50 Fun Facts About Julie Andrews

In which 1964 Disney film did Julie Andrews make her movie debut?

Walt Disney had seen her in Camelot and, when she said she was pregnant, told her 'We'll wait for you.'

Which character did Andrews play in The Sound of Music?

She later admitted she had thought the musical 'rather saccharine' before she was cast.

What was Julie Andrews's birth name?

She took the surname of her stepfather, the entertainer Ted Andrews.

In which Surrey town was Andrews born in 1935?

Her family later settled in nearby Hersham, in a house where her grandmother had once been a maid.

What secret about her birth did Andrews learn at about 15 and only reveal publicly in her 2008 memoir?

The man she called Dad, Ted Wells, was a woodwork and metalwork teacher.

Which concert soprano trained the young Andrews and called her 'my star pupil'?

Andrews called her 'my third mother' and joked that her own four-octave voice brought dogs from miles around.

What did the young Andrews stand on to reach the microphone in her earliest shows with her parents?

Fellow child performer Petula Clark recalled the two of them sleeping in luggage racks while touring for the troops.

What aria did 12-year-old Andrews sing at her professional solo debut at the London Hippodrome in 1947?

She stopped the show cold and stayed at the Hippodrome for a year in the revue Starlight Roof.

In 1948 Andrews became the youngest solo performer ever to appear in what?

She was 13 and shared the Palladium bill with Danny Kaye and the Nicholas Brothers before King George VI.

On which BBC radio comedy was Andrews a cast member from 1950 to 1952?

Its star was a ventriloquist's dummy, which made it an unusual hit for radio.

In which musical did Andrews make her Broadway debut in 1954, on the eve of her 19th birthday?

Hattie Jacques recommended her for the part of Polly Browne; she directed a revival of the show herself in 2003.

Which role did Andrews create on Broadway in My Fair Lady in 1956?

Director Moss Hart spent 48 straight hours drilling her in the part, which she called the best acting lesson she ever had.

Which studio boss decided Andrews lacked the name recognition to star in the film of My Fair Lady?

Audrey Hepburn got the part, with Marni Nixon dubbing most of her singing.

Whom did Andrews pointedly thank in her Golden Globe speech for her 1964 Disney debut?

Songwriter Richard Sherman called it 'sweet revenge'; My Fair Lady was competing for the same awards.

How many viewers watched the live 1957 CBS broadcast of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella?

It went out in colour from CBS's only East Coast colour studio while she was still playing Eliza eight times a week.

Which queen did Andrews play in the 1960 Broadway musical Camelot?

Richard Burton was King Arthur and newcomer Robert Goulet played Lancelot.

What did author P. L. Travers tell Andrews on the phone about her casting as the magical nanny?

She prefaced it with 'Well, you're much too pretty of course.'

How many Academy Awards did Andrews's 1964 Disney debut win from its 13 nominations?

Andrews's Best Actress statuette was among them, and the cast also won a Grammy for Best Album for Children.

Which 1964 war comedy-drama, co-starring James Garner, did Andrews name as her favourite of her films?

She took it partly to avoid being typecast as a nanny; Garner shared her opinion of the film.

In which Austrian city was The Sound of Music filmed in 1964?

Bad weather meant the cast were lucky to get a single shot's worth of scenes on some days.

Which director cast Andrews opposite Paul Newman in the 1966 thriller Torn Curtain?

After she publicly criticised her own performance he sent her a terse letter she called an important lesson.

Which 1966 film starring Andrews was the highest-grossing movie of its year?

That made three years running in which she headlined the year's top-grossing picture or a close rival.

Andrews's 1968 film Star! was a biopic of which stage performer?

It became one of Hollywood's most expensive flops, though she still earned a Golden Globe nomination.

Which director, Andrews's second husband, made Darling Lili, S.O.B. and Victor/Victoria with her?

They married in November 1969 and stayed together for 41 years until his death in 2010.

What was the profession of Tony Walton, Andrews's first husband, whom she married in 1959?

They met in 1948 when she was playing the egg in Humpty Dumpty; Maggie Smith was a wedding guest.

Which Disney role was Andrews the first choice for in 1971 before Angela Lansbury was cast?

She was busy with television, including a 1971 special at the opening of Walt Disney World.

How many Emmy Awards did The Julie Andrews Hour win before ABC cancelled it after one season?

She went on to headline five more variety specials for the network between 1973 and 1975.

With which comedienne did Andrews make TV specials in 1962, 1971 and 1989?

The first, Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall, aired on CBS in June 1962.

In Victor/Victoria (1982), Andrews's character Victoria Grant passes herself off as what?

Her dual role as Victoria Grant and Count Victor Grezhinski brought her third Oscar nomination.

How many Oscar nominations for Best Actress has Andrews received in her career?

For her Disney debut, The Sound of Music and Victor/Victoria; she won for the first.

Why did Andrews decline her Tony nomination for the 1995 stage version of Victor/Victoria?

She was the show's only nominee; it was her first Broadway appearance in 35 years.

In which year did throat surgery leave Andrews without her singing voice?

She had developed hoarseness during the Broadway run of Victor/Victoria; the doctors had promised recovery in six weeks.

At which New York hospital was the operation performed that Andrews later sued over?

The malpractice suit was settled in September 2000 for an undisclosed sum.

In the 2000 New Year Honours Andrews received what title?

She received the insignia from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.

What character did Andrews play in The Princess Diaries films?

It was her first Disney film since her 1964 debut, 37 years earlier.

In The Princess Diaries 2, Andrews sang on film for the first time since surgery. With whom?

'Your Crowning Glory' was written within a single octave to suit her recovering voice, and she nailed it in one take.

Which royal did Andrews voice in Shrek 2 and its sequels?

She also narrated Disney's Enchanted in 2007.

In the Despicable Me films, Andrews voices whose 'thoughtless and soul-crushing' mother?

Steve Carell voices her son.

Which gossip-writing narrator does Andrews voice in Netflix's Bridgerton?

The series began in 2020; she is heard but not seen.

In the 1998 London stage production of Dr. Dolittle, Andrews supplied the voice of which character?

About 700 recorded sentences and sounds were placed on a chip inside a mechanical bird's mouth.

What is the title of Andrews's 2008 memoir of her early years?

The 2019 sequel about her Hollywood years is called Home Work.

With whom has Andrews co-written most of her children's books, including The Very Fairy Princess?

That title reached number one on the New York Times children's bestseller list in June 2010.

Under what name did Andrews publish her 1971 children's novel Mandy?

She also wrote The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles under her married name.

In which Long Island village, home of her daughter's Bay Street Theater, did Andrews live?

She made her debut as a theatre director there in 2003, reviving the musical of her own Broadway debut.

Which lifetime honour did Andrews receive in 2022?

The Kennedy Center honoured her in 2001 and the Screen Actors Guild in 2007.

How many Grammy Awards has Andrews won?

Her haul also includes an Oscar, a BAFTA and seven Golden Globes.

Where did Andrews rank in the BBC's 2002 poll of the 100 Greatest Britons?

That same year she attended the Queen's Golden Jubilee party in Hollywood.

Which comic actress recommended Andrews for The Boy Friend, earning the label 'catalyst' for her career?

Director Vida Hope cast her as Polly Browne, and she made her Broadway debut on the eve of her 19th birthday.

In which 1991 ABC television film, co-starring Ann-Margret, did Andrews make her TV dramatic debut?

She was named a Disney Legend within the same year and tried her first sitcom, Julie, in 1992.

Where did Andrews make her 2010 London comeback after a 21-year absence?

She sang with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; her previous London show had been a 1989 Christmas concert.