Julie Andrews

Speaker 10:00

Hello, I'm Kirsty Young, and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs Archive. For rights reasons, we've had to shorten the music.

Speaker 10:08

The programme was originally broadcast in nineteen ninety two, and the presenter was Sue Lawley.

Presenter0:30

My Castaway this week is an actress. At the age of thirteen she sang at a Royal Command performance. Before she was twenty she became a Broadway star, playing the lead roles in The Boyfriend and My Fair Lady.

Presenter0:41

She won an Oscar for the first film she ever made, Mary Poppins, and the World Wide Affection of Millions for her second, The Sound of Music. What more is there to be said? She is, of course, Julie Andrews.

Presenter0:53

You've never been coy at all about your age, Julie, so you won't mind my saying that you've just celebrated your fifty-seventh birthday.

Julie Andrews0:59

Right.

Presenter0:59

Um I'm sure I'm not the first person to say it, but you genuinely do not look at it.

Julie Andrews1:04

But

Presenter1:05

Uh

Julie Andrews1:05

I don't think I feel it. Some days I do, but mostly I don't. How hard do you work at it, your appearance? Oh, only as hard as I absolutely need to d to to get me by. I'm I'm not a fanatic about exercise, although I do do it.

Julie Andrews1:19

I have to be careful what I eat. I have a tendency towards low blood sugar, so actually it stood me in good stead because it makes me eat sensibly and and balanced meals with some protein and some carbohydrates and things like that.

Presenter1:30

But are you are you a pill popper in the vitamin sense?

Julie Andrews1:33

Um, I do take vitamins, yes, and um I believe in them. I believe in vitamin C and uh Things like that.

Presenter1:39

Are you a bit of a hypochondriac?

Julie Andrews1:40

Yes, that would be a good description. But I hope the kind that eventually becomes rather sensible since you learn about things and know what might be best. And you have to work hard at the voice as well, again.

Presenter1:52

Yeah.

Julie Andrews1:57

So, what do you do? Do you walk around the house trying to hit Top C every day? I do. I do anything that will get me by.

Presenter2:01

Uh

Speaker 22:01

I do.

Julie Andrews2:04

If I'm preparing for a concert or an album or something like that, then I will absolutely disappear and go to the piano and um do my really dedicated practice and technique and things like that. But it could be as simple as uh singing in the car on my way to work or to the children's school or whatever gets me by.

Presenter2:21

But you're always aware of what has to be done. I mean, there is behind it all there's a a very professional discipline.

Julie Andrews2:28

Discipline about you, isn't it? Well, I hope that you would think that. I mean, I feel it's fairly disciplined. It's also.

Julie Andrews2:35

An attempt to do as much as possible in this wonderful life, and uh sometimes I do overcrowd myself, and therefore the discipline.

Julie Andrews2:42

uh slips a bit. But on top of all that, I have to say I think I am basically fairly disciplined. That's how you're always taught to be.

Presenter2:48

Yeah.

Julie Andrews2:49

Yeah.

Presenter2:49

Yes, absolutely. Let's pause there and and set you on course for your desert island. What what kind of music do you think that you'll need to sustain?

Julie Andrews2:57

Stain you when you bid.

Presenter2:57

Yeah.

Julie Andrews2:58

Well, in choosing my selections, uh I suddenly discovered that I'm fairly romantic in um

Julie Andrews3:05

Nature certainly in my my choices, I think, and also very British. I mean, a lot of the things that I've chosen were to remind me of England and other things, and I'll I'll maybe explain as we go along.

Presenter3:17

What's the first one?

Julie Andrews3:17

Fun.

Julie Andrews3:18

The first choice is something that I would take with me because it's the first memory I have of music, and it my mother used to play this piece. It's Amberly Wildebrooks by John Ireland, and she used to sit in our lounge when I was quite a young child and play it very beautifully, and so um I may be awash with tears by the end of this piece.

Presenter4:36

John Ireland's Amberly Wild Brooks played by Eric Parkin and Memories of Your Mother at the Piano. She wanted to

Julie Andrews4:41

She wanted to be a concert pianist, didn't she? Yes, in her youth she trained to be a concert pianist and then life sort of uh really turned for her and she lost both her parents and had to take care of her younger sister who's my aunt. And I'm afraid the uh the concert platform just disappeared for my mother. But she of course she played so beautifully.

