Queer Icon Julie Andrews Turns 90

She is one of the last living legends of classic Hollywood cinema: On Wednesday, Dame Julie Andrews celebrated her 90th birthday. For generations of moviegoers, she remains unforgettable as the magical nanny who glides through the air with her umbrella, or as Maria, the singing governess in the Alps. Yet the actress is much more than the image of the perfect nanny.

Born on October 1, 1935, in Walton-on-the-Thames as Julia Elizabeth Wells, she grew up in England during World War II. It was her stepfather who discovered her extraordinary voice — by the age of nine she could span more than four octaves. “Little Julie” soon became part of her parents’ Vaudeville act and traveled the country with them. By the time she was twelve, she was publicly performing in London in musicals such as Starlight Roof and Humpty Dumpty.

As a teenager, Andrews ultimately had to support the family on her own because her stepfather was an alcoholic. “We needed money badly. So I toured, when I was about 15, all over England, again and again,” she recalled in an interview with CBS News. At the time, the young actress didn’t believe in her own success: “I did it because it helped, and I had to. As a teenager I wondered: What is this all for? Where would it lead?” And then the world suddenly opened up.

At 19 she finally received her big break on Broadway — without ever having taken acting lessons. She played the lead in The Boy Friend, and a year later followed the sensational success of My Fair Lady (1956). The role of Guinevere in Camelot was tailor-made for her in 1960.

Because of this, Walt Disney (1901-1966) personally took notice of her, recognizing in the young Briton his Mary Poppins. The Disney founder shaped Julie Andrews into an idol. On August 27, 1964, Mary Poppins hit theaters and grossed over $100 million. The role of the magical nanny in the lavish Disney musical was Andrews’ very first feature-film appearance: Back in 1964, producer Jack Warner had passed over her for the film adaptation of My Fair Lady in favor of the more famous Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993). But Disney believed in her — and he was right. In 1965, Andrews stood onstage radiant with the Oscar for Best Actress.

The Singing Nanny Loved by Queer People

A year later came The Sound of Music — My Songs, My Dreams — again as the enchanting nanny, this time in Austria. The Hollywood classic, crowned with five Oscars and featuring songs like “Do-Re-Mi,” became a cultural touchstone in the United States, especially within the LGBTQ community. The film tackles themes of self-discovery and breaking free from societal pressure — and that at a time when homosexuality was illegal in large parts of the U.S. and the world.

More Than Just the Singing Nanny

But Julie Andrews never wanted to be “the good fairy of Hollywood.” In the years that followed, she deliberately chose roles that stood apart from musical sweetness: in 1966 she appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s political thriller Torn Curtain opposite Paul Newman. Her second husband Blake Edwards (1922-2010), the director of the Pink Panther series, cast her in contrasting roles starting in 1970: In Darling Lili she became a spy, in The Fruit of the Tropic Tree (1974) she played an interior-ministry official — and with Victor/Victoria (1982) she became a true queer icon. In that film she played a singer who pretends to be a man, who in turn imitates a woman.

Loss of Her Singing Voice
Parallel to this, Andrews captivated listeners around the world with her concert work. By 1997, after a botched operation on nodules on her vocal cords, she almost lost her famous singing voice. “They stole my greatest talent at that time,” she emphasized in a 2004 interview with Stern. The legal dispute with the doctors who treated her ended in September 2000 with a settlement.

Four years after the procedure, Julie Andrews, who had by then been made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022), returned to the screen in the romantic comedy The Princess Diaries opposite Anne Hathaway. For that role she was able to sing again, though only within one octave. On May 8, 2010, she ventured a comeback as a singer at the London O2 Arena, accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Twenty thousand fans greeted her with standing ovations. To this day, Andrews has not regained her full singing voice.

Voice Roles and Children’s Books

Since 2010, Julie Andrews has hardly been seen in theatrical films. Instead, she has focused on voice roles — including work in the Shrek films and Despicable Me. Since 2020 she has also lent her voice to the Netflix hit series Bridgerton, voicing the mysterious Lady Whistledown in the original version.

Her new vocal presence has also found a home as a children’s author. Together with her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton — she has five children in total, two of them stepchildren and two adopted — she has published 35 books to date.

Ally to Queer People
Julie Andrews is celebrated not only for her roles but also for her public statements. She has said she has always been an ally of the LGBTQI community. She recalled that as a child and teenager she already perceived prejudice and hate — and that she never understood it. She was raised to not think that way. This shows up in her projects: in her 2017 Netflix kids’ show Julie’s Theatre School, she strove to be as inclusive as possible. For example, there is a puppet named Riley who is nonbinary.

At 90, Julie Andrews remains an icon — not only as Mary Poppins, but as an artist who keeps reinventing herself and who also has a big heart.