Julie Andrews: A Life on Stage and Screen (Paperback)

by Robert Windeler (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
In this satisfying, straight-ahead biography of the star of My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins, and The Sound of Music, Robert Windeler walks a fine line between adulation and gossip. While his admiration for the former singing sensation shines through the text, he grapples earnestly with her parents' alcoholism, her extramarital affair, and the long stretches in her career without a Broadway or Hollywood hit. What emerges is a multidimensional portrait of a former British child star who lost her way in early success and found herself--and an interesting new toughness--through some midlife failures, which lead to her 1995 Broadway comeback in Victor/Victoria and her defiance of the Tony Awards. There's much more in Andrews of the scrappy survivor Victoria Grant (of Victor/Victoria) than any magical nanny. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
In his second biography of Andrews (following Julie Andrews, LJ 3/15/83), Windeler continues to look at a woman about whom surprisingly little has been written. He covers Andrews's career from its start in 1947, when she was 13, right up to her recent refusal of a Tony nomination for Victor/Victoria as well as her private life. Windeler tries to show the "real" Andrews as anything but Mary Poppins, a role that gave her an Academy Award and a firm place as a star but forever typecast her as perky and sweet. No dramatic roles she has tried have sat well with her public. The irony is that, though she's occasionally foul-mouthed, there really aren't any skeletons in her closet. While there are no bombshells in this interesting but dry biography, 1997 marks Andrews's 50th year in show business, and much has happened since 1983. So even if you have the older book, fans will want this one.?Rosellen Brewer, Monterey Bay Area Cooperative Lib. System, Cal.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 262 pages
• Publisher: Citadel (June 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080652054X
• ISBN-13: 978-0806520544
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,200,901 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Sound of Julie Andrews, February 16, 2000

By	Robert Corbell (Columbus, MS) - See all my reviews

This is the 3rd edition of Mr. Windeler's original 1970 biography on Julie Andrews, and is a very handsomely-produced book. It covers her career from childhood through the Broadway run of VICTOR/VICTORIA in 1995-97. While some fans may disagree with some of Mr. Windeler's opinions, he has done an admirable job of presenting Julie's life and career in an honest and up-front manner. The book contains a generous photo section, with some rare childhood pics as well as many beautiful poses from some of her famous roles - MY FAIR LADY, MARY POPPINS, VICTOR/VICTORIA - to name a few. Apart from a few minor errors and omissions, this is a handsome and well-rounded look at the life of a well-known and beloved star. Highly reccomened for any fan of Broadway or film musicals, as well as the serious Julie Andrews fan.

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, badly proof-read, poorly conceived, October 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Julie Andrews: A Life on Stage and Screen (Hardcover)

Before I begin, let me say that I am a Julie Andrews fan. I read Windeler's first book a number of times, and got my own copy of the 2nd edition. And this is where the problem arises. This book is a rehash of the second edition, with some of the personal observations about Julie Andrews toned down .... both observations he made, and those of other co-workers of hers. This leads to a biography having very little personal touch....rather than a flesh-and-blood picture being created, we have an almost "sanitised" version of a woman who is multi-dimensional.

Parts of this book are entirely intact from the second edition (while the second edition differed markedly from the first edition) and it is a great pity that in some of the film analysis, that Windeler did not comment on the two films (which led to Julie Andrews' temporary "unbankability") in more detail. Though savaged by critics at the time of release both Star! and Darling Lili have been seen to be films that were unfairly marked as poor. Star! was restored to full length, to both VHS and laser-disc format (1995). Premiere magazine had Star! as its premier video selection to buy (in 1995) and an article was run by the Toronto Globe called "A STAR! is reborn". Surely some concession should have been given to this ... the poor criticism which could have damaged directors' reputations (Robert Wise; Blake Edwards), Ms Andrews and the genre of the musical) are in hindsight agreed to have been mistaken and unfair. I feel that this was lacking from this edition.

In terms of films, 1986-7 was certainly an interesting year in that both That's Life and Duet for One were released to positive critical review for Julie Andrews' work (Time magazine). Duet for One, being filmed in London, was certainly a landmark film and proved Julie Andrews' acting ability beyond words. Both these films, while applauded, are given very little coverage.

It seems disproportionate that these later works (apart from an analysis of the stage version of Victor/Victoria, of which more interesting and factual information could be found on-line on the internet) are accorded little energetic and interesting analysis.

I felt that this book was a poor third edition and represented the author riding on a "bandwagon" of Ms Andrews' critical acclamation, rather than giving an INSIGHT into the lady - which it purports to have done.

I live in South Africa, and ordered the book through Amazon. It represents poor value for money. When I discovered some poor proofing (had some plates from previous editions been used ?) with spelling errors, misused words, and some sentences not being finished, my blood boiled. The pictures were not as complete as in other editions, and to give the year of the film as the date of filming, rather than release is bad practice for a cinematagrophile (e.g. Star! 1967) /sic.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Sound of Julie Andrews, February 17, 2000

By	Robert Corbell (Columbus, MS) - See all my reviews

This is the 3rd edition of Mr. Windeler's original 1970 biography on Julie Andrews, and is a very handsomely-produced book. It covers her career from childhood through the Broadway run of VICTOR/VICTORIA in 1995-97. While some fans may disagree with some of Mr. Windeler's opinions, he has done an admirable job of presenting Julie's life and career in an honest and up-front manner. The book contains a generous photo section, with some rare childhood pics as well as many beautiful poses from some of her famous roles - MY FAIR LADY, MARY POPPINS, VICTOR/VICTORIA - to name a few. Apart from a few minor errors and omissions, this is a handsome and well-rounded look at the life of a well-known and beloved star. Highly reccomened for any fan of Broadway or film musicals, as well as the serious Julie Andrews fan.