Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. One of the last surviving leading actresses from the Golden Age of Hollywood, she has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, two Emmy Awards, three Grammy Awards and six Golden Globe Awards as well as nominations for three Tony Awards. She has been honoured with an Honorary Golden Lion, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2001, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2007, and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2022. She was made a dame by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the performing arts in 2000.
A child actress and singer, Andrews appeared in the West End in 1948 and made her Broadway debut in The Boy Friend (1954). Billed as "Britain's youngest prima donna", she rose to prominence starring in Broadway musicals such as My Fair Lady (1956) playing Eliza Doolittle and Camelot (1960) playing Queen Guinevere. On 31 March 1957, Andrews starred in the premiere of Rodgers and Hammerstein's written-for-television musical Cinderella, a live, colour CBS network broadcast seen by over 100 million viewers. Andrews made her feature film debut in Walt Disney's Mary Poppins (1964) and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the title role. The following year, she starred in the musical film The Sound of Music (1965), playing Maria von Trapp and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical.
Between 1964 and 1986, Andrews starred in various films working with directors including her husband Blake Edwards, George Roy Hill, and Alfred Hitchcock. Films she starred in include The Americanization of Emily (1964), Hawaii (1966), Torn Curtain (1966), Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), Star! (1968), The Tamarind Seed (1974), 10 (1979), S.O.B. (1981), Victor/Victoria (1982), That's Life! (1986), and Duet for One (1986). After 1986, her film work decreased, appearing in two films in 1991 and not again until 2000. After the turn of the new millennium, however, her career experienced a revival with her roles in The Princess Diaries (2001), The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004), as well as Eloise at the Plaza and Eloise at Christmastime (both 2003). She also lent her voice for the English dub of the Italian animated film The Singing Princess, the Shrek franchise and the Despicable Me franchise (2010–present). In 2002, Andrews was ranked No. 59 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. In 2003, she directed a revival of The Boy Friend at the Bay Street Theater. This production went on to be presented at the Goodspeed Opera House and then on a multi-city tour.
Andrews is also known for her collaborations with Carol Burnett, including the specials Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall (1962), which received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special nomination, as well as Julie and Carol at Lincoln Center (1971) and Julie and Carol: Together Again (1989). She starred in her own variety special The Julie Andrews Hour (1973) for which she received the Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Musical Series. In 2017, she co-created and hosted the children's educational show Julie's Greenroom, for which she received two Daytime Emmy Award nominations. Beginning in 2020, Andrews voiced the narrator Lady Whistledown in the Netflix series Bridgerton. She has also worked hosting performance shows such as Great Performances and narrating the 2004 Emmy-winning series Broadway: The American Musical. Apart from her musical career, Andrews is also an author of children's books and has published two autobiographies, Home: A Memoir of My Early Years (2008) and Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years (2019).
Source : Wikipedia
