TMS Muse of the Week: Julie Andrews

(Ken Whitmore)

When it comes to beloved stars, it’s hard to argue anyone is more adored and appreciated than singer-actress Julie Andrews. You never hear anything bad about the legend off camera by anyone she’s affiliated with. Everyone’s in awe of her talent, warmth and poise up close and from afar. There’s plenty in her legacy to comment on, such as how she was the star of the most successful film of the 1960s [Robert Wise’s The Sound of Music (1965)]; or how she shockingly never won a Tony for Best Actress during her musical theatre career [particularly for the original 1956-59 stage productions of Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe’s My Fair Lady]. But when I think of Julie, I’m reminded of how she was one of the few artists to breakthrough near her 30s. Julie was born Julia Elizabeth Wells on October 1st, 1935, and most of the world was introduced to her as Robert Stevenson’s Mary Poppins (1964) three decades later. Of course, theatre fanatics already knew the legendary soprano for her West End and Broadway performances in Sandy Wilson’s The Boyfriend (1954-55), My Fair Lady and Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot (1960-62). Those paying attention to early television might have noticed Julie when she appeared with Bing Crosby in CBS’ musical High Tor (1956) and the first version of Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein’s Cinderella, which was written specially for the English lady and aired live on CBS in 1957.

But the moment Julie appeared through the clouds of a matte painting above 1910 London as a magical nanny is how she officially became a superstar. Only a year earlier Jack Warner refused to cast Julie as Eliza Doolittle in George Cukor’s film adaptation of My Fair Lady (1964) because she was ‘only a theatre actress’ and insisted the movie needed a box-office draw [ultimately Audrey Hepburn]. Flash forward a year, and Julie is winning Best Actress at the Oscars for Poppins and Audrey isn’t even nominated. At home during this time, Julie is also the wife of production designer Tony Walton and mother of their 2-year-old daughter Emma. Most actresses would be winding down their hey-day by 28, but Julie was still making her mark. Mary Poppins would be a big enough hit for any movie star, but the strawberry blonde jumped even higher as another favorite nanny in The Sound of Music and was nominated again for Best Actress. In between the two family classics, Julie co-starred in Arthur Hiller’s political rom-dramedy The Americanization of Emily (1964), which put her on the radar of non-parent adults. In retrospect, it’s a little funny to think 1964 was the year of Beatlemania and Julie Andrews. Her next lead roles in Alfred Hitchcock’s Torn Curtain (1966) and George Roy Hill’s Hawaii (1966) did decently with critics and Roy Hill’s retro musical Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967) starring Julie as Millie performed fine at the BO. Despite this, Julie’s prime would evidently wane by the end of the 1960s, mostly because of traditional movie musicals going out of style; as well as Wise’s Gertrude Lawrence musical biopic Star! (1968) and Blake Edwards’ epic musical Darling Lili (1970) both flopping with viewers.

Darling Lili is well noted for not only bombing financially, as well as having a reportedly hectic production, but for being the first movie involving Julie and second husband Blake. Though it wasn’t love at first sight amusingly enough [Blake supposedly mocked her wholesome persona when they met during a showbiz party in 1966], things started taking a turn by the time both were single while filming Lili. Julie found the perfect segue from ingenue to the mature female lead in Blake’s movies. To anyone who has seen the couple’s various collaborations, the Oscar winner is always a highlight in the casts, even in the mediocre pictures. One of my favorite scenes involving Julie is from Blake’s hit sex comedy 10 (1979), where her character tries to school Dudley Moore’s on the differences between men and women. Three years later, the singer-actress had a successful comeback starring in Blake’s period musical Victor/Victoria (1982), which got her a third Best Actress nomination. Though her return to stardom was brief, it reminded the public that even in her 40s, Julie could still effortlessly work a crowd. While one might have assumed Julie would comfortably venture back into the theatre for her twilight years, she and the world were shocked to learn she permanently lost her iconic singing voice following a botched throat surgery in 1997. After some understanding time off and therapy, Julie returned to acting in the more regal roles of Queen Clarisse of Genovia in Garry Marshall’s The Princess Diaries (2001) and Queen Lillian in Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury & Conrad Vernon’s Shrek 2 (2004), as well as Eloise’s Nanny in Kevin Lima’s Eloise at the Plaza (2003). Now directly placed in the childhoods of many boomers, Gen X, millennials and Gen Z, it’s safe to say she won’t be forgotten by children any time soon.

Although Julie’s legacy was hit with unnecessary tragedy, she still has a very impressive career and spot in entertainment history. An Oscar, starring in two all-time classic movies, steady work on stage, film and TV, and releasing numerous records in between her marriage to Blake until his death in 2010; and together raising their adoptive daughters Amy and Joanna along with Emma and Blake’s oldest children Jennifer and Geoffrey. Unlike most stars, Julie does seem to very well be practically perfect in every way.