Presenter4:57

What about you now? You were apparently discovered

Julie Andrews5:00

In an air aid shelter, is that right? Well, that's the sort of good PR story, but I think the truth is that my

Julie Andrews5:06

Fairly new stepfather, who was a fine singer himself, really wanted to get to know his new stepdaughter and thought this might be a way for us to sort of become close. I it simply terrified me and I didn't enjoy the lessons at all, but he did discover that I had this freak voice, and he must have been as surprised as anybody. What was freaky about that? Well, freaky in the sense that it was very, very long and thin and incredibly powerful and strong. I had about a four octave range and a sort of

Julie Andrews5:36

adult larynx and could do the most extraordinary vocal gymnastics with it.

Presenter5:41

So you were quite a find for him in that.

Julie Andrews5:42

I don't know. Uh they were very good about it, my mum and my step dad. They tried very hard to keep me as normal as possible, but of course it wasn't exactly a normal childhood.

Presenter5:53

But but they had an act themselves. I mean they were involved.

Julie Andrews5:55

They were in music hall in vaudeville and uh he sang and she played the piano for him. And um So you were incorporated into that act? Yes, they were very successful. They were always touring and uh at the beginning I would go on and stand on a sort of orange box to reach the microphone beside my stepfather. And then eventually when I was about twelve I did one broadcast and one show that kind of kicked me into sort of public attention and it was such a huge success that it sort of took off from there.

Presenter6:23

What was the problem? Was that our educating archery? No, it wasn't.

Julie Andrews6:24

No, it wasn't. It was it was from Aeolian Hall, the old Aeolian Hall, and it was probably Sunday night at eight or something like that. And what sort of thing were you singing? I sang, I believe, the Polonais from Mignon. Again, a lot of uh cadenzas and and uh gymnastics.

Presenter6:39

So you were always a showstopper and the audience was quite a bit more.

Julie Andrews6:41

Well, simply because of my age. I mean, I was sort of twelve at the time. But the real big showstopper was the review at the London Hippodrome, which was once the London Hippodrome. But that was with Vic Oliver, wasn't it? That's right. And that sh certainly was a big overnight success. And it ran for a year. And I really thought that would be the end of my career, that it was just a sort of flash in the pan, so to speak. And of course I was very grateful when the next job came along. But the next job was surely the Royal Command performance. Yes, it was, in fact. Yes. There's a lovely story about that, actually.

Speaker 17:08

Yes, uh, it was a lovely speaker.

Julie Andrews7:12

In those days, being twelve years old, my mother would never let me open my mail.

Julie Andrews7:16

and she uh said you must always bring your letters home from the theatre and and give them to me or somebody, because people would write silly things and foolish things sometimes, and and she didn't want me to be upset.

Julie Andrews7:27

So there was a telegram that came for me one evening, and I put it in my coat pocket, and promptly never said anything about it.

Julie Andrews7:33

And about two weeks later I happened to wear the same coat, and I said, Oh, this came to the stage door, Mum, I d I don't know if you want it and she opened it, and it was the invitation to appear at the Royal Command performance and my and we had to reply and answer within I would say we only had about two hours left, and my mother was frantic. And that was in front of the Queen Mother. and Princess Margaret.

Julie Andrews7:54

Yes, it was. Do you remember?

Presenter7:55

Do you remember being terrified or having a

Julie Andrews7:57

Had you got over stage nerves by then? You know, I was too young to be scared. It was all such a wonderful adventure. And, um,

Julie Andrews8:03

These days I am much, much, much more scared, but in those days I couldn't lose for winning, if you know what I mean.

Julie Andrews8:10

Record number two.

Julie Andrews8:12

My second choice, I think, has to be The Lark Ascending by Ralph Vaughan Williams, simply because it's a a pastoral piece and and it reminds me of my dad who loved the country and nature and things like that. This is my real father. It was my stepfather who taught me to sing, but my my real dad was a gentle and and strong and lovely man. Uh he was a school teacher, so this is for him really.

