Julie Andrews

Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells on 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, author, and theater director. Recognised as one of the largest box office draws of the 1960s, she has achieved distinction across stage, film, television, and literature. Over her career, she has won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, and seven Golden Globe Awards, alongside receiving nominations for three Tony Awards. In the 2000 New Year Honours, Queen Elizabeth II appointed her a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Andrews was born in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England. Her parents divorced during World War II, and both remarried, with her mother marrying Ted Andrews. Her stepfather sponsored her early artistic training, which included dance instruction in ballet, ballroom, and tap. She attended the Cone-Ripman School and Woodbrook School, while studying singing under voice instructor Madame Lilian Stiles-Allen, who contributed significantly to her four-octave vocal range.

In 1945, Andrews began performing on stage with her parents. She made her professional solo debut in 1947 at the London Hippodrome in the revue Starlight Roof, and in 1948 became the youngest solo artist to appear in a Royal Variety Performance. During the early 1950s, she acted in West End theatre, appeared on the BBC radio show Educating Archie, made her television debut on RadiOlympia Showtime, and provided voice work for the animated film La Rosa di Bagdad. Andrews made her Broadway debut in 1954 playing Polly Browne in The Boy Friend.

Andrews achieved major theatrical success originating the role of Eliza Doolittle in the 1956 Broadway production of My Fair Lady, developed under the direction of Moss Hart. In 1957, she starred in the live television broadcast of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, earning an Emmy nomination, and released her debut solo album, The Lass with the Delicate Air. She returned to Broadway in 1960 as Queen Guinevere in Camelot and starred in television musical projects, including a 1962 special alongside Carol Burnett.

Making her feature film debut in Walt Disney's Mary Poppins (1964), Andrews won the Academy Award for Best Actress. The following year, she starred as Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music (1965), earning a Golden Globe Award. Throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, she appeared in numerous feature films, working with directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, George Roy Hill, and her husband, Blake Edwards. Her film credits from this period include The Americanization of Emily, Hawaii, Torn Curtain, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Star!, 10, and Victor/Victoria.

In later years, Andrews acted in feature films including The Princess Diaries (2001) and its 2004 sequel, as well as television films such as Eloise at the Plaza (2003). She performed voice roles in the Shrek and Despicable Me film franchises and voiced Lady Whistledown in the series Bridgerton. Additionally, she co-created Julie's Greenroom, co-authored children's books with her daughter, and published two memoirs: Home: A Memoir of My Early Years (2008) and Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years (2019). Andrews received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2001, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2007, and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2022.