We all remember Maria, Julie Andrews’ character in the musical The Sound of Music, a role that showed her as a happy governess bringing smiles to many households.
However, when we take a look at the reality of her life, things don’t quite fit into that narrative, as she has faced one rough patch after another ever since she was a child.
At almost 90, here are some of the tragic happenings in Andrews’ life that fans might have missed.
It has been quite a heart-touching tale pointing to Andrews’ resilience and will to survive against all odds.
Born Julia Elizabeth Wells, Julie Andrews came into the world on October 1st, 1935, in Walton-on-Thames, England, when times were still pretty uncertain globally.
Her childhood was a complex mix of both privilege and hardship, woven into an elaborate tapestry that would evolve her into one of the most treasured performers of her generation.
She was born to Barbara and Edward Wells, who started Julie off on modest means.
Ted, her father, was a teacher and carpenter, while Barbara was an aspiring pianist and piano teacher.
Though poor, her parents did not let this factor get in the way of developing Julie’s skills from an early age.
However, the stability of the early family life was torn apart by the outbreak of World War II.
As the war gained momentum, the Wells family, like many others, began facing turmoil.
The strain of the war coupled with personal differences finally led to her parents’ divorce when Julie was very young.
This ushered in a turbulent chapter in her life.
Julie first stayed with her father, Edward, with whom she was very close.
However, circumstances forced her to move in with her mother Barbara, who had remarried a man named Ted Andrews.
This change in her life, though pivotal, had its bright opportunities and dark challenges.
Life was complex with Barbara and Ted Andrews.
Ted Andrews was a professional singer and entertainer, and he, his wife, and Julie often traveled to perform at various venues, introducing the young girl to the world of music and performance.
But behind the charismatic exterior of her stepfather lay a more sinister reality.
She would later describe Ted Andrews as emotionally and physically abusive.
The abuse that colored her childhood made her grow up much quicker, with an inner resilience perhaps that would see her through her life.
Amidst the struggles emerged Julie’s remarkable singing voice.
It was her mother who first recognized the extraordinary voice that was to become her lifeline.
Now decided on making a fresh start in life with Ted Andrews, Barbara invited Julie to join the Andrew Trio, and they made a traveling stage act.
Her voice became a great addition to the group, as her singing proved an outlet for her dreary times and conditions.
Soon, Julie started taking up professional song gigs.
From those early years, her potential was recognized by Barbara and Ted Andrews, who arranged for her formal voice training.
Julie studied under Madame Lilian Stiles-Allen, a noted British soprano who became a major influence on her musical development.
Under Madame Stiles-Allen’s tutelage, Julie’s voice flowered and her confidence grew.
She was highly gifted with a voice that possessed high pitches, clear and perfect, which brought her immense admiration and fame in the circles of entertainment.
The financial position of the family was always insecure, but Julie’s budding talent brought hope.
Since she was 12 years old, she began performing regularly with her mother and stepfather, singing at military bases, theaters, and other local places.
These performances were a training ground for Julie and a refuge in which she let her emotions flow into her music.
It was obvious that she would connect with the audience, and those performances became something to be proud of for the family.
Whereas Julie’s talent brought her to the front lines, her private life remained hard, especially with the war that put fear in everyone.
Air raid sirens, bomb shelters, and the ever-present possibility of danger were the things that filled her childhood, leaving a deep mark on her and fostering in her a strong sense of empathy and appreciation for the fragility of life.
Also, she kept the abuse she got from her stepfather to herself.
Sometimes Ted Andrews was unpredictable, and his behavior with Julie was a wellspring of pain and confusion that Julie was able to rise above.
All these are themselves remarkable testimonies to her strength and determination.
As Julie’s career as a singer gathered momentum, she began to attract attention beyond the family performances.
Her breakthrough came when she was booked to perform at London Hippodrome in a review called Starlight Roof.
At the time, she was just 12 but sang “Jupiter” from Mignon, and this pleased the audience immensely.
That was the moment when her early career showed her talent to a wide audience and prepared the stage for further success.
Despite all the applause she got, Julie remained humble.
These early experiences had instilled in her the values of hard work and a fighting spirit, for her singing was not just a profession but a way of survival passing through the trials of growing up.
The discipline and focus developed during these years would mark her professional life.
Most extraordinarily, it was her remarkable voice and encouragement from important people in her life that helped her rise above these adversities.
Music was her conduit to self-expression, her reach towards the world, and the cornerstone for what would be a career bringing happiness to millions.
By the time she was in her teens, Julie was a pro with a voice and stage presence that was remarkably mature for such a young girl.
She moved from a miserable childhood to an overnight sensation, though the scars would always remain.
They would be part of the multi-dimensional and caring person she would be.
