Julie Andrews' untold Christmas story

MANILA, Philippines –  The all-time movie hit, The Sound of Music is 45 years old  and you can’t possibly talk about it without mentioning its star, Julie Andrews — now 75.

Of that landmark film of the mid-’60s, Andrews  called it beautifully crafted. “Everything about it was first-class — the quality of sound, the scenery, the sets, costumes and every single person gave their total best.”

The film has a new DVD version and a Blu-ray release this month for Sound of Music fans.

Andrews was the personification of the pure and wholesome not only because of her Sound of Music film role but also because of her landmark role as the nanny in Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins where she won the Oscar trophy for Best Actress.

But did Andrews live an existence of “sugar and spice and everything nice” in real life?

We took hold of a book bio of Andrews titled Julie Andrews by Robert Windeler and discovered nothing in her famous film roles hardly happened to her in real life.

Born on Oct.  1, 1935 in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, Andrews got her surname from her stepfather, Ted Andrews  who was her mother’s (Barbara Wells) second husband. Her biological father was  her mother’s first husband,  Edward C. “Ted” Wells, a teacher of metal and woodworking. But it turned out Andrews was conceived as a result of an affair her mother had with a family friend.

Where did Andrews imbibe her early exposure to music?

Recalled she in the Windeler book: “My mum, when she was younger, had been a promising concert pianist but her parents died when they were young and she had to quit studying to raise her younger sister.”

That same sister, Joan, gave Andrews her first parts on stage. At age two, she had a non-speaking role of a fairy and at age three, she had a speaking part as Nod in the school production of Winken, Blinken and Nod. Her father built the set and the mother played the piano as usual.

Of Andrews’ life as a stepdaughter, her 2008 memoir confirmed a dark chapter in her life.

They were indeed very poor and lived in a bad slum area of London.

Andrews described it as “a very black period in my life.”

To make matters worse, her stepfather was an alcoholic. The stepfather while drunk tried to get into bed with his stepdaughter resulting in Andrews putting a lock on her door.

But, as the stage career of Ted and Barbara Andrews improved, they were able to afford to move in better surroundings. After the war, they were back to her stepfather’s hometown of  Walton-on-Thames where they took up residence at The Old Meuse, a house where Andrews’ maternal grandmother happened to have served as a maid.

Early in her life, Andrews was witness to her mother as a pianist in endless variety and vaudeville shows.

As it turned out, it was Andrews’  stepfather who sponsored a voice lesson for her when her voice stood out in a community singing in the shelter during the air raids. Her first teacher was soprano and voice instructor Lilian Stiles-Allen.

Admitted Andrews: “She had an enormous influence on me. She was my third mother — I’ve got more mothers and fathers than anyone in the world.”

While the Windeler book said Andrews had a perfect pitch, her 2008 autobiography Home, contradicted this.

At any rate, Andrews recalled in the Windeler book: “In all fairness, I truthfully do not know whether I started in show business because of my parents, or circumstances, or what. But I was under everyone’s feet. My stepfather, not knowing what to do with me (and I think in an attempt to get closer to me) sent me off to a singing teacher.”

The then young Andrews — described as “bandy-legged, buck-toothed” — had a belting, freak voice with a range of five octaves and some fierce high notes.

At 12, Andrews’ stage debut was as a guest singer for a review called Starlight Roof at the London Hippodrome where he sang the aria,  I am Titania from the opera, Mignon.

For that first professional debut, Julie was paid 50 pounds a week.

Her impact in that Hippodrome show led to a request that she sing at a Royal Command Variety Performance at the Palladium where Danny Kaye was the headliner. Her assignment was the usual Mignon aria. The Queen liked her singing and Andrews admitted she was in heaven when she heard the Queen’s highly-positive comment.

So in her teens and many Christmases ago, Andrews was a breadwinner touring music halls all over Britain. She missed formal schooling but had a tutor accompanying her in her vaudeville shows. She also appeared on West End Theatre at the London Casino where she played  the part of Princess Badroulbadour in Aladdin and the egg in Humpty Dumpty. She also appeared on provincial stages across the UK in Jack and the Beanstalk and many theater attractions.

Recalled Andrews in the book: “It was a good training for me and I suppose it paved the way for what was to come. I wouldn’t change much if I could go back and do it all over. But I wouldn’t raise my children that way.”

And so Andrews debuted on Broadway in the musical The Boy Friend and on to My Fair Lady and Camelot. After The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins,  the rest was showbiz history.

At 75, Julie has metamorphosed from singing actress to book  author and a fulfilled mother.

Her words of wisdom after she has attained stardom: “I certainly wouldn’t compare the rewards of watching one’s children grow and mature with that of money piling up at the box-office.”