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Julie Andrews Biography

Posted by Vogt
at May 9, 2008

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Julie Andrews joined her mom Barbara and stepfather Ted Andrews’ touring vaudeville act at the age of 12 and in her first major appearance (and London debut, “Starlight Waltz” 1947) brought the house down at the Hippodrome with a bastardized version of the polonaise from “Mignon”. Quickly graduating to top billing, she became the family’s primary breadwinner on the strength of her several octave range soprano and continued to tour after Barbara and Ted retired, traveling with a tutor until age 15 when her mother decided that her education was adequate. Title roles in pantomime productions of “Humpty Dumpty” (1948), “Red Riding Hood” (1950) and “Cinderella” (1953) preceded her Broadway debut as Polly in Sandy Wilson’s 1920s pastiche “The Boyfriend” (1954). Two years later, she was starring on the Great White Way as Eliza Doolittle the Cockney girl Rex Harrison’s Professor Henry Higgins was “making over”, in Lerner and Loewe’s “My Fair Lady”, for which she earned a Tony nomination. After a four-year run in that role, Andrews landed another plum, Guinevere to Richard Burton’s King Arthur, in Lerner and Loewe’s “Camelot”, garnering a second Tony nomination.

Though her lilting, sweet soprano and prim British charm had earned her kudos as a Broadway musical star, Andrews was slow to win Hollywood over and would lose all three roles she had created on Broadway to non-singers in their film incarnations. She did impress Walt Disney enough, however, to be offered the title role of “Mary Poppins” (1964), although she kept him waiting until it was definite that Eliza Doolittle would be played by Audrey Hepburn. A truly wonderful amalgam of live-action, animation and Oscar-winning music, “Mary Poppins” rocketed her to international stardom and earned her a Best Actress Oscar. That same year, she displayed her non-musical abilities opposite James Garner in “The Americanization of Emily” before reaching greater heights as Maria in the blockbuster film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The Sound of Music” (1965), which became the highest-grossing movie of all time until “Jaws” knocked it from its lofty perch a decade later. The incredible success of that film chiseled her wholesomeness in granite, and the musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie” (1967) reinforced her as a sweet thing with its terminal cuteness. Hoping to repeat the success of their initial teaming on “The Sound of Music”, director Robert Wise cast Andrews as stage legend Gertrude Lawrence in “Star!” (1968), but the actress failed to come across in that razzle-dazzle biopic-cum-musical. Nevertheless, Andrews acquitted herself in the production numbers but was hampered by the script’s take on Lawrence.

Attempts to break away from her goody-goody stereotyping by appearing in less wholesome, non-musical fare (e.g., Hitchcock’s “Torn Curtain” 1966) were ineffectual, and it would take frequent collaborations with second husband Blake Edwards (i.e., “The Tamarind Seed” 1974; “10″ 1979; “That’s Life” 1986) for her to finally prove herself a deft comedienne and a warm dramatic actress. In his glib Movieland satire “S.O.B” (1981), Andrews played an actress baring her breasts for financial reasons, and since she was still trying to shed her virginal image at the time, her going buff made the film, in a twisted way, a parody of itself. Her last big screen success (to date), Edwards’ gender-bending, often hilarious “Victor/Victoria” (1982), earned her a third Best Actress Oscar nomination, and over a decade later in 1995 she reprised its woman playing a man playing a woman for the Broadway version. Andrews created a flap when she declined her Tony nomination in protest because no one else associated with the production received a nod. A televised version of the 1995 production was aired as part of the Bravo cable series “Broadway on Bravo.”

In 1998 Andrews underwent throat surgery that went horribly awry and subsequently robbed her of her crystaline, perfectly pitched singing voice (In 2000 her malpractice suit against the doctors who allegedly botched her surgery was settled for an undisclosed sum, estimated at $30 million). After some counseling to help her deal with the trauma of the loss of her most treasured asset, Andrews also engaged in therapy that helped her regain some of her vocal range. In the meantime, she stayed busy as an actress, appearing as the awkward fledgling royal Anne Hathaway’s oh-so-regal grandmother in Garry Marshall’s surprise hit film “The Princess Diaries” (2001), a role she repeised for the sequel “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement” (2004). She also provided the voice of Queen Lillian, mother of Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) in the CGI sequel “Shrek 2″ (2004).