The early life of Julie Andrews was not easy, but from those experiences came the phenomenal artist the world would come to love.
After meeting Queen Elizabeth II, Julie Andrews’ career really flowered.
The honor came in 1948 when young Julie appeared for the Royal Command Variety Performance at the London Palladium, starring with two of her idols, Danny Kaye and the Andrew Sisters.
The show presented her as a star of the future and sealed her status among British entertainment’s most high-ranking stars.
This opened doors to larger opportunities that would define her career, bridging the transition from stage to screen and setting her on the path toward international icon status.
Following that career-defining performance, Julie was in demand on both sides of the Atlantic.
She entered the American scene via Broadway, making her stage debut in 1954’s production of The Boy Friend, where she turned heads by exposing her lively disposition and phenomenal wide-ranging voice.
It was on her opening night on Broadway that she came to the notice of the famous composer Richard Rodgers, who found in her just the right person for a new work he was doing in collaboration with his partner Oscar Hammerstein II.
The project was My Fair Lady, which would define the early years of her career.
The 1956 stage version of My Fair Lady saw Julie cast as Eliza Doolittle.
She was the perfect Cockney flower girl who made the transition to a refined lady-to-be and went on to perform the iconic role.
She was loved by critics and the public alike for this role and immediately became a star.
However, when the time came to move the production to film, Julie suffered one of the most significant professional disappointments of her career.
Although she had originated the iconic stage role of Eliza, Warner Brothers decided to cast Audrey Hepburn as Eliza in the film version.
This was reportedly done because of the belief that Hepburn’s greater international fame would attract a larger audience.
Adding even more irony to the mix, it was Hepburn’s singing voice that was eventually dubbed by Marni Nixon.
The loss of the My Fair Lady film role was painful, but Julie’s resilience and talent proved unshakable.
Fate soon intervened, and destiny presented her with an opportunity that would eclipse the disappointment.
Walt Disney had been keeping a close eye on Julie’s career and was thoroughly impressed with her talent.
He therefore made an offer to her for the title role in his forthcoming film Mary Poppins, released in 1964—a venture that would make her a household name.
Apart from launching her long relationship with Disney, Mary Poppins turned out to be an instant box office and critical success.
In the title role of the magical, practically perfect nanny, Julie became a force of versatility, capturing the character’s whimsical charm and tenderness.
This led to the making of iconic musicals like “A Spoonful of Sugar” and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”
Having won the Academy Award for Best Actress, she also received the Golden Globe and a BAFTA nomination for her performance, shooting her to instant international stardom.
After the success of Mary Poppins, Julie acted in another career-defining role in The Sound of Music in 1965 as Maria von Trapp, an energetic young governess who comes into the life of a widower with seven children.
Julie gave one of the most adored performances ever captured on screen, rendering versions of “Do-Re-Mi” and “Climb Every Mountain,” which indelibly fixed her as one of the musical icons on film.
The movie became the highest-grossing of its time, garnered record awards, and positioned Julie as one of the brightest stars in Hollywood.
But Julie’s rise was not without its bumps.
Her perfectionism and work ethic sometimes put her at odds with co-stars and directors.
During the shooting of The Sound of Music, she had an icy relationship with Christopher Plummer in the beginning.
Plummer would later confess that he found her boundless enthusiasm a bit tiresome and teasingly called her “Miss Disney.”
However, their relationship ripened into a deep friendship that lasted well into Plummer’s passing in 2021.
Julie had certain problems with her subsequent films too.
Because of her failed attempt to try new variations other than musicals, her roles in Star! (1968) and Darling Lili (1970) received a lukewarm reception, and both films failed to impress the box office.
There were critics who openly felt that she was restricted to musicals only, raising questions about her professional future.
However, Julie never gave up and continued working hard, taking up all kinds of roles to prove herself as an actor.
The magic of Julie’s resurgence happened in the 1980s.
Her success came with Victor/Victoria in 1982, a movie by her second husband Blake Edwards, where she received critical acclaim showcasing comic timing and dramatic depth.
In this role of a woman playing a man dressed as a woman, Julie gave a nuanced layered performance that earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
The film was a commercial success and once again reaffirmed her status as a talented, versatile actress.
Later in her career, Julie’s association with Disney completed a full circle as she took on roles that introduced her to a whole new generation of fans.
She voiced Queen Lillian in Shrek 2 and its sequels with great queenly charm.
She also played the role of Queen Clarisse Renaldi in Disney’s The Princess Diaries in 2001 and its sequel The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement in 2004.
These roles showcased her ability to move with the times and appeal to a younger generation without losing the unique style that defines her.
The charismatic Julie has also been quite successful as an author of children’s books along with her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton.
These include The Last of the Really Great Wangdoodles and the Dumpy the Dump Truck series.
