WEBVTT - Julie Andrews, Revisited 0:00:02.120 --> 0:00:05.120 This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to. Here's the thing, 0:00:05.840 --> 0:00:11.080 My chance to talk with artists, policymakers and performers, to 0:00:11.160 --> 0:00:15.120 hear their stories. What inspired their creations, what decisions changed 0:00:15.160 --> 0:00:25.200 their careers, what relationships influenced their work. Julie Andrews. There's 0:00:25.239 --> 0:00:29.160 a genuine look of surprise on Julie Andrew's face when 0:00:29.160 --> 0:00:32.040 she hears her name called. She did not expect to 0:00:32.080 --> 0:00:35.680 win the Oscar for Best Actress for Mary Poppins. She 0:00:35.760 --> 0:00:38.280 takes a moment to collect herself and makes her way 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:42.280 to the stage. I know you Americans, famous to your hospitality, 0:00:42.320 --> 0:00:47.839 but this is really ridiculous. The year was This milestone 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:51.839 came early in Julie Andrew's career. She followed that extraordinary 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:57.120 success with another one, The Dog Bites When the Beasts. 0:00:57.560 --> 0:01:03.920 When I'm feeling sad, simply remember my cater things and 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:12.039 then I don't feel so. Julie Andrews has performed in 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:15.880 dozens of film, stage and television roles, but it was 0:01:16.040 --> 0:01:19.679 those two Nanni's Mary and Maria who captured our hearts 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:24.839 and transformed her life. Today, she'll tell us what happened before, during, 0:01:25.080 --> 0:01:28.760 and after those performances. So let's start at the very beginning, 0:01:29.120 --> 0:01:32.520 a very good place to start. When I was about seven, 0:01:33.000 --> 0:01:37.360 my mother had remarried and my stepfather was a fine tenor. 0:01:38.200 --> 0:01:43.759 My school had closed due to the escalation of World 0:01:43.840 --> 0:01:47.680 War two, and everything was shut down. And I would 0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:51.280 imagine that partly because I was underfoot a lot and home, 0:01:51.960 --> 0:01:56.240 but secondly, maybe in an attempt to get a little 0:01:56.280 --> 0:01:59.920 closer to this new step daughter that was not very 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:03.840 fond of him, he decided to just, for no reason 0:02:03.840 --> 0:02:06.720 at all, just give me some singing lessons. And to 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:12.840 my mother and stepfather's surprise, I had this freak very strong, 0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:17.840 very very huge, ranged voice. It was very thin and white, 0:02:18.440 --> 0:02:20.280 but I could do all the history on it, so 0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:23.200 I could do anything. I hated those singing lessons because 0:02:23.200 --> 0:02:27.160 it was a stepfather with him, he was your instructor. Well, 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:29.560 he gave me some scales and a few things like that, 0:02:29.600 --> 0:02:34.360 but very quickly after that he found a phenomenal teacher 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:40.119 of a lady that was dramatic soprano, who was as 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:44.200 wide as she was short, and was as loving and decent, 0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:47.600 and until she died, which was in her somewhere in 0:02:47.639 --> 0:02:52.560 her nineties, had the most beautiful pitched voice and could 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:56.760 still sing. And she gave me the foundation that that, 0:02:57.639 --> 0:03:01.919 in other words, hang onto your words, um enunciate because 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:04.680 they'll pull the song through for you, and all of that. 0:03:05.200 --> 0:03:11.360 And was she someone who you maintained any kind of contact. No, No, 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:16.000 she was my teacher for most of her remaining life. 0:03:16.440 --> 0:03:20.560 I've worked with other people since, but that lady was, oh, 0:03:20.600 --> 0:03:24.520 my teacher. She prepared me for my Fair Lady and 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:31.360 became successful. Yes, she always wished, I think that I 0:03:31.400 --> 0:03:35.520 could become a light opera singer or or an opera singer. 