From Mary Poppins to memory lane
It was her family that gave Julie Andrews her voice. ‘I found it hard to get close to my stepfather at first,’ she told her biographer, Richard Stirling. ‘He began giving me singing lessons when I was about seven or eight in an effort to create a bond between us.’ And the rest, of course, is history.
Julie Andrews’s voice and charisma brought films such as Mary Poppins and The Sound Of Music to life, and she became a global icon. Better still, in the words of one recent reviewer, she also remains ‘simply the nicest lady in show business’.
With a piano teacher mother and a professional singer stepfather, she was immersed in the arts from an early age. After the singing lessons with her stepfather, she soon became recognised for her broad vocal range, which spanned a staggering four octaves. Her talents have scored her countless roles and awards including a Best Actress Oscar for her role in Mary Poppins, three Best Actress Golden Globes, two Emmys, a Damehood – and a 60-year career. Which means she had plenty to reminisce about on her recent nationwide tour, An Evening With Julie Andrews.
After her appearance on The Graham Norton Show last month, she modestly described the programme as ‘really just chatting about everything I’ve done – lots of film clips, lots of out-takes. Silly stuff…’ And if the critics are to be believed, the 78-yearold has lost none of her sparkle.
There’s no doubt that she was full of energy – and wit – with Graham Norton, and she certainly brought out the flirtatious side of 30-year-old fellow guest, Hollywood actor Jonah Hill, star of 21 Jump Street. When he cheekily quipped that the two of them should have a baby, a quick-witted Andrews responded: ‘I assume we will. After the honeymoon though, okay?’
Julie Andrews is a consummate and charming storyteller, too. On one occasion, she explained, she was trying to get in shape for her autobiographical show appearances. ‘I used to go around the hills, down the mountains and so on, just to get the legs strong. And I thought, ‘this is ridiculous, there isn’t a soul around’, and honest to God, this is a true story – I was doing The Hills Are Alive and a whole bunch of Japanese tourists came towards me with cameras and everything. Honestly, you should have seen their faces.’
But it has not, of course, been all bright lights and breezy success for Dame Julie. Tragedy struck in 1997 when a benign growth was discovered on her vocal chords. She revealed in an interview that the consequent surgery ‘left me without a voice’, and after much recuperation she was still only able to reach the lower notes. There were whispers that she would never sing again, yet she faced her fears in 2010 when she performed at the O2 Arena. ‘I don’t sing the way I used to,’ she said at the time, ‘so I’m doing everything I can to put the word out that they shouldn’t expect that.’
The performance received mixed reviews, her extraordinary singing voice largely depleted, but Dame Julie was never going to let that stop her – as her latest stage show reveals.
‘All careers go up and down like friendships, like marriages, like anything else,’ she said in an interview in The Telegraph. ‘You can’t bat a thousand all the time. So I think I’ve been very, very lucky.’
And that is precisely why we love her.
Julie Andrews’s voice and charisma brought films such as Mary Poppins and The Sound Of Music to life, and she became a global icon. Better still, in the words of one recent reviewer, she also remains ‘simply the nicest lady in show business’.
With a piano teacher mother and a professional singer stepfather, she was immersed in the arts from an early age. After the singing lessons with her stepfather, she soon became recognised for her broad vocal range, which spanned a staggering four octaves. Her talents have scored her countless roles and awards including a Best Actress Oscar for her role in Mary Poppins, three Best Actress Golden Globes, two Emmys, a Damehood – and a 60-year career. Which means she had plenty to reminisce about on her recent nationwide tour, An Evening With Julie Andrews.
After her appearance on The Graham Norton Show last month, she modestly described the programme as ‘really just chatting about everything I’ve done – lots of film clips, lots of out-takes. Silly stuff…’ And if the critics are to be believed, the 78-yearold has lost none of her sparkle.
There’s no doubt that she was full of energy – and wit – with Graham Norton, and she certainly brought out the flirtatious side of 30-year-old fellow guest, Hollywood actor Jonah Hill, star of 21 Jump Street. When he cheekily quipped that the two of them should have a baby, a quick-witted Andrews responded: ‘I assume we will. After the honeymoon though, okay?’
Julie Andrews is a consummate and charming storyteller, too. On one occasion, she explained, she was trying to get in shape for her autobiographical show appearances. ‘I used to go around the hills, down the mountains and so on, just to get the legs strong. And I thought, ‘this is ridiculous, there isn’t a soul around’, and honest to God, this is a true story – I was doing The Hills Are Alive and a whole bunch of Japanese tourists came towards me with cameras and everything. Honestly, you should have seen their faces.’
But it has not, of course, been all bright lights and breezy success for Dame Julie. Tragedy struck in 1997 when a benign growth was discovered on her vocal chords. She revealed in an interview that the consequent surgery ‘left me without a voice’, and after much recuperation she was still only able to reach the lower notes. There were whispers that she would never sing again, yet she faced her fears in 2010 when she performed at the O2 Arena. ‘I don’t sing the way I used to,’ she said at the time, ‘so I’m doing everything I can to put the word out that they shouldn’t expect that.’
The performance received mixed reviews, her extraordinary singing voice largely depleted, but Dame Julie was never going to let that stop her – as her latest stage show reveals.
‘All careers go up and down like friendships, like marriages, like anything else,’ she said in an interview in The Telegraph. ‘You can’t bat a thousand all the time. So I think I’ve been very, very lucky.’
And that is precisely why we love her.