She's a Hollywood legend and everyone's favorite honorary grandma — and she travels with
her own teakettle, because of course she does.
But what do you really know about actress, singer, and all-around queen Julie Andrews?
Here's a closer look at the incredible woman who taught us that a spoonful of sugar helps
the medicine go down… or the airplane stay up.
"Julie Andrews is in the cockpit!"
"THANK GOD."
She had a troubled family life
Considering the sunny nature of her most famous roles, it might surprise you to learn that
Julie Andrews' childhood wasn't a happy one.
Things got bad after her parents divorced, and her mother, Barbara Morris, married a
vaudeville performer named Ted Andrews.
Andrews was heavy drinker who tried on two occasions to climb into bed with his stepdaughter,
until Julie put a lock on her door to make sure it wouldn't happen again.
But as a teenager, the young Andrews' four-octave vocal range made her a valuable asset to her
stepfathers act, and the family relied on her talents to make money — at the expense
of her childhood.
Her real father was a stranger
In 1949, Andrews put on a singing performance at the home of a family friend, a man with
whom she felt an inexplicable connection.
But it was still a shock when her mother told her the truth: The man was actually her biological
father.
Andrews was shaken, but she says it didn't change the way she felt about Ted Wells, her mother's
first husband and the man she believed was her real father.
In Andrews' memoir Home, she wrote,
"I would always consider him my father.
I loved him with all my being."
She was the first Eliza Doolittle
Andrews' big break came when she won the lead in the musical My Fair Lady, a challenging
role that made her a bona fide star — and made the show a huge hit.
But when a film adaptation was announced, the studio shocked everyone by casting Audrey
Hepburn as Eliza instead of Andrews, a decision that even Hepburn herself thought was crazy.
Andrews told The Hollywood Reporter:
"[Audrey] said to me, 'You should have done My Fair Lady, Julie — but I didn't have
the guts to turn it down.'
Which was very sweet.
Classy dame."
Adding insult to injury, Hepburn didn't have the vocal chops to do the role justice; instead,
the voice you hear during the movie's musical numbers is "ghost singer" Marni Nixon.
"The rain in spain stays mainly in the plain…"
"By george she's got it!"
She delayed the production of Mary Poppins
Fortunately, Andrews didn't have to wait long for good news after her My Fair Lady snub:
shortly thereafter, Walt Disney invited her to come see the storyboard and hear the songs
that had been written for a brand new movie.
"At a time in my life when the next break was just a big question mark...
Suddenly, there was Mary Poppins and Walt."
There was just one problem: Andrews was three months pregnant when Disney came calling.
But Walt knew who he wanted for his leading lady, so the production was put on hold until
Andrews was ready to join them in the role that would make her a movie star — and an
Oscar winner.
All about The Sound of Music
Even though Andrews was an Academy Award winner and professional singer, the role of Maria
in The Sound of Music wasn't just handed to her.
She had to audition against more bankable movie stars like Doris Day and Grace Kelly
for the privilege of bringing iconic moments like this one to life onscreen.
And speaking of that famous scene: Those hills might have been alive with the sound of music,
but they were also a difficult place to make a movie.
According to Andrews, the downdraft from the helicopter that flew past to get that gorgeous
shot ended up knocking her over on every take.
"We did this six or seven times and I was spitting dirt and hay"
She almost lost her voice
In 1997, tragedy struck when Andrews underwent surgery on her vocal cords — and lost her
four-octave vocal range as a result, leading to a lawsuit against the physicians who performed
her surgery.
It took a heavy toll on the actress, who underwent grief counseling to cope with the loss of
her legendary voice.
Andrews hasn't stopped singing entirely, though she uses a different style now.
But her newly limited vocal range doesn't hold her back from putting on a great show,
and she's grateful for the opportunity to branch out into new kinds of work, telling
The Telegraph,
"I thought at the time my voice was what I am.
But it seems it's not all that I am."
She knows the secret to a happy marriage
The second wedding was a charm for Andrews, who tied the knot husband Blake Edwards in
1969.
The couple were happily married until Edwards' passing in 2010, sometimes even working together
— although Andrews admitted that being directed by her husband could be challenging, in a
fun way.
"When I'm doing a love scene with somebody and he'll say things like 'Just great honey
but I know you can do it better.'"
Andrews credits "patience and perseverance" as the secret to a lasting marriage, telling
Good Morning Britain,
"We were married 41 years and it was a love story.
Success in our marriage was to take it one day at a time and so, lo and behold, 41 years
later there we still were."
She doesn't take anything for granted
Considering Andrews' immense success, you might expect it all to go to her head.
But that has never been the case.
Andrews is as gracious, giving, humble, and poised as ever; you might even say that she's
practically perfect in every way.
And if you ask for the secret to her incredible success?
Her answer is totally on brand.
"The secret is that I'm an unbelievably lucky human being."
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