Julie Andrews

Actress • Singer

Birth Date: October 1, 1935

Age: 87 years old

Birth Place: Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, UK

Awards

Julie Andrews was born and raised in England under circumstances that eventually tore her family apart. She was born in 1935 after her mother had an affair, setting into motion a rocky relationship that would end with her parents divorcing in the 1940s. She bounced around living with both parents, though it was a rough period in her life. However, during this time, she performed, eventually performing in front of the King and Queen of England when she was just a young teenager. She managed her way to Broadway before she was 20 years old and that led to her starring in a live TV performance of "Cinderella" (CBS 1957) that earned her an Emmy nomination. Andrews had her true breakout moment with some help from Disney as she starred in "Mary Poppins" (1964), winning the Oscar for Best Actress for her work in the title role. She followed that up almost immediately with "The Sound of Music" (1965), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, though Andrews was just a nominee for Best Actress this time around. She rounded out the '60s with more starring roles in everything from the musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie" (1967) to Alfred Hitchcock's "Torn Curtain" (1966). The 1970s were more of a rocky time for the actress as she kicked off the decade with the flop "Darling Lili" (1970) and her first attempt at a regular television show, "The Julie Andrews Hour" (ABC 1972-73) only lasted one season. That wasn't her only stab at a self-hosted variety show, though most of her other ABC-related work were mostly one-off events after the failure of the original show. She returned to award prominence in the 1980s, however, earning more acting acclaim for her roles in "10" (1979), Hollywood satire "SOB" (1981), gender-bending musical "Victor/Victoria" (1982), "That's Life!" (1986), and "Duet for One" (1986). Aside from acting, her performance as a singer decorated numerous television specials, with "Julie Andrews: The Sound of Christmas" (ABC 1987) winning multiple Emmy awards. In the early '90s, Andrews made another crack at starring role on TV, this time in the short-lived "Julie" (ABC 1992). However, after such a momentous career, tragedy struck when she lost her singing voice in the 1997 and wound up essentially losing her ability to sing as the result of questionable surgeries on her throat. Still, by the turn of the century, Andrews was acting and theatrical legacy, even more so after being named Dame Commander by Queen Elizabeth II. Andrews' appearance alongside Anne Hathaway in "The Princess Diaries" (2001) was the start of a minor career resurgence, leading into her reprising the role in "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement" (2004) and also doing voiceover roles for the likes of "Shrek 2" (2004), "Despicable Me" (2010), and "Enchanted" (2007). She created and starred in the children's program "Julie's Greenroom" (Netflix 2017) and even appeared in "Aquaman" (2018).