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:39.280 And I knew, in spite of her ambition for me, 0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:42.000 that I didn't have the voice for it. It was 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:44.360 too light a voice and as I say, it was 0:03:44.400 --> 0:03:47.280 a little white and sound. So I didn't have the 0:03:47.360 --> 0:03:52.119 chops for opera maybe light opera. And I have recorded 0:03:52.120 --> 0:03:55.960 a couple of old recordings of like Rose Marie, and 0:03:56.000 --> 0:03:58.520 I've sung things from The Merry Widow and stuff like that. 0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:02.360 But when the world opened up because I was in musicals, 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:07.440 I realized that I had found the exact wait for 0:04:07.600 --> 0:04:09.880 my voice, that I had found the right thing. Did 0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:13.360 you study acting as well at the same time, Well, 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:16.279 my mother occasionally put me with the teacher that was 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:22.160 local from my hometown, and I was awful and mortified 0:04:22.200 --> 0:04:25.360 because I knew I was at warfful And actually most 0:04:25.440 --> 0:04:28.960 of my training until very much later in my life 0:04:29.200 --> 0:04:31.719 when I got a coach for films and things like that, 0:04:32.360 --> 0:04:35.640 most of it was just doing it and learning, and 0:04:35.680 --> 0:04:38.839 thank god it was Broadway first. No no formal acting training. 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:42.720 My background was Vaudeville. I was from the wrong side 0:04:42.720 --> 0:04:45.840 of the tracks. I envied all those legitimate actors like 0:04:46.520 --> 0:04:50.560 Gilgood and Olivier and so many of them that that 0:04:50.800 --> 0:04:54.120 just managed and were terrific. And here I was. All 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:57.240 I knew was how to belt out a song all 0:04:57.279 --> 0:05:00.760 around England when you were doing this a ville work 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:04.599 in London, musical all over the England, all over England 0:05:04.600 --> 0:05:07.039 before you headed to Broadway. Did you bump up against 0:05:07.080 --> 0:05:09.640 those people, the gil Goods and the Yes, I did, 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:14.200 But more the people I really bummed up against were 0:05:15.080 --> 0:05:18.880 the great comedians of the day from England. I mean, 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:23.039 I learned so much just watching and being in those 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:28.680 rather lunatic reviews. All you know and and as I say, 0:05:28.880 --> 0:05:31.240 you know one week in each town, but you considered 0:05:31.240 --> 0:05:34.720 yourself a singer, yes, not an actress first and foremost 0:05:34.720 --> 0:05:36.520 a singer. You were a singer. And then what do 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:40.120 you think that changed? Well, much much later. I realized 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:44.240 that actually singing is for me all about the lyrics, 0:05:44.320 --> 0:05:47.360 and then if you really care about the lyrics, then 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:51.360 singing is all about acting. But that didn't come till 0:05:52.240 --> 0:05:55.520 in my mid twenties. Sometimes you did The Boyfriend when 0:05:55.560 --> 0:06:01.680 you were how old? It opened the day after I 0:06:01.760 --> 0:06:06.880 turned and who directed The Boyfriend? A lady, an English 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:09.960 lady called Vita Hope, who had done it in London. 