Julie Andrews

Dame Julie Andrews, DBE (born October 1, 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author, best known for her starring roles in the musical films Mary Poppins (1964) and The Sound of Music

Dame Julie Andrews, DBE (born October 1, 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author, best known for her starring roles in the musical films Mary Poppins (1964) and The Sound of Music (1965).

Andrews was born Julia Elizabeth Wells in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, the daughter of an actor and a pianist. She had a rare, four-octave coloratura soprano talent, and her parents enrolled her in voice lessons to develop her abilities. Her earliest public performances were during World War II, entertaining troops throughout the United Kingdom with fellow child star Petula Clark. Andrews made her stage debut at an early age, appearing in London's West End in 1947. She graduated through radio (on the show Educating Archie), appeared in the London West End (Cinderella), and made her American debut starring in the Broadway production of The Boy Friend in 1954. (Late in her career, she returned to The Boy Friend, directing productions at the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, New York, in 2003, and at Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut in 2005.)