Julie Andrews
A Reason To Smile
BY DAN RATHER AND TEAM STEADY
Dame Julie Andrews, creator of iconic roles from Eliza Doolittle, to Mary Poppins, and Maria von Trapp to Clarisse Renaldi, Queen regnant of Genovia, continues to dazzle and entertain generations, eight decades into her prolific career. She is this week’s reason to smile.
With Andrews celebrating her 91st birthday earlier this month, we thought it was a great reason to take a look back at her life on stage and screen.
She began her career as a child, performing with her parents, and made her West End debut in 1948 at the age of 13 and her Broadway debut six years later. Her career-defining role came two years after that, when she originated the part of Eliza Doolittle in “My Fair Lady” on the Great White Way.
But it was her portrayal as the titular star of “Mary Poppins” that made her a household name, made Walt Disney a lot of money, and earned Andrews the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1965.
You can’t go wrong choosing any song from what has been described as the perfect movie musical, but I am partial to the whimsy of “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”
The 34-letter nonsense song title was not invented by Richard and Robert Sherman, the writing team behind the movie’s songs and score. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first record of the word dates back to 1931, when a columnist for Syracuse University’s Daily Orange wrote that the word “implies all that is grand, great, glorious, splendid, superb, wonderful.” Mary Poppins amended the definition to “something to say when you don’t know what to say.” We can all use a word like that these days.
Though Andrews stated that she was stepping back from appearing on screen last year, she continues to be the voice of Lady Whistledown on the “Bridgerton” streaming series. She has authored dozens of children’s books and released her latest, a collaboration with her daughter, in August.
If you want to know more about Andrews, a documentary celebrating her life is in production and scheduled for a 2027 release.
Here’s hoping you have a super week.
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NYA Thanks Dan Rather and Team Steady!