Overview (4)

Mini Bio (1)

Spouse (2)

Trade Mark (2)

Her 4-octave soprano voice



Her very regal mannerisms/behavior



Trivia (87)



Was named a Dame by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II on the Millenium New Year's Honours List on December 31, 1999.

Her husband reported that she would probably never sing again because the throat surgery had ruined her voice. [November 1998]



Underwent throat surgery. [June 1997]



Uses the pen-name 'Julie Edwards'.



Born at 6:00am-BST.



Spent some time in a psychiatric clinic, to help her cope with the trauma resulting from her throat surgery.



7 September 2000 - Her malpractice suit against the 2 New York Mt. Sinai Hospital doctors who allegedly botched her throat surgery was settled for an undisclosed sum.



The London press reported that Miss Andrews's settlement for her botched throat surgery was nearly 21 million British pounds, or about 30 million U.S. dollars. [2001]





While she played the original Eliza Dolittle in the Broadway musical "My Fair Lady", Audrey Hepburn played the part in the movie My Fair Lady (1964). The studio executives did not want Andrews because she hadn't had any experience in film and thought Hepburn would be the better choice. However, while the film My Fair Lady took home several Oscars in 1964, it failed to win the Best Actress category. That award went to none other than Julie Andrews for her performance in Mary Poppins (1964).



When Tony Walton proposed to her, he gave her a broach instead of a ring.

She has a rose named after her.



Has perfect pitch.



In 2002, she was voted the 59th greatest Briton ever in a BBC poll.





Played the same role of "Victoria Grant" in the Broadway musical adaption of Victor/Victoria (1982). She turned down a Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Musical.

Has owned a chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland, for many years. Every year she pays for Gstaad's Christmas lights. In July she presents the prize for the winner of the annual Gstaad Tennis Open. She once said if she was nervous before a performance on stage, she'd just have to look at a photo from 'lovely' Gstaad, and she was reassured.



In the 1960s she sported a bumper sticker on her car reading "Mary Poppins is a junkie".





In 1969, when MGM cancelled their proposed Irving Berlin musical biography "Say it With Music" in which she was set to star, she sued the studio and collected her $1,250,000 salary.



Received a standing ovation at The 75th Annual Academy Awards (2003) when she appeared to present a short film celebration sequence.



Changed her last name from Wells to Andrews when her mother married her stepfather Ted Andrews

Her stepfather was an alcoholic.





She adopted two daughters from Vietnam with Blake Edwards Amy Edwards (b. 1974) and Joanna Edwards (b. 1975).

Her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is directly in front of the new addition to the Chinese Theatre. The star was dedicated on 5 Oct, 1979.





Filmed a cameo sequence as a chambermaid in Blake Edwards ' 1975 Inspector Clouseau comedy Der rosarote Panther kehrt zurück (1975), but the sequence ended up on the cutting-room floor.



Was selected by the Walt Disney Company to become the Offical Ambassador for "The Happiest Homecoming On Earth: Disneyland's 50th Anniversary Celebration".

Sings scales rather than songs in the shower.





Her performance as Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins (1964) is ranked #45 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.



Is the only actress to be nominated for (and later win) the Oscar in the Lead Actress category in a Walt Disney film ( Mary Poppins (1964)).

Possessed a five-octave coloratura soprano range until a vocal nodule surgery mishap ruined her singing voice.





The song, "Your Crowning Glory" from Plötzlich Prinzessin 2 (2004), was the first time she had sung in public or on screen since she had throat surgery in 1997. She reportedly nailed the song on the first take, and brought tears to the eyes of the crew present.



Nur für Offiziere (1964) is the only black and white movie she ever made.



Grandmother of daughter Emma Walton Hamilton 's children Samuel and Hope.

Could sing notes only dogs could hear at the age of seven.





Her daughter, Amy Edwards , married rock musician Lauren Scheff on October 24, 2004. They are now divorced.

Her brother, Christopher Stuart, was born in May, 1946.





Was one of the first women to be named a Disney Legend (and inducted into the Disney Hall of Fame). She was in the 1991 class with animator Mary Blair

Turned down her Tony nomination for "Victor/Victoria" for Best Actress in a Musical in 1996 because the rest of the cast and crew were overlooked for consideration.





According to her autobiography, she first saw second husband Blake Edwards at a party while she and first husband Tony Walton were on their honeymoon. She and Blake did not become friends until several years later.



Was at one point going to star in Ein liebenswerter Schatten (1972).



Learned to play the guitar specifically for the role of "Maria" in Meine Lieder, meine Träume (1965).

Recepient of a 2011 Lifetime Achievement Grammy.





Thanked only Walt Disney by name in her Oscar acceptance speech.



After the success of Mary Poppins (1964) and Meine Lieder, meine Träume (1965), she declined huge offers for more nanny roles with the explanation: "I've done that.".



She and Blake Edwards underwent psychoanalysis in the 1970's as a way to deal with their respective career slumps.



During the Vietnam War, she and Blake Edwards both became involved with the Committee of Responsibility, which brought severely injured children from the war zone to the US for treatment. Their involvement led them to adopt two Vietnamese abandoned children.



Was the 61st actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Actress Oscar for Mary Poppins (1964) at The 37th Annual Academy Awards (1965) on April 5, 1965.



Has had one of her ankle bone joints replaced with a titanium implant to avoid being confined to a wheelchair. Andrews had to turn down the role of Aunt Emma in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) due to her period of recovery after the operation.