Presenter9:35

The Lark Ascending by Ralph Thorne Williams, played by the London Chamber Orchestra under the musical direction of Christopher Warren Greene, and Memories, Julie Andrews, of your father. Yes. Sad

Julie Andrews9:45

He died almost two years ago and uh I I I think he loved the piece as much as I do. He and your mother though parted, divorced when you were very young. Yes, when I was a I think I was four or five years old, something like that. But you obviously rem

Presenter9:54

PS

Presenter9:58

Remain close to him.

Julie Andrews9:59

Oh, yes. I mean every summer and Christmases and things like that. Uh

Julie Andrews10:03

He was very present in my life and a very strong part of it. He really gave me the sort of roots that I needed in my life to keep me sane.

Presenter10:11

But it was your stepfather.

Julie Andrews10:13

Ted Andrews, whose name you took.

Presenter10:15

who was the driving force behind your career? Was he a was he a hard taskmaster?

Julie Andrews10:20

I think it was probably the combination of of Ted Andrews and my mother, really. Probably my mother was influential in getting him to do the driving, if you know what I mean. She probably was a bit of a stage mum in that respect, but a good one and and the

Presenter10:30

But did you ever resent it? Did you ever think, why do I have to do this? Why can't I just be a child?

Julie Andrews10:36

You would think that I would have resented it, but I didn't. And looking back on it, I think that I was

Julie Andrews10:43

unconsciously so grateful to have a talent that gave me an identity, because being from a divorced family and being rather lost and somewhat

Julie Andrews10:53

you know, without any self-pity, just a little bit lonely, I think. Um, it was wonderful to have something to hang on to, and this gave me something to do and made me feel special and important, and I could uh

Julie Andrews11:03

sing and wow people and things like that. So I thought myself at the time the luckiest little girl in the world and and had all this fun staying up late and

Julie Andrews11:11

going to shows and performing and things like that.

Presenter11:14

But looking back on it, do you think there was an element of your fulfilling someone else's ambitions in you, perhaps your mother's or your stepfather's?

Julie Andrews11:19

Perhaps you mother.

Julie Andrews11:21

Whether I did or didn't fulfil, I probably did fulfil some of my mother's ambitions.

Julie Andrews11:26

It wasn't such a bad thing, because um I've come to love it so, and I now so enjoy what I do and

Julie Andrews11:33

I love giving pleasure to people and making them forget that there's a problem world out there or that the tax man's waiting or whatever, so uh I don't knock it at all.

Presenter11:42

Your greatest problem then apparently and I I think you condemned yourself from your own mouth, if I can quote you described yourself then as as plain, buck toothed, boss-eyed and bandy legged. Can this all be true of ours?

Julie Andrews11:52

Can this all be true? Absolutely true. You can't imagine. It was an awful combination. So, good thing that I was able to sing, right?

Julie Andrews12:00

But w was it were you really sit? Oh, sure. I had a one eye that wandered right into the corner and and seemed to have a a life of its own, no matter what I wanted it to do. And uh my legs were very bandy and my teeth were very bad, but ballet helped straighten the legs and a good dentist helped straighten the teeth and see

Presenter12:17

What what happened to the eye?

Julie Andrews12:18

Well, the eye I had to have work on, somebody used to sort of

Julie Andrews12:22

Have a go at my eye. I remember it as being very painful. There used to be a lot of massage and.

Julie Andrews12:28

And then I had to sort of do all these odd things like wear a bow on my shoulder and follow pencils that were sort of pulled in front of my eye and I'd have to follow it all the way round to the corner and things like that. But it did the trick. It did the trick and it was probably just a weak muscle that eventually sort of righted itself. I don't know if the exercises did it or whether it would have happened anyway. So you ended up being reasonably presentable. Certainly better than that, yes. Shall we have record number three? Yes. This is a great favourite of mine. It's the violin concerto by Brahms. And I chose it simply because

Julie Andrews13:00

When I was in New York for the first time, when I was out of town with my fair lady in Camelot,

Julie Andrews13:07

I used music as a kind of um drug to make me forget some of the pressures and and uh I would go home after the theatre and just play Brahms and Rachmaninoff and and uh anything else that I adored and it would be uh very, very helpful to me. It would make me sort of uh it took off some of the pressure and this piece was what I played probably most of all.