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:12.920 Because it came from London, I was asked to come 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:15.720 to Broadway and I didn't think i'd want to, and 0:06:15.760 --> 0:06:19.200 I was very, very nervous about you know, I had 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:22.200 a terrible separation anxiety because of all my touring from 0:06:22.200 --> 0:06:25.360 your mother, from my mother and family in general, and 0:06:25.440 --> 0:06:31.200 my brothers. But my dad, my real dad, said, honey, 0:06:31.360 --> 0:06:34.080 you know what you're going for could last two weeks 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:36.840 and they wanted me to sign a contract for two years, 0:06:37.640 --> 0:06:42.159 and I said eventually, thanks to my dad, who he 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:44.120 said later it took him all the courage in the 0:06:44.160 --> 0:06:47.040 world to tell me to go because his heart was 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:50.000 aching in terms of his nerves for me and what 0:06:50.040 --> 0:06:52.560 was I What was I going to do? But he 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:55.320 encouraged me to take it because it would open up 0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:57.440 my head. And did this woman? Was she helpful to you? 0:06:57.480 --> 0:07:01.880 The director? Yes, she was not well she was, but 0:07:01.960 --> 0:07:04.680 she was very busy putting on the show. And everybody 0:07:04.720 --> 0:07:06.799 else seemed to know, you know, the boyfriends all about 0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:10.240 being very there, even said in the twenties, and all 0:07:10.280 --> 0:07:11.960 the ladies of the show seemed to know how to 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:14.680 be very camp and very funny. I had not a 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:17.200 clue because I didn't know. I've never been to acting 0:07:17.200 --> 0:07:20.000 school or anything like that. So I tried emirating them 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:23.760 for a while. And then what really turned the tide 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:27.400 was the producer of the show. Did you ever meet 0:07:27.440 --> 0:07:31.720 Si Fuer and Ernie Martin? Do you know? Well? They 0:07:31.800 --> 0:07:35.640 did Can Can and Silk Stockings on Broadway, I mean 0:07:35.680 --> 0:07:40.840 as producers. But c I had this wonderful pont Chanfur 0:07:42.720 --> 0:07:46.280 dismissing everybody and getting in and directing it himself. And anyway, 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:51.679 the night before we opened, I was trying everything each 0:07:51.920 --> 0:07:54.960 preview night, seeing what am I supposed to be doing here? 0:07:55.400 --> 0:07:59.720 And he took me out to the alleyway behind the 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:06.440 Hubert and the im Imperial and the Royal theaters. Anyway, 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:11.160 he we sat on the steps on the iron steps 0:08:11.560 --> 0:08:13.840 in in that alley and he said, you know you 0:08:13.880 --> 0:08:16.880 were terrible last night And I said, yes, I did, 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:23.040 I know I was. And he said, um, you have 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:28.280 the possibility of becoming quite good and a big star 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:30.760 tomorrow if you do as I tell you, and you 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:34.200 must follow every single thing I tell you. And I 0:08:34.280 --> 0:08:38.160 was so looking for that, you know, rope to hang onto? 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:40.920 He said, I want you to play Polly Brown as 0:08:41.000 --> 0:08:44.440 if your life depended on it. He said, when he 0:08:44.480 --> 0:08:46.920 breaks your heart, I want you to feel it and 0:08:47.040 --> 0:08:50.760 be it. Forget what everybody else is doing, Forget camp 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:55.560 be real, best lesson I ever had. And because it was, 0:08:56.040 --> 0:09:00.480 it made sense in my belly somewhere. I made us 0:09:00.520 --> 0:09:03.480 as real as I could on opening night, and it 0:09:04.040 --> 0:09:07.560 indeed made all the difference. And then the next project, 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:13.920 obviously is who directed that production? Mass Heart, the great 0:09:14.600 --> 0:09:17.040 Heart himself was the director? Oh yes, And what was 0:09:17.080 --> 0:09:18.679 it like for you? I mean, to the extent you're 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:21.520 going to describe? Number one? Where was hard in his 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:24.640 career then? And where was Rex in his career. Oh 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:28.840 my god, Rex was well. Rex was just known everywhere 0:09:28.880 --> 0:09:31.280 and had done a lot of movies and and was 