Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author.
Julie Andrews was born Julia Elizabeth Wells on 1 October 1935 in Walton-on-Thames,Surrey, England. Her mother, Barbara Wells, was married to Julie's father Edward C. "Ted" Wells, a teacher of metal and woodworking.
With the outbreak of World War II, Barbara and Ted Wells went their separate ways. Ted Wells assisted with evacuating children to Surrey during the Blitz, while Barbara joined Ted Andrews in entertaining the troops through the good offices of the Entertainments National Service Association. Barbara and Ted Wells were soon divorced.
Julia Wells lived briefly with Ted Wells and her brother John in Surrey. In about 1940, Ted Wells sent Julia to live with her mother and stepfather, who, the elder Wells thought, would be better able to provide for his talented daughter's artistic training.
The Andrews family was "very poor and we lived in a bad slum area of London," Andrews recalled, adding, "That was a very black period in my life." In addition, according to Andrews's 2008 memoir, her stepfather was an alcoholic. Ted Andrews twice, while drunk, tried to get into bed with his stepdaughter, resulting in Andrews putting a lock on her door. But, as the stage career of Ted and Barbara Andrews improved, they were able to afford to move to better surroundings, first to Beckenham and then, as the war ended, back to the Andrews's home town of Walton-on-Thames. The Andrews family took up residence at The Old Meurse, a house where Andrews's maternal grandmother happened to have served as a maid.
Julie Andrews' stepfather sponsored lessons for her, first at the Cone-Ripman School, an independent arts educational school in London, then with the famous concert soprano and voice instructor Lilian Stiles-Allen.
Julie Andrews got her big break when her stepfather introduced her to Val Parnell, whose Moss Empires controlled prominent venues in London. Andrews made her professional solo debut at the London Hippodrome singing the difficult aria "Je Suis Titania" from Mignon as part of a musical revue called "Starlight Roof" on 22 October 1947. Julie Andrews followed her parents into radio and television. She reportedly made her television debut on the BBC program RadiOlympia Showtime on 8 October 1949.
Andrews played the title role in Disney's Mary Poppins. Walt Disney had seen a performance of Camelot and thought Andrews would be perfect for the role of the British nanny who is "practically perfect in every way!" Andrews initially declined because of pregnancy, but Disney politely insisted, saying, "We'll wait for you". Andrews and her husband headed back to the United Kingdom in September 1962 to await the birth of daughter Emma Katherine Walton, who was born in London two months later. The family returned to America in 1963 and Miss Andrews began the film.
In 1991 Andrews made her television dramatic debut in the ABC made-for-TV movie, Our Sons, co-starring Ann-Margret. On May 8, 2010, Andrews made her London comeback after a 21-year absence (her last performance there was a Christmas concert at the Royal Festival Hall in 1989). The evening, though well received by the 20,000 fans present, who gave her standing ovation after standing ovation, did not convince the critics.