Presenter14:26

Brahms violin concerto in D major, opus seventy seven, played by David Oustrach with the Orchestre Nationale de la Radio Fusion Française, conducted by Otto Klemperer. So um you were a star here at home in the late forties and the early fifties, weren't you? And then in in nineteen fifty four you became a star on Broadway because you played Polly in The Boyfriend. Right. Uh and as a result of that you were asked to play Eliza Doolittle opposite Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady.

Julie Andrews14:41

It's not

Speaker 114:41

Yeah.

Speaker 114:46

Uh

Julie Andrews14:46

Right.

Julie Andrews14:52

Yeah.

Presenter14:54

He didn't want

Julie Andrews14:55

So he didn't make it obvious that you weren't welcome. Not at all. And in fact, uh it was the probably the best acting lesson I could ever have had was to stand on stage or any night and watch him.

Presenter15:05

So he did.

Speaker 115:07

No, he didn't welcome

Presenter15:17

But that would have been an enormous responsibility for you then, because you would have been about nineteen. There you were playing opposite the great Rex Hammers.

Julie Andrews15:24

Yes, I think I did feel that responsibility too. It was quite a long haul and quite a big strain. It was a very difficult role too.

Presenter15:32

Very taxing on the voice, I would say. There's lots of shouting as well as the singing.

Julie Andrews15:34

There's lots of shouting as well as the singing. And I certainly learned a great deal about my own.

Julie Andrews15:39

ability to hold up under pressure during that show. I mean, I I finally learned to how to sing around a cold and how to sing around other people who had colds and people who were coughing in the audience and goodness knows what.

Presenter15:50

But it was a great success and it it played on Broadway for two years and then it played for eighteen months here in in London. But when the film was made three or four years later, you didn't get the part and Audrey Hepburn did. So that must have been a terrible blow.

Julie Andrews16:01

Yes.

Julie Andrews16:03

Well, at the time I think, you know, in retrospect I suddenly thought, Oh, it is a shame that I didn't put the role down definitively somewhere. But at the time I really did understand why Audrey was chosen, because I was only known on Broadway in those days. I wasn't known across the country. Um I wasn't a film star, I'd never made a movie. So she was more bankable, basically. Oh, absolutely, much more so. She's a very good friend of mine and she uh said to me

Speaker 116:17

In those

Julie Andrews16:28

Just afterwards she said, Julie, I didn't have the guts to turn it down, and I can understand it. But then it wasn't so tough, Sue, because very, very shortly afterwards, almost as

Julie Andrews16:39

The most wonderful compensation. Walt Disney asked if I would like to do Mary Poppins, and so, funnily enough, Fair Lady was being made at Warner Brothers, and just down the road I was doing Mary Poppins at Disney. Which we shall talk about after your fourth record. Ah Well, I thought that I would have to take the human voice with me to my desert island.

Julie Andrews16:58

When all is said and done, one of my great loves has been um the opera turundo.

Julie Andrews17:03

and the beautiful Aria Nessendorma. In fact, I think if I went to my desert island I would take the entire opera on on album, because I would sort of get double my money's worth. But to day I thought I'd just ask for the lovely Aria, if possible, sung by um Pavarotti.

Speaker 217:30

Birdings that are on far.

Speaker 117:38

But I be on this third I am yours.

Speaker 117:45

Glory their souls of night.

Presenter18:18

Luciano Pavarotti singing Nessundorma from Puccini's Turundotte with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta.

Presenter18:26

So it was Walt Disney who gave you, Julie, your first big film break. He was apparently enchanted by your whistle.

Presenter18:33

Oh

Julie Andrews18:34

My uh yes, you're right. Um

Julie Andrews18:36

Uh I don't know where he heard that I could whistle, but I certainly used it in um Poppins and and uh

Presenter18:42

And you went on to use it in sound of music. I must say I've always thought it was dumped.

Julie Andrews18:46

My whistle? Yes, certainly not. No, it was the real McCoy. Yeah.

Presenter18:50

But this was your your next big break, wasn't it?

