Nov 20, 20213 min read

Mix Up Star: JULIE ANDREWS

Age: 86

Birthday: 1st October

Julie Andrews is an English actress, singer, and author. Throughout her career spanning nine decades, she has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, three Grammy Awards, and six Golden Globe Awards.

Andrews, a child actress and singer, appeared in the West End in 1948 and made her Broadway debut in The Boy Friend (1954). Billed as "Britain's youngest prima donna", she rose to prominence starring in Broadway musicals such as My Fair Lady (1956) playing Eliza Doolittle and Camelot (1960) playing Queen Guinevere. On 31 March 1957, Andrews starred in the premiere of Rodgers and Hammerstein's written-for-television musical Cinderella, a live, colour CBS network broadcast seen by over 100 million viewers. Andrews made her feature film debut in Walt Disney's Mary Poppins (1964) and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the title role. The following year she starred in musical film The Sound of Music (1965), playing Maria von Trapp and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical.

Between 1964 and 1986, Andrews starred in various films working with directors including her husband Blake Edwards, George Roy Hill, and Alfred Hitchcock in The Americanization of Emily (1964), Hawaii (1966), Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), Star! (1968), 10 (1979) Victor/Victoria (1982), That's Life! (1986), and Duet for One (1986). After 1986 her workload decreased, appearing in two films in 1991 and not again until 2000. After the turn of the new millennium, however, her career had a revival. From 2001 to 2004 Andrews starred in The Princess Diaries (2001) and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004). From 2004 to 2018 she lent her voice to the Shrek and Despicable Me animated films and Aquaman (2018). In 2017 she co-created and hosted a children's educational show titled Julie's Greenroom, for which she received two Daytime Emmy Award nominations. She has also worked hosting performance shows such as Great Performances and narrating documentaries such as the 2004 Emmy-winning series Broadway: The American Musical.

In 2003, she revisited her first Broadway success, this time as a stage director, with a revival of The Boy Friend. Apart from her musical career, she is also an author of children's books and has published two autobiographies, Home: A Memoir of My Early Years (2008) and Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years (2019).