Happy Birthday, Julie Andrews!

The sublimely wonderful Julie Andrews turns 80 today.

Julie was born in England on October 1, 1935.

It's hard to overstate just how significant Julie Andrews has been in my life. She was in the first two films I ever saw in a theater, MARY POPPINS (1964) and THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965), which are also two of my favorite movies.

I loved her book MANDY as a child, a true children's classic...

...and my own daughter loved her LITTLE BO books.

I grew up listening to her albums, including MY FAIR LADY (preferring the London cast to Broadway, thank you very much!), CAMELOT, and her Christmas records.

In more recent years, thanks to DVD, I fell in love with her as CINDERELLA (1957).

She and her AMERICANIZATION OF EMILY (1964) costar James Garner reteamed to make the Christmas film ONE SPECIAL NIGHT (1999) truly special:

And she made THE PRINCESS DIARIES (2001) perfection!

What a wonderful thing it was to hear her narrate Disneyland's 50th Anniversary Fireworks, "Remember, Dreams Come True!" If you weren't lucky enough to see the show in person, here it is on YouTube.

Given her significance in my life, I feel very fortunate to have seen Julie Andrews in person, however briefly.

With love and thanks to Julie Andrews for countless happy hours!

Reviews of Julie Andrews films at Laura's Miscellaneous Musings: MARY POPPINS (1964), THE AMERICANIZATION OF EMILY (1964), THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965), ONE SPECIAL NIGHT (1999), and ENCHANTED (2007) (narrator).

Related: 2013 D23 Expo: A Tribute to Mary Poppins (1964), Part One and Part Two.

Seeing Julie in person: 2008 Disneyland appearance and 2015 TCM Classic Film Festival appearance.