Julie Andrews18:52

Yeah.

Presenter18:53

Yeah.

Julie Andrews18:54

Truthfully, Sewe, there were three monumental breaks in my life, and you can only put them down to extraordinary good luck and amazing timing, because I happened to be in the right place at the right time. And the first, obviously, uh as we discussed earlier, was when I was twelve years old was singing at the Hippodrome, that was the first big chance for me, and then going to Broadway.

Julie Andrews19:12

And being in the boyfriend and fair lady was the second stepping stone, and then of course the third was going to Hollywood.

Presenter19:18

First film Mary Poppins and he won an Oscar for it.

Julie Andrews19:21

Well yeah I'm

Presenter19:21

Uh Um that was just icing on the cake. And then the next year you were offered the sound of music, but you didn't accept with a

Julie Andrews19:28

Alacrity, did you?

Julie Andrews19:29

No, I don't recall being unhappy about it at all, Sue. Maybe that's just somebody who said it. I'm sure it isn't.

Presenter19:34

I'm sure it is. The the story is that you didn't think that that children and mountains and nuns was particularly exciting. I see.

Julie Andrews19:41

I see, I see. No, I tell you that the truth of it is that we all thought that that with that amount

Julie Andrews19:46

Of sort of sugary content, we had to be very careful to keep it as astringent as possible, that was for sure.

Presenter19:52

And what was it like behind the scenes? Was it as fresh and happy as it looked in front?

Julie Andrews19:57

Um

Julie Andrews19:58

Very hard work. Nobody told us that in Austria they have the world's seventh.

Julie Andrews20:05

highest annual rainfall, and so we sat for many, many hours on mountains under tarpaulins waiting for the sun to come out.

Julie Andrews20:12

And there were many hilarious times, a great deal of love, and in fact all the children who are now, of course, grown up, we get together on certain anniversaries, like the tenth anniversary, and not too long ago our twenty fifth anniversary, if you please. And there's a we still love each other.

Presenter20:23

Yeah.

Presenter20:26

It brought you, of course, enormous success and world renown, and, together with Mary Poppins, an image which has since proved difficult to shake off. Are you are you heartily tired of the world believing that you are crisp and efficient and wholesome? Or or are you all those things?

Julie Andrews20:43

Well, I suppose a certain amount of that uh rubs off

Julie Andrews20:47

In one's performances, and uh perhaps there is that in me. I think that one gets bracketed, you see, b by the things that one has done that were the most popular. For instance, obviously, Sound of Music and and Mary Poppins were such huge successes that people remember those first, and they do sort of bracket you. I hope that that these days that the body of work speaks for itself. And it only disturbed me in that if it prevented other people from thinking of me for a role in in a different way, in a different light, uh then it was sad. But I don't knock that image because it did give so much pleasure.

Presenter21:20

No, absolutely. But on the other hand, you still have it, despite the fact that you've since gone on to do our own.

Julie Andrews21:25

I know. Well, therefore, I suppose you're right. Certain things just stick around.

Presenter21:29

I wonder what you have to do to get get rid of it. I mean, you've appeared naked in the shower with Rock Hudson. You bared your breasts in S.O.B. And that didn't work. You've changed sex in Victor Victoria. I mean, what does a girl have to do? I just get to.

Julie Andrews21:32

Terminal

Julie Andrews21:34

We drop it.

Julie Andrews21:38

And that

Julie Andrews21:39

So you've changed it.

Julie Andrews21:40

Yeah.

Julie Andrews21:44

To appear unwholesome or less than wholesome.

Presenter21:46

Less than

Julie Andrews21:48

Uh if you've got any suggestions, I'd be very glad to to listen to them. Do you mind very much? You hate the word wholesome. No, I don't. No. I mean, I I'm I'm a good old British stock and I'm a hearty girl, so uh that that's all there is to it. Next piece of music. Oh, the next piece of music is probably uh

Julie Andrews22:05

something that I couldn't live without.

Julie Andrews22:07

It's the piano concerto in G major by Ravel, and I chose it because Blake

Julie Andrews22:13

My husband and I, we we courted to this music and uh so of course it has lovely memories.

