I’m a screen addict, so a fair chunk of my childhood memories are intimately tied up in film. Around the age of eight, I remember becoming roundly obsessed with The Sound Of Music, watching it every single day for several weeks before my parents seized back control. To this day, hearing the opening chords produces a Pavlovian response of instant joy. Blame Julie Andrews’ flawless performance.
Andrews, 81, was a child actor, starting on the West End stage, and already a Broadway star by the time she appeared as the singing governess in the Rodgers and Hammerstein movie musical. I was consumed by those eyes, her deeply nuanced performance and that gamine crop. By the time I saw her playing another iconic singing caregiver, Mary Poppins, my love was cemented.
The best word to describe Andrews’ voice is “clean”. It cuts right through your chest, precise and clear, and is perhaps the happiest sound you’ll ever hear, like the best of summer holidays. With every new discovery I made over the years – Thoroughly Modern Millie, 10, Victor/Victoria – I found new levels. Andrews played them all: coquettish, sexy, hilarious, and then, in later life, cornered the market in slightly stuffy English matriarchs (I love her in The Princess Diaries movies). The breadth of her career is astonishing.
Even more amazing? She’s still going. Julie’s Greenroom is her newest show, in which Andrews (plus Muppets) teaches kids about the arts, alongside cameos from the likes of Alec Baldwin and Idina Menzel. Look, I know I’m not the target demographic, but I loved her first, OK? I’m watching it.
