JULIE ANDREWS HIGH TOR PROFESSIONAL

At age 12, Julie Andrews was cast in a musical revue, Starlight Roof, at the London Hippodrome. The exquisitely self-possessed little girl with the crystal-clear voice was attracting the attention of serious theatrical management and was soon ready to make the move from provincial music halls to the theaters of London’s West End. She gave her first performance as a solo artist at London’s Stage Door Canteen, where she was seen by two members of the Royal Family, the mother and sister of the present Queen. Julie Andrews, as she was now known, made her radio debut in 1946, singing a duet with Ted Andrews on a BBC variety show. Twelve-year-old Julie Andrews at play in the family music room in this 1947 publicity photo.

Although Julia remained close to her father, she lived with her mother and took her stepfather’s surname when she joined the family act at age ten. Styles-Allen trained her pupil in operatic repertoire and taught her the perfect diction for which she would become famous. At age eight, she was taken to study with Lilian Styles-Allen, a noted concert singer. Ted Andrews gave the little girl her first singing lessons, and was immediately impressed with the child’s strong voice, large vocal range, perfect pitch and precocious musical ability. Ted and Barbara Andrews formed a musical act and toured England entertaining the troops.

JULIE ANDREWS HIGH TOR PROFESSIONAL

Ted and Barbara Wells divorced on the eve of World War II, and Barbara married Ted Andrews, a professional singer. Her mother, Barbara, a talented pianist, taught piano but longed for a career on the stage. Her father, Ted Wells, was a schoolteacher and enjoyed the simple life of the countryside. The star we know today as Julie Andrews was born Julia Elizabeth Wells in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, then a small village, roughly 18 miles south of London, England.

Julie andrews high tor