Presenter23:19

Ravel's piano concerto in G major, played by Arturo Beneditti Michelangeli, with the Philharmonia Orchestra. And memories of meeting your husband of twenty three years.

Julie Andrews23:29

Yes, it may even be 24 this year. I I have to look at

Presenter23:32

My uh Dahry. Blake Edwards. He of course was the the writer and or director behind many of the films uh that you made after the musical successes.

Julie Andrews23:40

The musical success.

Presenter23:44

But he chose you for roles which people wouldn't naturally have chosen you for, as it were. Roles which directly contradicted the Mary Poppins image. Do you think that was one of the reasons that you were rather attracted to him, that he saw the other side of you?

Julie Andrews23:58

Well, he obviously n knew me much better than most, and so uh hopefully saw that there was the potential for something else as well. But people in the beginning said that you and he were an unlikely combination. Well, I think we both thought that, and I didn't think the marriage would last, and we said

Julie Andrews24:14

That we would take it a day at a time, and that's exactly what we've done for this last twenty-three years.

Presenter24:19

Family life is very important to you.

Julie Andrews24:21

It is, yes.

Julie Andrews24:24

Well, we have between us we have five children and we've raised them all. You

Presenter24:27

Yeah.

Julie Andrews24:27

Uh Yes, I did.

Presenter24:28

Yes

Presenter24:30

No, I mean you and play.

Julie Andrews24:31

No, sadly. We wanted to, but just weren't lucky, and uh so we adopted to.

Presenter24:31

The net.

Presenter24:33

When

Julie Andrews24:37

And uh they are ours as much as as if we had had them together.

Presenter24:40

There were two Vietnamese girls, Joanna and

Julie Andrews24:42

Joanna and Amy, how old are they?

Presenter24:43

How old are they now?

Julie Andrews24:44

They're now, would you believe, uh eighteen and seventeen, but we

Julie Andrews24:48

took them into our lives when they were two months and five months old.

Presenter24:52

And you had a daughter from a previous marriage. He had a son and daughter, so then there were five. That's right.

Julie Andrews24:56

That's right.

Presenter24:57

Obviously, all of those children were brought up in very different circumstances from those in which you were brought up. Apart from that obvious difference, what what else would you say have you attempted to make different for them? What have you tried to give them, to tell them, to offer them that you didn't have, which is what all parents

Julie Andrews25:16

Well

Julie Andrews25:19

There's no doubt that even their lives, having uh Mary Poppins for a mum and Blake Edwards for a dad, are different from from their peers. But I we've tried to give them some constancy, we've tried to give them a a good home life, and I've tried to keep my promises to them and things like that.

Presenter25:34

But have you taught them that same kind of discipline that you were taught? Or or have you wanted them to be really rather more relaxed than that?

Julie Andrews25:42

No, I think the thing that I've I rather feel today that manners are missing in society in general, and so actually I couldn't stop them from being modern and with it and doing all the things that children today do, but I do sort of insist on pleases and thank yous and and decency, because that doesn't cost anything and uh it it makes the house such an easier place to live in.

Julie Andrews26:04

Record number six. Well, uh, you couldn't have asked me at a better moment because this one is um

Julie Andrews26:11

Rodeo or Rodeo, I'm not quite sure how you pronounce it, by Aaron Copeland. And

Julie Andrews26:16

When we are together as a family.

Julie Andrews26:19

We quite often put on music, and there is a kind of unspoken.

Julie Andrews26:24

Um

Julie Andrews26:25

understanding that at a certain moment in the record the entire family, especially myself and the kids, get up and tear around the dining room.

Julie Andrews26:34

at a fast pace because it's so joyous and and one can't help but do it. And we never actually said let's go or let's do it, but we all of us one day just got up and did it and it's become a sort of ritual ever since.

Speaker 227:40

Yeah.

Presenter27:43

The Ho Down from Aaron Copeland's Rodeo, played by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leonard Slatkin. Um th there's nothing of of yours or well, I wouldn't expect you to have perhaps your own music, but certainly I might have expected you to have a Hollywood musical number or Okay.

