About this Artist

JULIE ANDREWS has been a beloved and much-honored star of stage, screen, and television for more than half a century. She was already a Broadway legend when she made her feature film debut in 1964’s Mary Poppins. Andrews’ iconic performance in the title role of the magical nanny brought her an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA Award. The following year, she earned a second Oscar nomination and won another Golden Globe for her unforgettable portrayal of Maria Von Trapp in The Sound of Music. She received her third Academy Award nomination and won another Golden Globe for her “dual” role in Victor/Victoria.

Today’s young film audiences may be more familiar with Andrews as a queen trying to train her teenaged granddaughter to be a princess in the hit films The Princess Diaries, and its sequel, The Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement. Andrews also voiced the character of Queen Lillian in the blockbuster hits Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third. More recently, she voiced the narration of the hugely successful Disney release of Enchanted. In 2010, Andrews added to her multi-generational appeal with the release of films The Tooth Fairy, Shrek Goes Fourth, and Despicable Me.

Her earlier motion picture credits include The Americanization of Emily, Hawaii, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Star!, Darling Lili, and 10, to name only a few.

Julie was born and raised in England, where she first came to fame as a young musical performer on stage and on radio. She was still in her teens when she made her way across the Atlantic and to Broadway, in her 1953 debut in the musical The Boy Friend. She went on to create the role of Eliza Doolittle in Lerner and Loewe’s Broadway musical My Fair Lady, winning a New York Drama Critics Award and garnering a Tony nomination for her performance. She received another Tony nomination in 1961 when she originated the role of Queen Guinevere in the Lerner and Loewe musical Camelot. Thirty-five years later, Andrews returned to Broadway to star in the 1995 stage adaptation of Victor/Victoria. Her career came full-circle in 2005 when she directed a revival of The Boy Friend that toured throughout North America.

Andrews has also been honored for her work on television, beginning in 1957 with her Emmy-nominated performance in the title role of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical Cinderella. She later won an Emmy for her own musical variety series, The Julie Andrews Hour, and she also earned Emmy nominations for Julie and Carol at Lincoln Center (with her “chum” Carol Burnett) and her performance in the Sounds of Christmas special.

Andrews has joined talents with her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, to publish books committed to stimulating a sense of wonder in children and young readers. The Julie Andrews Collection was launched in October 2003 and has released over 27 books to date, including the recently released Julie Andrews’ Treasury For All Seasons and Little Bo In London. Andrews’ The Great American Mousical was recently adapted as an original musical for the stage at the Norma Terris Theatre at Goodspeed in Connecticut, under her direction, to huge audience delight. (Plans are afoot to tour the show in 2013 at this time). LA Phil subscribers may be familiar with Simeon’s Gift (the musical/stage adaptation of which toured parts of the U.S. in 2008, including two performances at the Hollywood Bowl) and The Julie Andrews Collection of Poems, Songs & Lullabies. Home – A Memoir of My Early Years, Andrews’ autobiography, was released in April 2008 to rave reviews and immediately climbed to No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller. Julie and Emma are enjoying great receptivity to their current franchise of best-selling books, called “The Very Fairy Princess.”

In addition to her stage and screen work, Julie has dedicated her life to her family and to serving important causes, including Operation USA, an international relief organization with which Julie has traveled to such places as Vietnam and Cambodia. From 1992 to 2006 she was honored as the Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), which provides financial and technical support for low-income women in developing countries.

Andrews received her honors as a Dame of the British Empire by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on New Year’s Eve 1999. She was also a 2001 Kennedy Center Honoree.  For more about Julie Andrews, please visit julieandrewscollection.com.