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:36.560 he was a star, big star, and also difficult, no 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:39.360 doubt about it. I mean, eventually we did become great friends, 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:43.000 but it took a long time, and he was so 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:45.840 fed up with this little argeneue that didn't know what 0:09:45.880 --> 0:09:49.640 the hell she was doing. I knew somewhere, deep deep 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:53.280 down that if somebody would just spend a little time 0:09:53.360 --> 0:09:56.400 or pay attention, that I knew what I yearned to do, 0:09:56.559 --> 0:09:58.480 but I didn't know how to bring it out. Alec. 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:03.120 So when they hire, do you what do you think? Uli? 0:10:03.200 --> 0:10:05.680 And yeah, well the Boyfriend was a huge success, and 0:10:05.720 --> 0:10:08.360 it was a one time, you know. I was very 0:10:08.400 --> 0:10:10.319 big on Broadway for one year and then I was 0:10:10.520 --> 0:10:17.440 platform and then I auditioned for Learner and Low, particularly 0:10:17.440 --> 0:10:20.920 Alan Jay Learner who wrote My Fair Lady, and Low 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:25.320 wrote the music, and they worked with me a little bit, 0:10:25.960 --> 0:10:29.319 but it really was Moss who made me a lasa 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:33.840 do little. And what he did Rex was demanding, wanted 0:10:33.960 --> 0:10:37.040 all the attention. He'd never done a musical before, and 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:39.360 I had never acted before, So which one did he 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:42.080 deal with? Well? Of course he dealt with Rex, who 0:10:42.160 --> 0:10:45.840 was the big, big star. Eventually he got around to 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:51.280 me and he dismissed the entire company for one long weekend, 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:56.400 and I remember driving down to the rehearsal and thinking, 0:10:56.480 --> 0:10:58.280 this is a little bit like going to the dentist. 0:10:58.360 --> 0:11:02.160 I may feel better when I'm finished, but it's agony going. 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:10.479 And he for forty eight hours, just he bullied, he cajoled, 0:11:10.559 --> 0:11:15.599 He showed me. He yelled from the orchestra, stalls you, no, 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:19.000 not that way. You're playing it like a like a schoolgirl, 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:22.240 you know, get it. We get down and dirty. And 0:11:22.320 --> 0:11:27.319 I actually threw him. Found Eliza Doolittle and from then 0:11:27.400 --> 0:11:31.760 on I worked and worked and worked, and gradually from 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:35.360 performing it as you know, every night, it gradually became 0:11:35.400 --> 0:11:37.960 embedded in me. And I think I probably by the time, 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:41.280 you know, a few months would past and it was 0:11:41.320 --> 0:11:44.680 a huge hit. I was definitely feeling that I could 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:47.480 be Eliza. When did you feel you one had one 0:11:47.520 --> 0:11:52.280 Rex over? Probably that's a good question. Probably not till 0:11:52.320 --> 0:11:57.960 the London production. He was difficult himself, and I think 0:11:58.040 --> 0:12:00.760 he meant well. He was just very short and short 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:06.520 tempered and not known for being full of generosity attacked 0:12:06.520 --> 0:12:10.640 and generosity. Now, what I learned on stage with him 0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:17.160 was unbelievable. For example, he had this amazing knack. He 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:21.360 wasn't musical, but he had a musical ear, not only 0:12:21.440 --> 0:12:25.800 for the music, but for where the audience was that night. So, 0:12:25.880 --> 0:12:28.400 for instance, if somebody would cough, let me say, he 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:31.720 was saying, you know, Eliza, you shouldn't you shouldn't do 0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:33.880 so and so and so and so. He'd repeat the 0:12:34.000 --> 0:12:38.560 line instinctively because corporate, because