Salt Lake Community College

Julie Andrews

Kristen Morrill

Introduction to Music

Music 1010, Section 014

D. Jack Dunn

Growing up, I loved watching musicals. As a result, I developed a strong admiration for

actors and actresses that have remarkable ability to act and sing. One actress that I have always

admired is Julie Andrews. Hers is a story of a difficult upbringing, a rise to success, undeniable

talent, hard work, and strong resilience. This paper will examine her early life, career, unique

voice, and recognition.

To begin, Julie Andrews was born in Walten-on-Thames, Surrey, England on October 1st,

1935. Interestingly, her birth was a result of an affair, something she did not know until years

later. Originally born as Julia Elizabeth Wells, her mother was married to a man named Edward

Charles Wells, a metal and woodwork teacher. A divorce and second marriage would occur for

her mother within the next four years however, to a man named Ted Andrews. It is important to

understand that both her mother and stepfather were performers, who met while performing for

troops during World War II through the Entertainments National Service Association.

Andrews, who lived with her mother and stepfather through most of her young life, was

raised in a poor area of London. That time was, in her words, “…a very black period….” For

example, twice, Andrews’ stepfather tried to sleep with her while he was drunk, leading her to

place a lock on her bedroom door. Things did improve however. As her mother and stepfather’s

careers progressed, they were able to provide not only a better lifestyle for Julie, but musical

training as well in the form of schooling at Cone-Ripman School of Arts in London. Here,

Andrews met another individual who would influence her deeply in Madame Lilian Stiles-Allen,

her soprano voice instructor. Stiles-Allen was at one point referred to by Andrews as her “third

mother”

To continue, it would be an understatement to say that Julie Andrews has led a busy life.

Still performing to this day at the age of 78, it is amazing to think that Andrews began over 60

years ago. Her career, which has intermixed

marriage, motherhood, plays, musicals,

appearances, and film to name a few, started

around 1945, when should we appear singing

with her mother and stepfather during

performances in the evenings. During those

days, she recalls having to stand on a beer

crate in order to be tall enough to sing in to the

microphone. Often, she would sing a solo or

duet with her stepfather, her mother

accompanying them at the piano. Notably, on November 1st, 1948 Julie Andrews performed

along with others for family members of King George VI, becoming the youngest solo performer

ever to be seen in a Royal Command Variety Performance, at the age of 13, in the London

Palladium.

Years later, in September of 1954, Andrews made her first appearance in the United

States on Broadway in the popular show, The Boy Friend. Her success in portraying Polly

Browne, led her to the opportunity of auditioning for the Broadway Musical role of Eliza

Doolittle in My Fair Lady, a part for which she would later become very well known.

Andrews’ impressive career also included an appearance with Bing Crosby in High Tor

(a film which is highly regarded as the first made-for-television movie) and a featured role in the

Rodgers and Hammerstein television musical Cinderella, which obtained a viewership of 107

million when it was broadcast live on CBS on March 31st, 1957.

Shortly after Cinderella, Julie Andrews married a set designer named Tony Walton on

May 10th, 1959, at the age of 23. The two originally met during Andrews’ early career, while she

was appearing in the show Humpty Dumpty at the London Casino in 1948. They had one child

before they were divorced in 1967. Andrews was married a second time when she wed Blake

Edwards in 1969. With Edwards, Andrews adopted two children in 1974 and 1975 respectively.

Before she met Edwards however, Andrew’s had transitioned to film in 1964 when she

appeared in the title role of Mary Poppins. This

transition was well received, as it led Andrews to

win the Academy Award for Best Actress and the

Golden Globe award for Best Actress – Motion

Picture Musical or Comedy in 1964. It appears in

the Mary Poppins 40th anniversary addition DVD

that Walt Disney was so impressed by her

performance in Mary Poppins, that he offered

Andrews a lead role in Camelot. When Andrew’s

declined the offer because of pregnancy, Disney

was unmoved, saying “We’ll wait for you.”

Despite Disney’s determination Andrew’s never

did appear in a Disney version of Camelot (though she did appear in a play coincidentally named

Camelot in 1961).

A year after completing her work as Mary Poppins, Andrews famously portrayed Maria

Von Trapp in The Sound of Music. Interestingly, the estimated budget for The Sound of Music

was $8,200,000, yet it grossed $163,214,286 in the United States alone. When adjusted for

inflation, this accounts to be the third highest grossing film of all time. Undoubtedly, Julie

Andrews had a large part to play in the film’s success, winning a second Golden Globe award for

Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. In fact, Clive Hirschon later said “it was

Andrews’ extraordinarily assured and appealing central performance … that was largely

responsible for the film’s enormous success.”

Renowned for her voice, it should be mentioned Julie Andrews has, for much of her life,

possessed incredible singing talent. In fact, Andrews first began to display incredible vocal

ability around the age of eight. During World War II air raids it was the custom of her performer

stepfather to lead frightened citizens in singing, so as to keep spirits up. It was, according to an

article by PBS entitled Julie Andrews, during these unorganized meetings that Andrews’ mother

“began to notice that her daughter’s voice often rose far above those of even the men and

women; when examined by a doctor,

Julie’s vocal chords proved to already

have developed to an adult level.”

Amazingly, Andrews developed a

four octave singing range; most voices

are normally one and half to two

octaves. Stiles-Allen, who as

mentioned before was her soprano

voice instructor, once said, “The range,

accuracy and tone of Julie’s voice

amazed me … she had possessed the

rare gift of absolute pitch.” Andrews

reportedly even said once that she would be a fool “to deny my own abilities”, humbly

acknowledging her gifted singing voice.

Sadly, Andrews developed vocal cord problems in 1997, requiring, according to a report

by BBC, that she “have surgery on non-cancerous nodules in her throat.” Because of unexpected

mistakes by the surgeon, Andrews never completely recovered her voice. This resulted in a

lawsuit according to the BBC which reported that in “December 1999, she took steps to sue the

US hospital which operated on her throat by launching a medical malpractice suit.” Worse than

the lawsuit however, was that one of the greatest natural voices was lost.

Despite the loss of her singing voice, Andrews resiliently continues working. Since her

ruined operation Andrews has written a number of children’s books, and notably worked on

several films including: The Princess Diaries, 3 different Shrek movies, Enchanted, and most

recently, Despicable Me.

Andrews’ hard work has led to major recognition. Besides the acting awards that were

described earlier on in this essay, it is worthwhile to mention that Andrews has won five lifetime

achievement awards, including: The Society of Singers, Donostia Award, Screen Actors Guild,

UCLA George and Ira Gershwin, and Grammy Lifetime Achievement. These awards reflect not

only the tremendous talent of Julie Andrews but her dedicated work ethic as well. She brought

her abilities to 36 films, 26 television performances, and 5 theater productions, totaling 67

professional works, aside from her numerous interviews, appearances, and children’s books.

In conclusion, I personally am amazed by the amount I did not know regarding Julie

Andrews’ incredible life, career, voice, and accomplishments. She seems to demonstrate poise

and provide inspiration for not just one age group, but many. Perhaps she was the best example

of advice she gave in a commencement address at Colorado University – Boulder in the Spring

of 2013: “Leave everything you do, every place you go, everything you touch a little better for

your having been there.”

Works Cited:

"Andrews Sues Over Lost Voice." BBC News. BBC, 15 Dec. 1999. Web. 30 Oct. 2013.

"Julie Andrews." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2013.

Google Images (Each picture was taken from Google Images)

Mary Poppins 40th Anniversary Edition DVD.

Stirling, Richard; Julie Andrews: An Intimate Biography; Portrait, 2007; ISBN 9870749951351;

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