Among Andrews’ numerous TV appearances have been three specials with friend Carol Burnett (”Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall”, CBS 1962; “Julie and Carol at Lincoln Center”, CBS 1971; and “Julie and Carol: Together Again”, ABC 1989). Other highlights include two variety programs directed by Gower Champion, “The Julie Andrews Special” and “An Evening with Julie Andrews and Harry Belafonte” (both for CBS in 1969); “Julie Andrews in Concert” (PBS, 1990) and “The Sound of Julie Andrews” (Disney Channel, 1995). She headlined the Emmy-winning series “The Julie Andrews Hour” (ABC, 1972-73), starred in the short-lived ABC sitcom “Julie” in 1992 and more recently hosted several gala tributes like “The American Film Institute Salute to Robert Wise” (NBC, 1998) and “Hey, Mr. Producer!” (PBS, 1998), celebrating the stage productions of Cameron Mackintosh. In 1999 she teamed with James Garner for the amusingly screwball telepic “One Special Night” and starred opposite her classic co-star Christopher Plummer in a televised adaptation of “On Golden Pond” directed by the film’s screenwriter, Ernest Thompson. In addition she appeared as The Nanny in a pair of TV movies adapting the adventures of the popular children’s book character Eloise, “Eloise at the Plaza” (and “Eloise at Christmastime” (both 2003).

As ‘Julie Edwards’, the multi-talented artist has also written two of her own highly-regarded children’s books.

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Jenny Agutter Biography

Posted by Vogt
at May 9, 2008

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Jenny Ann Agutter was born on 20th December 1952 in Taunton, Somerset, England, UK. She was the daughter of a British Army Officer and spent her childhood travelling and living in many different countries. Her film career began in 1964 at the age of 12 in East of Sudan and was quickly followed by Ballerina in 1965 and A Man Could Get Killed in 1966. Other films and television appearances in her early career include Gates to Paradise and Long After Summer (1967); Star! (1968); I Start Counting (1969); The Great Inimitable Mr Dickens and The Wild Duck (1970).

In 1970 she appeared in what was probably her real big break as a child star - The Railway Children - playing the part of Bobbie. In 1971 Jenny went to Hollywood where she made many more films and television appearances. These include (1971) The Cherry Orchard; Walkabout and The Snow Goose with Richard Harris for which she received an Emmy Award, (1972) A War of Children and Shelley.

In 1976 another big break came when she starred in the science fiction film Logan’s Run in which she played Jessica alongside Michael York. In 1976 she also starred alongside Richard Chamberlain in the television production of The Man In The Iron Mask and The Eagle Has Landed with Michael Caine and Donald Sutherland. In 1977 she play Jill Mason in Peter Shaffer’s Equus with Richard Burton. Other films and TV appearances during the 70s included Dominique; School Play; The Riddle of the Sands and Mayflower: The Pilgrim’s Adventure.

In 1981 Jenny played Desdemona opposite William Marshall in Othello. Other Shakespeare performances include King Lear; Love’s Labour Lost as Rosaline for the BBC and Romeo and Juliet as Lady Capulet in 1994. During the 80s Jenny continued to make numerous films and television series including Sweet William and the TV mini series “Beulah Land” (1980); The Survivor; Amy and An American Werewolf in London (1981); This Office Life and Secret Places (1984); Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe (1985); Dark Tower (1987); Miss Right (1988) and King of the Wind (1989).

In the 90s Jenny has concentrated mainly on television with roles in TECX; Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less; The All New Alexei Sayle Show; The Buccaneers with Sean Pertwee, Ewan McGregor and Catherine Zeta-Jones; And the Beat Goes On; September with Edward Fox, Michael York, Virginia McKenna and Jacqueline Bisset; A Respectable Trade with Warren Clarke, Anna Massey and Richard Briers. Films during this period included Child’s Play 2; Darkman with Liam Neeson; and Blue Juice. Jenny’s most recent television appearance was in 1998 as Mrs Bruce in two feature length episodes of the popular ITV series Bramwell in which she appeared with Jemma Redgrave. She has also made several guest appearances in TV shows The Red Dwarf; Boon; The Equalizer with Edward Woodward; The Twilight Zone; Magnum P.I. and The Six Million Dollar Man.

Jenny has been married to Johan Tham since the late 1980s. They have one son Jonathan, born in 1990, and live in Cornwall, England, UK. Her particular love is charity work for The Diabetic Association and NCH Action for Children - a charity which provides home and other help for homeless children - a charity she has been involved with for 5 years.

Celebrity Biography