he knew it hadn't been 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:42.400 heard correct, you know fully. So just to stand and 0:12:42.400 --> 0:12:45.160 watch him, I completely sometimes forgot who I was supposed 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:48.560 to be. Now, when the heart says to you, you're 0:12:48.559 --> 0:12:50.640 playing it like a little school girl, you've got to 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:53.440 get down and dirty. That becomes a theme in some 0:12:53.559 --> 0:12:56.880 of your work, doesn't it. But more than one man 0:12:57.080 --> 0:13:00.480 has said something along those lines. Well, I do have 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:07.199 a very squeaky green image, but I don't think you can. Well, 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:10.040 I think that's simply because if you think about it, Alec, 0:13:10.720 --> 0:13:14.959 here's some Mary Poppins, and followed pretty quickly by the 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:19.720 Sound of Music, two hugely iconic films about pennies of 0:13:19.720 --> 0:13:23.480 all things, and they're so successful that people only remember 0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:26.440 the things that that are the most successful. You know, 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:29.200 if you think of someone like Clark Gable, you think 0:13:29.200 --> 0:13:32.439 of Gone with the Winds, and you forget the other things. 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:36.240 And I knew, I think because of all those Vaudeville years. 0:13:36.800 --> 0:13:39.119 There was a lot of down and dirty in Vaudeville. 0:13:39.160 --> 0:13:43.000 I mean, the comedians were blue and body, and it 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:47.120 was a tough existence. It wasn't a fairy land by 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:51.800 any means. It wasn't a fairy tale when you're raised 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:57.560 during the wartime, and your career in music halls is 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:01.120 during the wartime, And and you and I have this 0:14:01.200 --> 0:14:03.600 in common, where you grew up in a very financially strapped, 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:08.679 very strapped the money pressures constantly. Things begin to change 0:14:08.679 --> 0:14:12.600 for you after my fair lady, a lot. And do 0:14:12.720 --> 0:14:16.599 you find that that was painful for you? Know? I 0:14:16.679 --> 0:14:20.120 tell you what. First of all, what what immediately springs 0:14:20.120 --> 0:14:23.440 to mind is that I ached that I couldn't bring 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:26.280 every member of my family with me. Did you feel 0:14:26.320 --> 0:14:28.560 that too? Well? I wanted to help as many people 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:31.840 as I could, Yeah, and still do, but but to 0:14:31.920 --> 0:14:35.480 change the way my life had been changed miraculously, it 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:38.400 seemed I wanted to do that for the entire family 0:14:38.440 --> 0:14:40.960 and make them feel better and be better. But when 0:14:41.000 --> 0:14:42.920 you do My Fair Lady on Broadway, than you went 0:14:42.960 --> 0:14:46.520 to London. After that, you're married at the time I 0:14:46.600 --> 0:14:50.240 was married. During the London production, you got you got 0:14:50.280 --> 0:14:53.200 married when you went back, when I went back, when 0:14:53.240 --> 0:14:55.880 you went back, so you're back home, you're married. And 0:14:55.920 --> 0:15:00.680 then what happens. Um, what happened was that right after 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:04.160 I'd finished in London and I was about, as you know, 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:06.840 I did three and a half years in My Fair Lady, 0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:11.000 and that's a marathon too on Broadway and eighteen months 0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:15.200 in London, and that is an alan Jay Learners said 0:15:16.080 --> 0:15:19.080 that he thinks that an actress can learn more by 0:15:19.120 --> 0:15:23.400 playing one role in a long run than by playing many, 0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:27.320 many roles in repertoire. Well, the thing being, he said, 0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:31.040 