Julie Andrews28:04

Twenty I would certainly include something. But the difficulty was what? There is so much music that I adore. And I finally decided that I would go with things that reminded me of home and family and mum and dad and and my country and things like that because um if I went the other way I'd just never stop choosing and I'd end up

Julie Andrews28:22

And in any case

Presenter28:24

Yeah.

Julie Andrews28:24

You can sing to your

Presenter28:24

Uh

Julie Andrews28:25

Self on the beach

Julie Andrews28:27

I never thought about that. Yes, I could do that, couldn't I? What will you do all day on the island? Will it be purgatory for?

Julie Andrews28:33

It depends.

Julie Andrews28:36

Would you bring order to bear? I mean, you're a homemaker, aren't you? Uh probably a a measure of safety to bear, yes. And some order, probably. Um I'd try to keep the creepy Crawleys away and things like that, I think.

Julie Andrews28:49

But you you don't like cooking? Is that right? I like it. I'm not very good at it. The truth is that Blake is a superb cook and puts me to shame. So I I'm always a little bit sort of apologetic when I

Julie Andrews29:00

Bring something out, but I can certainly do it. But you're all right at the housework? Yes, I'm very good at the washing up, you see. Oh, yeah. And you're good at.

Presenter29:05

Oh yeah. And you're good at scrubbing the floors.

Julie Andrews29:07

Yes, Mary Poppins lives when when I get going.

Presenter29:11

What about the inner man? I mean, could you cope all alone, or would you go quietly? And gentle

Julie Andrews29:17

Bonkers.

Julie Andrews29:20

It's a good question. I don't think I could answer it. I'm very good at being alone, but that's because my life is so filled with children and people and things that I do. So when I'm alone I'm quite good at it. I don't know in the long haul whether I would be. I'd have to find that out, Sue. I hope I would be.

Julie Andrews29:38

Yeah.

Presenter29:38

You're also, obviously, to outward view, very self assured and very calm, and one would expect nothing less after being in the public eye for more than forty years or so. But are you less than calm inside? Does that hide a

Julie Andrews29:50

Yes, I will not.

Presenter29:50

Yes, I will not be able to do it.

Julie Andrews29:52

I'm very good at hiding my shyness, but I am rather shy. And uh

Julie Andrews29:57

I I do get absolutely panic stricken and I have to sort of deal with that. And uh oh um opening night for instance. Um it's the only time I'm really known to pray hard.

Presenter30:02

On what kind of occasion?

Julie Andrews30:08

And uh

Julie Andrews30:10

I think that because I didn't have much of an education, I always feel wanting that my words won't be adequate or that I won't be smart enough to hold a good conversation with people, things like that.

Presenter30:20

So how do you make up for all that? Do you just open your mouth and see what comes out? Keep talking.

Julie Andrews30:23

Keep talking. It's very hard to shut me up once I do open my mouth. But uh I I try to listen a lot and learn a lot and try to read a lot. Well that's hard these days with children.

Presenter30:33

So I mean, it's quite a chore for you to try and live up to your own expectation.

Julie Andrews30:37

Of myself, you're absolutely right, yes. But whoever does, do you know anybody that does?

Julie Andrews30:42

Let's have some more music.

Julie Andrews30:44

Right. Well, this choice was difficult because I I wanted to not only take away to the island things that would remind me of the past, but something that would keep me really stimulated and fresh and and uh make me think a lot and something that I could learn from. And uh Prokofiev is a new love for me. I adore all his music, especially all the wonderful ballet scores and and uh

Julie Andrews31:06

Romeo and Juliet, for example. I nearly chose that. But finally, um, because of my love for the piano, I chose the piano concerto number three in C major.

Presenter32:15

The opening of Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26, played by Marta Agarich with the Berliner Philharmonica Orchestra, conducted by Claudio Abardo. Are you are you still a British citizen? Are you still got a passport? Yes, oh yes. Your very Englishness was an integral part, has been an integral part of your success, hasn't it? Do you still feel English? Because you don't spend a lot of time here. You've spent time.

Speaker 132:28

Yeah.

Julie Andrews32:41

Actually, I come home more than you think. I just um that I we d I don't sort of keep in mind. That's right, I come in rather quietly. But you've lived my home with the family is in Los Angeles, and we we do commute to Switzerland sometimes and and that's our sort of hideaway. And your husband is American. I mean, yes, there's a

Presenter32:45

Keep it secret. That's right. I'm coming wrong.

