How Old Was Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins?

English actress, singer, and novelist Dame Julie Andrews DBE. Over the course of a career spanning more than seven decades, she has won countless honors, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, three Grammy Awards, and six Golden Globe Awards.

At the time of Mary Poppins’ Debut, How Old Was She?

When Mary Poppins was filmed from May to September 1963, Julie Andrews was 27 years old. The movie was released in August 1964. In Surrey, England’s Walton-on-Thames, she was born in 1935. Since she had previously only been on stage, it was her cinematic debut.

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Andrews’ Broadway Debut

Beginning at the age of ten, Julia Andrews joined her mother Barbara Andrews, and stepfather Ted Andrews in their theatrical act, which was how she got her start as a child actor and singer in 1935. She would play numerous roles in plays, radio programs, and voiceover work over the course of the following nine years, frequently performing with her family.

She made her Broadway debut in 1954, a few months before turning 19, as Polly Browne in the show The Boy Friend. Following that, she was cast as Eliza Doolittle in the Broadway production of My Fair Lady, and in 1956 she shared the stage with Rex Harrison.

Following that, Andrews received an Emmy nomination for her performance in the live broadcast of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Cinderella on March 31, 1957.

Andrews costarred with Richard Burton as Guinevere in Camelot in 1960.

Andrews had starred in the stage production of My Fair Lady by Lerner and Loewe eight years prior, and Warner Bros. turned it into a movie in 1964. Andrews was passed up for the character of Eliza Doolittle because Jack L. Warner believed Audrey Hepburn would be a more successful choice and that Andrews didn’t have enough fame to assure the movie’s success.

Although I completely understood why Audrey had been cast in the role (I’d never made a movie and was a relative unknown compared to her worldwide fame), Andrews described how this affected her in her 2019 memoir, Home Work: “I felt sad that I would never have the chance to put my version of Eliza on film.”

As it turned out, Andrews benefited from not landing the part of Eliza Doolittle since it freed her up to play the title character in the 1964 movie Mary Poppins.

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Movie Debut

In order to start filming, Andrews and her ex-husband Tony Walton relocated to Burbank, California, along with their three-month-old daughter, Emma. Tony Walton also created the movie’s costumes. According to Andrews, they were “green as grass, knew nothing about the film business, and could not possibly have known what lied ahead.”

Andrews had a steep learning curve because she had never before been in a movie. She had to deal with the stunts and animated parts of the movie in addition to the fact that the methods for preparing for a film are extremely different from those for a stage play.

The fact that it taught me so much in a short amount of time makes me realize that I could not have wished for a better introduction to the film. The difficulties with animation and special effects alone presented a high learning curve.

Andrews had to interact with animations she couldn’t see since the movie combined the actors with the animated backgrounds using a process called sodium vapor process, also known as the yellow screen.

She also experienced a flying harness malfunction in which she fell to the earth like a “ton of bricks.” She recalls: “I have to admit there were numerous Anglo-Saxon words I let fly,” but she was thankfully unscathed.

Overall, Andrews had fun filming the movie, and it was well-received when it was released in August 1964.

Post-Poppins Achievement

Andrews used Mary Poppins as a launching pad for her Hollywood career. The movie made $103.1 million in revenue and took home five Academy Awards. The Academy Award for Best Actress went to Andrews.

She also played Maria Von Trapp in the similarly popular The Sound Of Music (1965), to critical praise and hoopla. Andrews received a second Best Actress nomination at the Academy Awards.

Andrews has had a long career on stage and screen since she made her film debut in Mary Poppins at the age of 27. She has won many accolades, published children’s books, and even received a knighthood (DBE) in 2000 for her contributions to the performing arts.

Summary

Dame Julie Andrews DBE is an English actress, singer, and author. Julie Andrews was 27 years old when Mary Poppins was filmed from May to September 1963. In addition to earning $103.1 million, the film won five Academy Awards.

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