Last night I went to the Borders bookstore in Westwood to see if I could catch a glimpse of Julie Andrews signing her recently published (partial) autobiography Home: A Memoir of My Early Years.
I arrived more than two hours after Andrews' scheduled arrival, but she was still there, signing away. She looked great, sounding just like Mary Poppins while chatting with old and young fans — men and women of various ethnicities and nationalities who had bought her book. Many of those lingered on afterward, gazing in admiration at the short-haired lady sporting a smart suit, reading-glasses resting near the bottom of her patrician nose. (Blake Edwards, looking quite frail, arrived as I was leaving.)
I was there with a friend who has probably never watched a Julie Andrews movie. ("Was she in The King and I?") Even so, he was visibly moved.
"Why?" I asked him.
"She's an icon. And she's smiling at everybody and she's dressed like a man!"
For my part, I've never been a Julie Andrews fan — even though I've always enjoyed her work. My personal favorite is her performance as the singing & dancing 1920s small-town girl lost in the corrupt big city in George Roy Hill's overlong but amusing Thoroughly Modern Millie. And not just because Mary Poppins' and the Alpine Singing Nun's prominent breasts are the butt (no pun intended) of a very funny joke.
Check your personality and then check out the clip (posted by modernmillie) below.
Bette Davis Sings "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"
Les Enfants du Pays – Douce France
Janus Films' "The Essential Art House" DVD Collection
Julie Andrews, as a singer, was my hero growing up. Her vocal abilities are unparalleled.
Carol Channing is so funy in this one.
Lovely clip. The film is very much worth watching.
Too bad I wasn't able to make it. Sniff.