Julie Andrews’ starring role in Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins helped launch her film c

Julie Andrews’ starring role in Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins helped launch her film career. Here, she is getting up to accept the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy. 

How did Julie Andrews win the role of Mary Poppins? Despite starring as the lead role in the broadway production of My Fair Lady, Jack Warner of Warner Bros. Studios bypassed Julie Andrews for the same role in his film version. In contrast, Walt Disney was very interested in Julie Andrews after seeing her performance in the play Camelot. He offered her the lead role in his upcoming film Mary Poppins. Although she initially declined because she was pregnant at the time, Walt Disney told her, “We’ll wait.” She would, of course, ultimately accept the role.

In her acceptance speech, she famously said, “Finally, my thanks to a man who made a wonderful movie and who made all this possible in the first place: Mr. Jack Warner.” Mary Poppins songwriter Richard M. Sherman called it her “sweet revenge.”

She would go on to win the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Mary Poppins. Mary Poppins itself would receive 13 nominations at the Oscars, including Best Picture. This would be the only time that one of Walt Disney’s films would be nominated for Best Picture within his lifetime.