Julie Andrews receives the American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award

Julie Andrews the star of Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, Victor/Victoria, and more recently Sherk 2, The Princess Diaries, Despicable Me, and Bridgerton has been awarded the American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award in a ceremony at The Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

Julie Andrews has an impressive career that has spanned over six decades, starting in regional theatre in the United Kingdom before landing the role of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady on the West End. 

As luck would have it the show was exported to Broadway where it ran for over two years, it was noticed by several studio heads, including Walt Disney, who approached the young Julie backstage after a performance. He promised her a different role, the role of Mary Poppins, which would be her first on-screen role and won her the Oscar for her first film! 

Later Andrews went on to star as Maria Von Trapp in The Sound of Music, a role that has left a remarkable imprint on her career.

Marrying famed Director, Blake Edwards, Julie Andrews collaborated on many projects and worked alongside a number of the greats including Paul Newman, James Garner, Rock Hudson, Omar Sharif, Dudley Moore, Brian Dennehy, Walter Matthau, Tony Curtis, and William Holden, just to name a few.

Julie Andrews not only concurred stage and cinema she had her own television series in the 1970s, The Julie Andrews Hour, which was a variety show that ran for two years and featured a number of her famous friends that took part in musical numbers. 

In the early 2000s, Julie Andrews starred in The Princess Diaries with Anne Hathaway, The Princess Diaries Two, and Tooth Fairy with Dwayne Johnson and Ashley Judd. 

But she has also maintained a very successful career lending her voice to many famed projects including Shrek 2, Despicable Me, Aquaman, and most recently Bridgerton and released later this year Minions: The Rise of Gru.

Not to be content with a remarkable career in Film, TV, and Stage. Julie Andrews has directed some successful musical productions including a remake of My Fair Lady that toured extensively in Australia in 2016.

While you think Julie Andrews wouldn’t have any other spare time, she has also published over 30 children’s books, with one almost released every year. It has been a small passion project of hers that has taken off. She has several books co-authored with her daughter Emma Watson.

Julie Andrews has a stellar career, with many projects being released later this year and continuing into 2023 and beyond, with rumors of another biography set to be released in the coming years.

But with such an extensive number of successes in varying fields, recognition for this truly remarkable talent is long overdue. 

Julie Andrews has had an outstanding number of hits in her six-decade career. There is no wonder she is loved by millions who remember her as Mary Poppins, Maria von Trapp, Queen Clarisse Renaldi, or the voice of Gru or Lady Whistledown. With so much love and joy for the roles she has played and several roles yet still to come the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award is something that is well deserved for a much-loved performer.

The American Film Institute Achievement Award Gala Tribute to Julie Andrews Special will air on TNT on June 16th.