Today is Dame Julie Andrews' birthday!
Andrews wormed her way into the hearts of children everywhere when she made her film debut as the world's favourite singing nanny in Mary Poppins, for which she won her an Academy Award and her first Golden Globe. She followed this up by playing Maria in the overwhelmingly successful The Sound of Music. I was never a huge fan of Poppins, but Music really introduced child me to the world of musicals beyond Disney. As far as singers go, Andrews was one of the greats, with a 4-octave soprano voice that could give me chills. Sadly, Andrews no longer has that singing voice and consequently no longer appears in musicals - although she continues to have a film career, notably as Queens Clarisse Renaldi and Lilian in the Princess Diaries and Shrek films respectively. In 2000 she was made a Dame for her services to the performing arts and in 2011 she received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. She has also, in recent years, begun a literary career, which just goes to show that you're never too old to do something new.
Happy birthday, Dame Julie!
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