Our Fair Lady

Memoirs of Eliza -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
I'm listening to Julie Andrews' autobiography "Home". She's had a remarkable adult life as an Oscar-winning screen actress and singer. She's played a gamut of roles from Eliza Doolittle to Mary Poppins to Queen Clarisse in the Princess Bride movies. At 73, she is now the Grande Dame of Anglo-American Theater (and was in fact named a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 1999).

Her childhood was dysfunctional to say the least. Her parents divorced when she was about 7; she spent most of her remaining childhood travelling with her vaudevillian parents. Her Mother Barbara was a pianist and the step-dad sang. Both were alcoholics in need of the program. Julie was fortunate to have a close-by Aunt Joan, and a highly devoted noncustodial father who would step in to care for her when the Mother and step-dad "flaked out" as they frequently did. Julie's Mother dropped a bombshell on her in her early teens -- telling her that her "real" father was in fact a one-night-stand she'd met at a party. Julie continued to embrace and strongly admire Ted Wells, her "societal" father as her real dad.

Her Mother and step-dad sobered up enough to notice her incredible singing range when she was about 9, and sent her to voice coaches and trainers. By age 14, Julie was supporting the family with singing engagements and appearing in small English productions including pantomime shows. Her audiences included the Royal Family by this point, although the good reviews didn't necessarily translate into money. The Andrews struggled to pay bills, and Julie was very oddly parent to her own parents -- ironing shirts, scrambling eggs and sorting out disputes between family members.

When she was pegged for The Boyfriend on Broadway, the naive 18 year old Julie was unaware of how special that was. When Lerner and Loewe interviewed her for My Fair Lady, she had no idea how legendary they were. She almost took a much smaller role in another production until the casting director of that production heard the news. He magnanimously said, "Play Eliza for God's sake! It's the role of a lifetime!" And indeed it was. My Fair Lady brought together some of the finest entertainment talents, anywhere, ever, in one place: Moss Hart, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway and many others. A shy 20-year-old Miss Andrews had to deal with the towering egos of those around her. Rex Harrison thought she was way too young. Cecil Beaton, the costume designer, thought she was too unphotogenic and unsophisticated (and would tell her snipily, to her face). Even Moss Hart would dress her down fiercely if she flubbed any lines. Nevertheless, she persevered and got to be friends with Harrison and Hart.

Julie says that she felt at times like Eliza Doolittle -- a country girl undergoing a major metamorphosis into a Bavarian princess. Listening to the book, I realize that she was very much Eliza. She had a suit-up, show-up survivor mentality that is incredible and rare. In taking care of her two younger brothers and reprimanding her lushy parents, she was very much in the role of Mary Poppins. On top of all that, she is and was extremely knowledgeable about opera, singing and music in general. She can give a history of any song -- who sang it, how it was played and in what setting. Dame Andrews remains grounded, kind and approachable where such stellar success would go to anyone else's head. I still have a few chapters remaining in her book but much is already obvious. Julie Andrews is a Dame and a gem -- a rare find in any lifetime.

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