you test every night with the same role, whether you 0:15:31.080 --> 0:15:32.680 can get a laugh, or whether you can do it 0:15:32.720 --> 0:15:36.119 better or and he was pretty right about that. I 0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:39.040 didn't think it would be right, but it was. You know, 0:15:39.120 --> 0:15:41.040 you'd know if it didn't work one night, and then 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:42.840 you'd work on it and work on it and try, 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:45.880 and you found out everything you needed to find out 0:15:45.920 --> 0:15:49.120 about how to play, I mean, in a long run, 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:52.640 how to play with an audience when it's raining outside, 0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:55.120 or when you're leading man has got a terrible cold, 0:15:55.240 --> 0:15:57.880 or when it's up to you to take up the 0:15:57.920 --> 0:16:01.040 reins for a night or two because he's feeling down, 0:16:01.240 --> 0:16:04.760 or when an understudy goes on, or I mean just 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:08.000 about every situation in the theater in the long run, 0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:12.000 you you experience. But when I think, one of the 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:15.600 first things that I felt, just to digress for a moment, 0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:19.080 was the relief of knowing that at some point in 0:16:19.120 --> 0:16:24.400 my life, probably during my Fair Lady in London, I 0:16:24.440 --> 0:16:27.440 realized that I probably would never have to go back 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:32.160 to vaudeville again. I mean landladies and touring and endless, 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:34.680 I mean with the terrible digs that one had when 0:16:34.680 --> 0:16:39.720 one was touring around one endless, touring in very tacky shows. 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:43.640 And I knew I could do something better. But the 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:46.760 voice held me up for so long, the freaky voice 0:16:46.760 --> 0:16:51.360 that I had. And then, as I say, gradually, gradually 0:16:51.400 --> 0:16:56.040 the voice became less white and more vibrant because I 0:16:56.120 --> 0:16:58.720 was growing up and all of that, and as I say, 0:16:58.800 --> 0:17:03.120 I found my level when it came to musicals. What's 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:05.560 your parents view at that point? Where does that begin 0:17:05.600 --> 0:17:11.040 to change? Now you're something? Yeah? How did they handle that? 0:17:11.320 --> 0:17:18.240 It was very complicated because stepfather was an alcoholic. Mom 0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:24.760 was She was a very warm, passionate lady. But on 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:26.600 the one hand she was thrilled for me, and on 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:28.960 the other it was always, you know, don't you dare 0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:30.960 show off and don't you dare do this? And then 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:32.880 the next minute it was I want you to wear 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:36.119 your fur coat to the pub tonight, you know that 0:17:36.280 --> 0:17:40.720 kind of thing. And but really, about a year after 0:17:40.800 --> 0:17:44.159 Fair Lady, I was asked to do Camelot and I 0:17:44.240 --> 0:17:47.440 knew I was going to do Camelot in New York, 0:17:47.520 --> 0:17:50.400 in New York, and were you looking forward to going 0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:54.720 back to New York? It was when I got there 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:58.199 it was better. I'm not sure that going there, I 0:17:58.240 --> 0:18:01.320 mean again, it meant leaving family. And also because I 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:05.040 do love my home country. I love England, Oh my god. Yeah, 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:08.199 And I feel this is so corny. I feel this 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:13.439 huge um. I feel it's my job too to be 0:18:13.560 --> 0:18:16.280 the woman one that is the hands across the water. 