Home: A Memoir of My Early Years by Julie Andrews

Given my Old Movies for Kids series, how timely to read of a new memoir by someone who signified in my own kid-movie-days.

In 1964 when it seemed as if every other girl my age was gaga over the Beatles I turned my back on all of that for…musicals. And somewhere around then I developed an enormous crush on Julie Andrews because of the cast album of My Fair Lady (which I think my grandparents gave me after seeing the stage version). We went off to Germany for that year and I wailed over and over that I would NEVER get to see her in her first film, Mary Poppins. Fortunately, it was showing when we were in Amsterdam and I got to see it and her. As for Audrey Hepburn (and her ghost singer Marnie Nixon) I had nothing but all the contempt a twelve-year-old-fan-of-someone-else could possibly have for her when the movie came out. I did like the film though, I should say. I saw it in a fancy London theater. (Back then they still were fancy; intermissions with ice creams and all.  Not for much longer, though.)

And so I’m very eager to read Julie Andrews’ Home: A Memoir of My Early Years which has just gotten a very enthusiastic review in the London Times that you can read here.