How was this daffodil fresh young woman with her beautiful, crystal voice able to emerge from the turbulent home life and upbringing she writes of in this memoir ? She began singing professionally when she was 12ish. Her mother broke up the family by joining ranks with a man Julie was told to call Pop. Julie was forced to leave her home, father and brother and join her mother and stepfather as they toured in second rate vaudeville theatres as a musical trio. Alcoholism dulled her mother’s piano playing and her stepfather’s voice, just as Julie’s career surged forward. By her teens she was supporting the whole family; mother, step brothers, and even the step father she disliked.
Her big break came when she was chosen for the Boy Friend, a hit musical in England and America. This led to the role of Eliza in My Fair Lady .The backstage glimpses into behind the scenes of My Fair Lady and her subsequent TV shows are intriguing, as well as Julie’s comments on the theatrical world in which she became a star. She also reveals the strain on her voice from the singing, which sounded so carefree and effortless. The book ends as she flies off to American with husband Tony Walton and baby Emma to become Mary Poppins.
Maria says
I loved this book, far more than I’d’ve thought I would a celebrity memoir. I am still wishing for a volume 2 to tell us about Mary Poppins and beyond. I met Julie Andrews in around 1995 and she was exactly as gracious and beautiful and poised as you’d expect. JK Rowling on the other hand was gruff and crass by comparison.