Julie Andrews: An Intimate Biography

By Richard Stirling

Book Overview

Julie Andrews is the last of the great Hollywood musical stars, unequaled by any in her time.In "My Fair Lady, " Julie Andrews had the biggest hit on Broadway. As the title character in "Mary Poppins, " she won an Academy Award. And, in 1965, "The Sound of Music" made her the most famous woman in the world and rescued Twentieth Century Fox from bankruptcy. Three years later, the disastrous "Star " almost put the studio back under, and the leading lady of both films fell as spectacularly as she had risen.Her film career seemed over.Yet Julie Andrews survived, with what Moss Hart, director of "My Fair Lady, " called "that terrible British strength that makes you wonder why they lost India." "Victor/Victoria, " directed by her second husband, Blake Edwards, reinvented her screen image---but its stage version in 1997 led to the devastating loss of her defining talent, her singing voice.Against all odds, she has fought back again, with leading roles in "The Princess Diaries" and "Shrek 2." The "real" story of bandy-legged little Julia Wells from Walton-on-Thames is even more extraordinary; fresh details of her family background have only recently come to light.This is the first completely new biography of Julie Andrews as artist, wife, and mother in over thirty-five years---combining the author's interviews with the star and his wide-ranging and riveting research. It is a frank but affectionate portrait of an enduring icon of stage and screen, who was made a Dame in the Millenium Honours List. Once dubbed "the last of the really great broads" by Paul Newman, she was the only actress in the 2002 BBC poll The 100 Greatest Britons. But who "was" Dame Julie, and who is she now?This is her story.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312380259
• ISBN13: 9780312380250
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 376 Pages
• Weight: 1.47 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

What an amazing career

This is the second book on Julie Andrews that I own. I also have her autobiography. I first heard of Julie Andrews when I saw Walt Disney's movie "Mary Poppins". That was followed up by her performance as Maria in "The Sound of Music". I have her on DVD in the first version of Richard Rodgers' and Oscar Hammerstein's musical adaptation of Cinderella. She was also in "Thoroughly Modern Millie" with Mary Tyler Moore and Carol Channing. And let's forget her as Queen Clarice in "The Princess Diaries" and "The Princess Diaries:Royal Engagement". I have the original Broadway cast recordings of "My Fair Lady" and "Camelot", both of which she starred in. I also have the original motion pciture soundtrack to Disney's Mary Poppins. She has had an amazing career.

Julie Andrews: An Intimate Biography

Learning about Julie Andrews' life was the purpose in buying this informative book. I was also comparing information I gleened from her autobiography. I always wondered why she and Carol Burnette were such good fast friends. Now, I know and have even more respect and love for Julie's work in theater, music, and writing. She is one talented person with a voice from heaven as a young person. She truly made the right decisions for her career, in spite of her parents and their influences. There is much to learn about acting, singing, and dancing for a young person persuing that career, or an "oldie" like me who admired her as a young adult. Fortunately (or unfortunately) it has caused me to buy many of her movies and more CDs. Enjoy!

Just a gift

This was a gift that was asked for. I have a cousin that loves Julie Andrews so I order for her and she's quite pleased. I'm sure this won't be the last time.

This fills in the lbanks where "Home" doesn't

I read Julie Andrews' Home first and then picked this up to finish the story. It's well done with loads of details and facts that were previously unknown. Goes so far even to mention Julie's efforts to publish Home in early 2008. This books is worthwhile and quite entertaining. A must read for any Julie Andrews fan.

As pleasant as the image she presents!

I wanted to know more about Julie Andrews. I adored her as Mary Poppins, loved her in The Sound of Music & was delighted by her comic performance in Thoroughly Modern Millie. I somewhat remember her "falling from grace" so to speak, making some unmemorable films, dissappearing...then suddenly it seems, she's back writing children's books & making successful movies again! So I really wanted an overview of her entire life and that is why I chose this book by Richard Stirling over HOME which ends about the time that Julie's fame begins. The book is an engaging, easy read that has generally fulfilled my expectations. It covers Julie's meteoric rise to the heights of fame and the painfully slow slide into a lingering sort of limbo that allowed her to triumphantly hold her head up occassionally but never again made full use of her sunny personality & gorgeous voice. This book gave me the distinct impression that instead of being "ahead of her time" that unfortunately Julie Andrews showed up perhaps 20 years too late to be fully utilized in the field of musical/comedy films. (...and it teases us with the vehicles proposed for her but never made...) However, it also points to the fact that Julie is full of tenacity & perseverance. Of course, she is still around and that's a good thing.