These books reflect her deep love of storytelling and commitment to inspiring young readers.
Julie’s career is a good example of resiliency, talent, and determination.
From the heartbreak of being bypassed for My Fair Lady to her triumphant success with Disney and beyond, she weathered professional setbacks and personal challenges with poise and grace.
The fact that she is still one of the best entertainers ever testifies to the way she surged above adverse situations to mesmerize audiences across generations.
However, Julie Andrews’ romantic tale was one of love and heartbreak and was hence very interestingly balanced against an equally illustrious career.
Her first marriage to Tony Walton, a British set and costume designer, started with a growing story of romance.
The two met in London while Julie was performing in her teen years.
Smitten with her beauty and talent, Tony wooed her with his charm and wit.
Since both loved the arts, their bond developed with time, and they decided to get married on May 10th, 1959.
Julie and Tony married in a pretty wedding in Weybridge, Surrey.
At this time, Julie was an upcoming star, leading a balancing life between her profession and personal life.
Tony was very understanding about her heavy schedule, and his support meant that the marriage thrived in the first years.
The couple then moved to the United States when Julie’s career took her to Broadway and later to Hollywood.
Tony, with his artistic talent, became a successful designer, working on productions that complemented Julie’s performances.
Often they worked professionally together, which brought peace further into their relationship due to the creative avenues they shared.
They were blessed with a daughter in 1962 named Emma Walton Hamilton.
Julie simply adored motherhood and related how Emma brought new light into her life.
Yet as Julie’s career reached new heights, the marriage began experiencing new tests due to the stress from her career.
The continuous shootings and the pressure of public eyes, including long separations, caused fissures in their love.
As much as they tried putting the marriage together, the emotional separation continued to grow day by day, making their love fizzle out.
The tragedy of their marriage was that it came apart piece by piece.
By the late 1960s, it was clear that what bound them together had snapped beyond repair.
In 1967, after nearly a decade of marriage, Julie and Tony divorced.
The separation was painful but amicable, and they remained friends, continuing to look after Emma.
The immediate years after her divorce were focused on her career and Emma.
During the 1969 production of Darling Lili, she met filmmaker Blake Edwards, who became her second husband and one of the most important people in her life.
Blake was a highly talented director with films like Breakfast at Tiffany’s and The Pink Panther to his credit.
He had an enormous sense of humor and a very creative mind.
The two met quite accidentally, but an instant rapport was formed between them.
It was not long after Julie hooked up with Blake that the two knew they had something special.
The mutual respect and understanding of each other, both having gone through the ups and downs of the entertainment industry, blended well.
The laughter, intellectual camaraderie, and deep emotional bond made it whole.
They married on November 12th, 1969, joined their two families as one, and created a life.
Blake had two children, Jennifer and Jeffrey, from his earlier marriage, which Julie accepted as her own.
They then adopted two daughters, Amy and Joanna, from Vietnam, completing their family.
Julie simply adored her children and referred to them in interviews as the reason to exist and anchor her when the madness of fame hit.
Of course, Julie and Blake faced tests in their marriage at one juncture or another.
Blake had a number of chronic health complaints, including depression and an extremely rare immune disorder that put strains on their lives.
Julie always stood by him through those issues, showing strength, loyalty, and compassion.
Sadly, in 2010, Blake Edwards died at age 88.
Julie was devastated by the death of this man she had spent most of her life with.
She immediately sought consolation from her children and work after his death.
The family was now her anchor, and only love for her children could see her through life without Blake.
Her daughter Emma followed in her footsteps into the arts, collaborating on a number of projects with Julie, including their children’s book series.
Large smiles in Julie’s eyes were common anytime she talked about her pride in her children or the antics they got up to.
She found her identity and consolation in being a mother and grandmother, which always reminded her of the timelessness of love and family.
Another source of solace for Julie over the years has been her work.
She continued acting and performing, did much writing, and was involved with philanthropic work, putting her energy into projects that would bring joy to others.
Her legacy was not restricted to the perimeter of her career but reached beyond the spheres of personal challenges, standing tall to inspire others through her strength and grace.
Julie Andrews’ love life, though marked with ups and downs, has always revealed the depths of affection in her being and her way of conquering adversities with grace.
The birth of her lovely daughter and many fond memories solidified her love for her first husband Tony Walton, which ended with their breakup.
However, she found a lifetime partnership and loving family in the union with Blake Edwards.
With her children and dedication to work, Julie built a legacy of resilience, love, and inspiration that has continued to resonate across the globe with audiences.
Despite all the tragedy she has gone through, Julie Andrews remains a shining example of courage and grace.
Her life story is one of overcoming hardship and heartbreak to become a beloved icon who has touched millions.
As she approaches 90, her journey reminds us of the strength of the human spirit and the enduring power of love.
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