She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for feature film debut in Mary Poppins (1964). Andrews has received 28 awards over her career, but that was her only Academy Award despite being nominated for Meine Lieder, meine Träume (1965). Mary Poppins also earned her and her co-stars the 1965 Grammy Award for Best Album for Children. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in the musical My Fair Lady.

Her first stage show was at the Hippodrome, London in 1947 (aged 11) where she sang one song 'Polonaise from Mignon' for two performances each night. This led to being asked to perform in the Royal Command Performance 1947 (Then aged 12).



According to Andrews, Walt Disney originally approached her to read for the part of Mary Poppins after a performance of the Broadway show, Camelot. Andrew's told Disney she could not take the part because she was pregnant. Disney responded, "That's all right. I'll wait.".





Was 2 months pregnant with her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton when she completed her run of the Broadway musical "Camelot".



Returned to work 4 months after giving birth to her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton to begin filming Mary Poppins (1964).



She was considered for Emma Fairfax in Doctor Dolittle (1967).



She turned down the role of Elizabeth in Westwärts zieht der Wind (1969).



She turned down the role of Catherine in Der verlorene Horizont (1973).



She was considered to voice Mrs. Potts in Die Schöne und das Biest (1991).



She turned down the role of Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly! (1969).



She turned down the role of Truly Scrumptious in Tschitti Tschitti Bäng Bäng (1968).



She was supposed to voice the Mary Poppins parody Shari Bobbins in Die Simpsons: Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious (1997), but she was busy appearing on Broadway. The part went to regular castmember Maggie Roswell



She was considered for Nancy in Oliver! (1968).

Musically, she had always preferred singing music that was "bright and sunny", choosing to avoid songs that were sad, depressing, upsetting, or written in a minor key, for fear of losing her voice "in a mess of emotion". She cited this as yet another reason for avoiding opera.





She was supposed to reprise her stage role of Guinivere in Camelot - Am Hofe König Arthurs (1967) opposite Richard Burton as King Arthur, but had become such a popular film star by this time, that she was unable to accept the role. .



She has appeared in two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Mary Poppins (1964) and Meine Lieder, meine Träume (1965).

She was chosen for her 3rd film role in 'The Sound of Music' before her two previous films had been released.



She played Eliza in 'My Fair Lady'for 2 years Broadway and 18 months in London and didn't miss one performance.





The only time she has acted out giving birth in a movie was in Hawaii (1966).

Personal Quotes (21)

I don't want to be thought of as wholesome.



[1982] Does Mary Poppins have an orgasm? Does she go to the bathroom? I assure you, she does.



Singing has never been particularly easy for me.



Films are much more my level. On stage I never feel quite enough.



[upon answering whether Mary Poppins and Bert ever got it together]: I hope so. She wouldn't admit it, but I do hope so.



As my mother said, I never sprang out of bed with a glad shout! My voice needed oiling and then it took off.



I had a teacher who stressed for me the importance of diction in terms of - I want to be very careful about how I say this - in terms of supporting one's voice when one is singing. In other words, if you hold on to your words, your voice will pull through for you when you're singing. So be true to your vowels. Supposing you have to sing [from "The Messiah"] "Behold thy king cometh unto thee". If you do a strong "thee", it will help you with the "-hold", which is a much higher note. And it's the note before the note that matters, then you unpeel a song backwards.



A lot of my life happened in great, wonderful bursts of good fortune, and then I would race to be worthy of it.





[on being a gay icon] I don't know. I'm sort of aware that I am. But I'm that odd mixture of, on the one hand, being a gay icon and, on the other hand, having grandmas and parents being grateful I'm around to be a babysitter for their kids. And I've never been able to figure out what makes a gay icon, because there are many different kinds. I don't think I have the image that, say, Judy Garland has, or Bette Davis

[upon receiving the BAFTA award on October 7, 1989] I am first and always English, and I carry my country in my heart wherever I go. I've tried to honour her, and I have the funny feeling that perhaps tonight, in some way, I've managed to do just that.



[asked where she kept her Oscar] He stayed in the attic a long time. I just didn't feel worthy . . . When I got to know more about film, I felt safe trotting him out.



I've learned things about myself through singing. I used to have a certain dislike of the audience, not as individual people, but as a giant body who was judging me. Of course, it wasn't really them judging me. It was me judging me. Once I got past that fear, it freed me up, not just when I was performing but in other parts of my life.



As soon as you have one, all those dormant maternal instincts start popping out all over you, like German measles.



All love shifts and changes. I don't know if you can be wholeheartedly in love all the time.





Blake [husband Blake Edwards ] and I have this wonderful arrangement that while one is working hard, the other tries to be at home as much as possible and vice versa.

All kinds of things have been printed, including much gossip and rumour and finally I feel ready to have my say. I want to be as honest as I can.



Sometimes I'm so sweet even I can't stand it.





[on Max von Sydow ] He was the unqualified front runner -- the most generous man I've ever met. And he had such a lovely light sense of humor. I consider it a privilege to have worked with him.



With Star! (1968) and Darling Lili (1970), it seemed that the big musicals weren't popular any more. I underwent a career dip. You know the Hollywood saying 'You're only as good as your last hit'. Sometimes an enormous hit can carry you along, but not forever.



(on the 2015 celebrations honouring Meine Lieder, meine Träume (1965)) This is a lovely moment to mark. I've been saying all long it's like a very bad joke because surely it' was only thirty years ago - not fifty. I feel I lost twenty somewhere along the way. A little thing called life got in the way.

Salary (8)