People

For a whole generation of adults, Julie Andrews has always been there. She was there for the first time they went to the cinema to see “The Sound of Music”, “Mary Poppins” and “Bedknobs and Broomsticks”. She was there for countless TV appearances since then and she was there when they started showing VHS tapes to their own kids on rainy Saturday afternoons.

Yet sometimes, it takes a lot of work to become an overnight success

In terms of success, her story is impressive. Julie Andrews started appearing on the stage in her native England at age 12. She made her feature film debut in Mary Poppins (1964) and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance. She then starred in The Sound of Music (1965), playing Maria von Trapp and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. In 1965, the Sound of Music album spent 382 weeks on the UK chart and was the best-selling album in the UK in 1965, 1966 and 1968 and the second best-selling of the decade, spending a total of 70 weeks at No. 1.

Having made a career out of playing wholesome, likable characters, Andrews broke the mould dramatically to play a male and female character in the musical spoof “Victor/Victoria” in 1982, directed by her husband Blake Edwards.

Random stuff you might not know about Julie Andrews:

• Julie Andrews played the lead role in ‘My Fair Lady’ on Broadway. Based on “Pygmalion” by George Bernard Shaw, “My Fair Lady” had a difficult birth but went on to become a Broadway sensation that was revived several times and also played in London.
• But she lost the role in the movie version of ‘My Fair Lady’ to Audrey Hepburn. When it came to casting for the music “My Fair Lady”, the producers chose the better-known Audrey Hepburn over Andrews. It was disappointing for Andrews, but it led to her starring in ‘Mary Poppins”, at the time the biggest box-office draw in Disney history.
• Andrews favourite song in ‘Mary Poppins’ was “Stay Awake”. In a movie packed with unforgettable melodies, “Stay Awake” was considered a weak link by the produces and was to be cut from the movie. Andrews wrote a letter to the author, P.L. Travers asking her to get Disney to keep the song, which they did.
• She had a rose named after her It’s called the Julie Andrews Rosa Hybrid Tea.
• She is one of the “Greatest Britons Ever”. This is according to a poll run by the BBC in 2002.