Julie Andrews

Julie Andrews’ cinematographic life is completely marked by her first two important film roles, which are probably the best and most remembered of her career, Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music . Although it is true that the actress occasionally worked in intrigue or drama films, Andrews is mostly related to light comedies, full of romantic or family feelings, sometimes with a frivolous touch, where she often lent herself to leaving people speechless. the spectators when the highest notes of the pentagram came out of his throat, with registers that reached up to 4 and 5 octaves.

Julia Elizabeth Wells was born on October 1, 1935 in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey (England). Her father was a teacher and her mother a pianist. When her parents divorced, her mother remarried, this time to tenor Ted Andrews, eventually a film actor. Little Julia then adopted the last name of her stepfather. Since she was little, she began to show singing skills and her parents decided to enroll her in classes. She first sang with her parents, in vaudeville numbers, and even performed for British troops in World War II.

With very clear ideas of what she wanted to be in life, already with the name of Julie Andrews she made her London theater debut at the age of 12, in the play “Starlight Roof” and seven years later she would do it on Broadway. Her fame grew and when she was 21 years old, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe offered her to play the lead in “My Fair Lady”, a musical adaptation of George Bernard Shaw ‘s “Pygmalion” . The success of this performance gave the actress unusual fame. A year later, in 1957 she made her first film, Cinderella , a television musical scripted by Oscar Hammerstein II .. Later, after some television production of slight interest, Julie Andrews lost the opportunity to repeat the role of Eliza Doolittle in the cinema, since her choice for the film My Fair Lady fell on Audrey Hepburn . But there is no harm that does not come for good… That failure gave Julie Andrews the opportunity to make the leap to the cinema with one of the most famous films of all time: Mary Poppins (1964). Produced by Walt Disney, the film became an unprecedented success in children’s cinema and the very young British actress left the audience totally enchanted with her sympathy, sweetness and, of course, her voice. Julie Andrews won the Oscar and the Golden Globe for the best performance of her.

His next film was The Americanization of Emily (1964), a wonderful dramatic comedy set in World War II. But the big bombshell of her career was coming very quickly. As in Mary Poppins , she again played a governess, but this time she was in charge of a large Austrian family from Tyrol, during Nazi times. The Sound of Music and Tears (1965), directed by Robert Wise, is one of the most enduring musicals in history. Children and adults continue to enjoy the adventures of the Von Trapp family and their incredible songs, themes that have entered the imagination of any fan such as “My Favorite Things” or “DO-RE-MI”, with the deliciously cheesy Fräulein Maria running through the mountains of the Alps. The film won 5 Oscars and the actress was nominated again, although in the end it would be her namesake Julie Christie who would win it thanks to her role in Darling .

The great Alfred Hitchcock signed her for his next film, Torn Curtain (1966), a Cold War intrigue starring Paul Newman . But Julie Andrews needed to sing… The ’60s, undoubtedly her glorious decade, were completed with two excellent musicals, refined and fun. After the adventure drama Hawaii (1966), she repeated under the baton of George Roy Hill in Millie, a modern girl (1967), getting into the skin of a pizpireta girl who arrives in New York in the 20s ready to take on the world. . The songs and the carefree atmosphere of her were the hallmarks of her. More serious was the musical biopic The Star (1968), about the life of the actressGertrude Lawrence . The film, very elegant although somewhat long, obtained 7 Oscar nominations, although in the end it did not take any. The actress said goodbye to the decade with Darling Lili (1970), a war drama co -starring Rock Hudson .

From that moment on, Julie Andrews spaced out her roles more. In 1974 she stood out in La semilla del Tamarindo , a romantic drama directed by Blake Edwards , whom the actress had married in 1969, after the divorce from her first husband, Tony Walton, with whom she had had the first of the three children of her. With Edwards she returned to shoot several films, including 10, the perfect woman (1978), with Bo Derek ; Víctor or Victoria , a daring musical and surely the best of the collaborations between husband and wife, where she Andrews was again nominated for best actress; My Problems with Women (1983), with Burt Reynolds ; and the series Julie(1992), which had seven chapters and some success. But the eighties and nineties did not have many outstanding works of the actress. In addition, in 1997 she underwent surgery for a nodule in her throat, which meant a hard blow for her and logically for her voice.

The new century, however, came with great joy, as Julie Andrews was made a Dame of the British Empire by Elizabeth II. Her career also had a certain rise with such outstanding films as People with class (2000) or the family Princess by surprise (2001), where she accompanied a young Anne Hathaway . She reprized in the second part in 2004, but since then she has only voiced animated characters or played very minor roles.