Julia Elizabeth Wells was born on the 1st October, 1935 in Walton-on-Thames in Surry, England. Her parents were Barbara and Ted Wells and they seperated when Julie was about 4 years old. Barbara then married Ted Andrews and Julie legally changed her name to Julie Andrews. Ted and Barbara Andrews had a double act where she would play the piano and he would sing as he had a lovely tenor voice. Once in a while, they would allow Julie to join their act and sing a few arias. Julie had a "freak" voice when she was a child with a range of a range of about 4 octaves.
Julie began singing lessons with Madame Stiles-Allen when she was 8 years old who was very strict with Julie's diction. When Julie turned 12, she was cast in Starlight Roof where she stopped the show on the opening night with her amazing voice and then continued to stop it every other night after. Julie also performed in the Royal Command Variety Performance at the London Paladium when she was 13 years old where she sang the "Polonaise" from Mignon and "God Save the King" in front of King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Phillip and Princess Margaret.
Julie then went on to perform in pantomines around England including Humpty Dumpty where she met her future husband Tony Walton for the first time. Other pantomines included Red Riding Hood, Aladdin and Cinderella.
Julie was then offered the role of Polly Browne in a new production of The Boyfriend that was opening on Broadway. Julie was worried about leaving her family and moving across to the other side of the world but it was too great an opportunity to pass up so she signed a contract for a year and moved to America. The Boyfriend opened at the Royale Theater on the 30th September, 1954 also starring John Hewer as Polly's love interest, Tony. Julie and the rest of the show received rave views. Julie received the Donaldson Award and the Theater World Award for her role as Polly. Despite this, Julie was very homesick. Over time, Julie settled in and towards the end of her year in America, she started auditioning for other shows. She auditioned for Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe for their musical version of Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and for Rodgers and Hammerstein for their production of Pipe Dream. Richard Rodgers suggested to her that she accept the role from Lerner and Loewe if it was offered to her. If not, he was also interested in her talents. Julie won the role of Eliza Doolittle in what was to be then know as My Fair Lady.
Rex Harrison was also cast in the role of Henry Higgins. My Fair Lady was a huge hit and Julie received a Tony nonination for her performance.
When Julie was in rehursal for My Fair Lady, she had a lot of problems creating the role. This was her first serious acting role and it took her some time to be able to develope the character.
After a horrible week of rehursals, the director, Moss Hart sent everyone home on the weekend, except for Julie and they spent a very long weekend together where he helped her with the role. After that, Julie was much better and became a success again on Broadway.
After about 2 years of playing the role, Julie then played the role of Eliza Doolittle for around 18 months in London where she was also a success.
Julie then went on to be cast in the role of Guinevere in the musical production of Camelot. The role of King Arthur was played by Richard Burton.
Rex Harrison was also cast in the role of Henry Higgins. My Fair Lady was a huge hit and Julie received a Tony nonination for her performance.
When Julie was in rehursal for My Fair Lady, she had a lot of problems creating the role. This was her first serious acting role and it took her some time to be able to develope the character.
After a horrible week of rehursals, the director, Moss Hart sent everyone home on the weekend, except for Julie and they spent a very long weekend together where he helped her with the role. After that, Julie was much better and became a success again on Broadway.
After about 2 years of playing the role, Julie then played the role of Eliza Doolittle for around 18 months in London where she was also a success.