0:18:16.359 --> 0:18:18.360 I want to bring England to America, and I want 0:18:18.400 --> 0:18:21.800 to bring America to the English somewhere mid Atlantic. We 0:18:21.800 --> 0:18:25.600 we we can split the difference. But it felt very 0:18:25.680 --> 0:18:29.600 important to speak for my country. And also because the 0:18:29.600 --> 0:18:32.680 Americans have been so generous to me for so long. 0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:35.560 We were in this timeline that we're tracking, it's about 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:38.240 to get a lot more generous. So you go do Camelots. 0:18:38.359 --> 0:18:40.359 Well wait, but then I felt that I needed to 0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:43.240 explain that to the British, and it's say, look how 0:18:43.240 --> 0:18:46.359 wonderful they are, you know, because the British can be 0:18:46.440 --> 0:18:50.560 a bit snobby. So anyway, as I say, I do 0:18:50.640 --> 0:18:53.679 love my country, and leaving mostly leaving it because of 0:18:53.680 --> 0:18:57.719 my family issues which were difficult and complicated. Um, and 0:18:57.760 --> 0:19:00.400 then going back once I got back, m a lot 0:19:00.440 --> 0:19:03.520 was a joy with Richard Burton. And that wasn't three 0:19:03.560 --> 0:19:07.399 and a half years, No, it was eighteen months. Another longest. 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:10.960 He did it for a year and then he went 0:19:10.960 --> 0:19:13.719 off to do it Cleopatra. Yeah he did it. I 0:19:13.720 --> 0:19:16.560 think it was a year. I was left behind. The 0:19:16.600 --> 0:19:20.240 shows are here, not at first. This is what's so interesting. 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:24.040 Coming after My Fair Lady written by Learner and Lowe 0:19:24.160 --> 0:19:28.439 who wrote My Fair Lady, the world expected another My 0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:33.200 Fair Lady, and because Alan was not very well. Alan 0:19:33.320 --> 0:19:36.639 Jay Lerner and Moss was not very well. He always 0:19:36.640 --> 0:19:43.160 had heart problems and there just wasn't nothing quite went right, 0:19:43.200 --> 0:19:44.840 and we didn't have enough time to work on it, 0:19:44.920 --> 0:19:49.040 and so on, and we opened on Broadway to Richard 0:19:49.119 --> 0:19:51.520 got us through. I think Richard Burton, you know, everybody 0:19:51.560 --> 0:19:54.520 we were. We had a solid booking for at least 0:19:54.560 --> 0:19:57.359 three months or six months because of Richard, and it 0:19:57.440 --> 0:20:00.840 was a glorious looking show, but it did have floors. 0:20:01.800 --> 0:20:04.040 Moss said, I'm going to go and I'm going to 0:20:04.840 --> 0:20:09.680 take a vacation, but I will come back, as did Alan, 0:20:10.119 --> 0:20:12.399 And they came back as they promised in three months 0:20:13.119 --> 0:20:17.160 and reworked the show, at which time we went onto 0:20:17.200 --> 0:20:21.480 the Ed Sullivan Show. And in those days, said Sullivan 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:24.199 was huge, as you know, he brought the Beatles and 0:20:24.359 --> 0:20:28.720 so many people to prominence in America. And what they 0:20:28.840 --> 0:20:32.199 did instead of just having us on his show, he 0:20:32.240 --> 0:20:36.399 did a complete excerpt from Camelot. Yeah, I think it 0:20:36.520 --> 0:20:40.359 was at the instigation of Alan and Moss, but we 0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:42.800 did the first act, which was like a little mini 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:46.240 play all by itself, the following morning after the Ed 0:20:46.240 --> 0:20:49.760 Sullivan Show. The cues around the block, whereas if we'd 0:20:49.800 --> 0:20:52.359 been a standing room only hit. And from then on 0:20:53.320 --> 0:20:56.720 Camelot became a hit. When Camelots over, Where do you 0:20:56.760 --> 0:21:03.600 go to Hollywood? Because because Walt Disney came to see 0:21:04.119 --> 0:21:07.320 I mean, in between I did television shows and my 0:21:07.440 --> 0:21:11.080 Wonderful Fun shows with Carol Burnett and things like that. 0:21:11.560 --> 0:21:18.679 But basically chronologically, Walt Disney was advised to come and 0:21:19.040 --> 0:21:21.720 see Camelot because there was a girl in it that 0:21:22.000 --> 0:21:25.160 might be good for Mary Poppins, none of which I knew. 0:21:25.440 --> 0:21:30.239 And that he came backstage to say hello, I just 0:21:30.280 --> 0:21:32.280 thought he was being very civil, that he was going 0:21:32.320 --> 0:21:34.199 to say hello to me and to Richard and that 0:21:34.240 --> 0:21:36.800 would be that. And you know, everybody knew Walt Disney 0:21:36.840 --> 0:21:39.720 was in the audience, but he came, and he's chatted 0:21:39.760 --> 0:21:42.160 in my dressing room with me and with Tony Walton, 0:21:42.640 --> 0:21:46.440 my then husband, and he said, I wonder how you'd 0:21:46.440 --> 0:21:49.280 feel if you came out to Hollywood, you know, hear 0:21:49.320 --> 0:21:52.159 the songs and see the drawings that we've done story 0:21:52.280 --> 0:21:56.800 boarding as they called it, for Mary Poppins. And with 0:21:57.560 --> 0:22:01.280 huge regret, I said, oh, mister Disney, I would love 0:22:01.359 --> 0:22:03.560 to what I have to tell you that I'm three 0:22:03.560 --> 0:22:06.600 months pregnant, and he said, well, that's all right, we'll wait. 0:22:06.800 --> 0:22:09.320 And of course I did not know the pre production 0:22:09.520 --> 0:22:12.320 and all of those. I mean, it's endless in a 0:22:12.400 --> 0:22:15.560 fairly big movie, as you know. So we went on out. 0:22:16.440 --> 0:22:21.840 Disney was delightful and spoiled us both wonderfully. Hearing the 0:22:21.960 --> 0:22:28.359 songs for Mary Poppins, it instantly evoked those vaudeville days, 0:22:28.440 --> 0:22:32.600 the rumpty tomb kind of quality of jolly holiday familiar 0:22:32.600 --> 0:22:35.240 to you, Arry, and I knew I could embrace it. 0:22:35.880 --> 0:22:38.200 Not only that, but he had Tony on the spot 0:22:38.240 --> 0:22:42.760 when he saw his portfolio, and he commissioned Tony to 0:22:42.840 --> 0:22:46.800 do all the costumes for the movie, which is incredible 0:22:46.800 --> 0:22:50.600 if you think about it, and the sets for Cherry 0:22:50.680 --> 0:22:56.240 Tree Lane and the interior of the Bank's household. And 0:22:56.320 --> 0:22:59.880 Tony got nominated for an Academy Award first time out, 0:23:00.000 --> 0:23:05.840 first film. Amazing that it was Walt's talent too, He 0:23:05.960 --> 0:23:09.760 had such a talent for spotting talent in a way. 0:23:10.240 --> 0:23:14.159 What was representation for you like back then? Which is 0:23:14.160 --> 0:23:17.680 an odd question, meaning he had British agents? Did you 0:23:17.720 --> 0:23:21.879 finally Hollywood agent from handling your career? Well? From the 0:23:21.920 --> 0:23:25.080 time I was about thirteen and starting off in show 0:23:25.119 --> 0:23:30.320 business in England. I was handled by an American gentleman 0:23:30.640 --> 0:23:34.119 who lived in England and who had kind of made 0:23:34.119 --> 0:23:37.800 his bass in England. He was a good agent, but 0:23:38.600 --> 0:23:41.560 his name was Charlie Tucker, and he was a very 0:23:41.640 --> 0:23:47.320 kindly nice guy. And all through my teens and all 0:23:47.480 --> 0:23:53.199 through um My fell lady and boyfriend and Camelot, I 0:23:53.280 --> 0:23:56.359 was represented by him. But there came a time when 0:23:57.960 --> 0:24:01.280 well one or two things caused of falling out between us, 0:24:01.320 --> 0:24:05.160 and then I when I went to Hollywood, ultimately, probably 0:24:05.200 --> 0:24:09.320 around the time of the Sound of Music, I did 0:24:09.520 --> 0:24:11.920 change my age. When you're out there, it does help 0:24:11.920 --> 0:24:14.520 to have a native He was so used to the 0:24:14.560 --> 0:24:17.480 English scene, and you're right, it does help to have 0:24:17.520 --> 0:24:20.240 a native there. You go out there and you start 0:24:20.280 --> 0:24:25.520 shooting when your daughter's how old, She's only like three 0:24:25.640 --> 0:24:28.440 or four months old. When we began rehearsals, and we 0:24:28.520 --> 0:24:30.960 in California, in California on the back lot of the 0:24:31.000 --> 0:24:35.440 Disney who directs the film, Robert Stevenson, and one of 0:24:35.480 --> 0:24:42.320 the good true Disney h stable of direct table of directors. 0:24:42.320 --> 0:24:43.840 That's a very nice way to put it. And how 0:24:43.840 --> 0:24:46.680 did he compare to your other experiences in the theater. Well, 0:24:46.760 --> 0:24:50.879 it was film technical, very different, and he taught me 0:24:50.920 --> 0:24:55.720 a greatly, was very patient and and I quickly, you know, 0:24:55.720 --> 0:24:59.080 I very soon realized the patients that's needed to make 0:24:59.080 --> 0:25:02.679 a movie. And you'd sit around for ages, particularly with 0:25:02.720 --> 0:25:06.200 Mary Poppins, because all of those special effects took such 0:25:06.200 --> 0:25:08.720 a long time to set up, you know. And did 0:25:08.760 --> 0:25:11.360 you begin as as many people do, I think, who 0:25:11.440 --> 0:25:15.359