, 1968) (divorced, 1 child)
• Children
  Emma Walton Hamilton
  Amelia Edwards
  Joanna Edwards
  Geoffrey Edwards
  Jennifer Edwards
  Amelia Edwards
• Parents
  Barbara Ward (Morris)
  Ted Andrews
• Relatives
  Christopher Stuart(Sibling)

Trademarks

• Her 4-octave soprano voice
• Her very regal mannerisms/behavior

Trivia

• The London press reported that Miss Andrews's settlement for her
  botched throat surgery was nearly 21 million British pounds, or about
  30 million U.S. dollars.
• Was created a Dame by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II on the Millenium New Year's
  Honours List on December 31, 1999.
• Has had one of her ankle bone joints replaced with a titanium implant to avoid being confined to a wheelchair. Andrews had to turn down the role of Aunt Emma in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) owing to her period of recovery after the operation.
• "Your Crowning Glory" from The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004), was the first song she
  had sung in public or on screen since she had throat surgery in 1997.
  She reportedly nailed the song on the first take, and brought tears to
  the eyes of the crew present.
• Her husband reported that she would probably never sing
  again because the throat surgery had ruined her voice.