Presenter32:57

There's a lot of American

Julie Andrews32:59

But I do feel

Julie Andrews33:01

Uh very English, and I I feel it I know it's terribly corny, but I do feel a sort of um

Julie Andrews33:08

Responsibility to

Julie Andrews33:10

take what's best of England with me wherever I go and sort of speak for England in a way a sort of uh silent ambassador, if you will, or vocal ambassador, I'm not sure which, because it's important to me that we reach out to each other and I think, well, if I can sort of

Julie Andrews33:24

give a good image of my country wherever I go and then I've I've sort of

Julie Andrews33:29

Helped a little bit. It's it does sound polyannerish. I'd better shut up.

Presenter33:33

I know that a couple of years ago, I think, or three years ago, BAFTA gave you a very special award for a lifetime of achievement. I was thrilled.

Julie Andrews33:39

Cheese I was

Presenter33:41

But does it also is it also daunting to think that you've

Julie Andrews33:45

Food.

Presenter33:45

Been around for so long.

Julie Andrews33:47

Well, the staunting part is, you think, oh, I see. Are they thinking that I should go out to pasture now or something like that? But um no, it's lovely to have such recognition. It isn't necessary, but um it sort of makes one say, Yes, but I there's an awful lot I'd like to do still and

Presenter34:01

Is there? I mean, you don't have to work. Do you work because there is still a magic for you? Or do you work?

Julie Andrews34:01

I mean he's back at it.

Julie Andrews34:07

Mm-hmm.

Julie Andrews34:10

If one is fortunate enough to have a talent, you certainly shouldn't waste it or abuse it. But no, these days, I have to say, mostly, it's become such a pleasure. It's the doing that matters these days.

Presenter34:21

You're obviously a very happy person, but there is a s sort of constant worry that you do.

Presenter34:27

Sound or seem or think too much like Mary Poppins or Pollyanna.

Julie Andrews34:29

I can hear my mum in the background saying, You shut up and you don't don't you come on too too conceited and if you get a swollen head I'll box your ears, that kind of thing.

Julie Andrews34:40

Last record. Well, having spoken about Britain, I think uh I would have to take with me some Elgar. It absolutely for me sums up all that is lovely about Britain, and it's deeply moving and stirring, and I'd have to have it, I'm afraid, because uh I couldn't live without it, so

Julie Andrews34:57

I thought about it a great deal and finally decided on the introduction and allegro for strings.

Presenter36:03

The end of Elgar's Introduction and Allegro for Strings, Oprus forty seven, with uh Sir John Barbaroli conducting the Sinphonia of London. So which Julia is your favourite of those eight o'clock? If you could only take one

Julie Andrews36:13

Awesome.

Julie Andrews36:14

Oh my, oh my, oh my. I think it would have to probably be the Revelle, the entire Revelle piano concerto. And memories of meeting your husband. That's right, yes. And your book, as well as the Bible and Shakespeare.

Julie Andrews36:25

Am I allowed to take the entire Encyclopædia Britannica? Oh, okay. You can't take it. We'll try to reference, yes. In that case.

Presenter36:27

No.

Presenter36:28

Yeah.

Julie Andrews36:32

I probably would take a book that's that's uh

Julie Andrews36:35

It is informative, but it's certainly not a book of reference, and it's The Once and Future King by T. H. White, because he was a great friend, and it's the book.

Julie Andrews36:43

Uh that Camelot was based on. And it's very beautiful and very informative. And your luxury. Oh boy. Uh providing it could stay tuned, I'd have to take a piano. Can you play it?

Julie Andrews36:56

Uh, not terribly well, and I thought it would keep me very busy if I if on the island, as long as the piano didn't go wildly out of tune, I could really learn.

Julie Andrews37:04

Julie Andrews, thank you very much indeed for letting us hear your desert island this. Thanks for asking me, Sue. It's been a pleasure.

Speaker 137:16

You've been listening to a podcast from the Desert Islandists archive. For more podcasts, please visit bbc.co.uk/slash radio four.