PARIS, Nov 4 — Key dates in the life of British actress and singer Julie Andrews, who presented the latest instalment of her memoirs in London on Saturday:
— October 1, 1935: Julia Elizabeth Wells is born in Surrey, England. Her father is a school teacher and her mother teaches piano.
— 1945: She sings in music halls with her mother and stepfather, Ted Andrews, whose surname she takes.
— 1946-1947: Makes her radio debut in a duet with Andrews on a BBC variety show; gives her first performance as a solo artist at London’s Stage Door Canteen.
— 1954: Moves to the United States for her Broadway debut in the musical “The Boy Friend”, earning widespread plaudits.
— 1956-58: Plays Eliza Doolittle in Broadway’s original “My Fair Lady”.
— 1959: Returns to Britain for the West End version of the show. Marries her first husband, childhood friend Ted Walton, a set and costume designer.
— 1964: Plays the title role in the children’s classic Mary Poppins, for which she earns a leading actress Oscar.
— 1965: Stars in The Sound of Music, one of the world’s top-grossing films for which she is nominated for an Oscar.
— 1982: Directed by Blake Edwards, her second husband, in Victor/Victoria, notching an Oscar nomination for her dual gender role.
— 1997: Botched throat surgery to remove non-cancerous nodules permanently damages her singing voice.
— 2004: Narrates the Queen Lillian character in animation blockbuster Shrek 2. — AFP
