Today in Showbiz History: Julie Andrews in "My Fair Lady"
Sunday, March 15, 2020 at 10:17AM by Nathaniel R
We've discussed the Oscar wars of My Fair Lady and Mary Poppins (1964) before but have you ever wondered how history would have been different if Julie Andrews had scored the movie role in My Fair Lady after playing it on Broadway? Would there have been a different Mary Poppins? Would they have waited and wouldboth films hav won Best Picture in separate years? Would Julie Andrews never have won an Oscar at all (since so many saw her very atypical Oscar win and Audrey's own lack of a nomination as a way to shame My Fair Lady, the movie, for not hiring her?! The ripple possibilities are endless...
64 years ago on this very day My Fair Lady opened on Broadway with Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison originating the roles of Eliza Dolittle and Henry Higgins. The show was a massive hit, running for six years (though Andrews and Harrison departed after about a year and a half in the roles), and spawning a blockbuster movie. The musical was nominated for 9 Tonys winning for Best Musical, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Costumes, Best Scenic Design, and Best Conductor/Musical Direction, all prizes it would go on to win in parallel categories at the Oscars, too, if you count Andre Previn's win for Best Music, Adaptation of Treatment as a Musical Direction prize. Among the Broadway cast only Rex Harrison and Stanley Hollaway (Alfred P Doolittle) would transfer to the film version with Harrison winning both the Tony and the Oscar and Holloway nominated (but losing) both. Among the crew only Cecil Beaton, the costume designer, would transfer to the movie, winning both the Tony and the Oscar just like Professor Higgins.
Julie discusses not getting the My Fair Lady role at 4:29 in this interview.
Useless Trivia: Did you know that Sally Ann Howes, who played the Julie Andrews like role of "Truly Scrumptious" in the movie musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) replaced Julie Andrews in the original Broadway run a decade before her biggest film success? Well, she did, taking over in February of 1958 when Julie Andrews departed the show.
Other happenings on this day, the Ides of March, in History
44 BC Emperor Julius Caesar is murdered as has since been depicted in countless plays, movies, and TV series
1935 Emmy winning and Oscar nominated actor Judd Hirsch (Taxi, Ordinary People) born in the Bronx
1943 Legendary auteur David Cronenberg (Dead Ringers, A History of Violence) born in Toronto
1964 Liz Taylor and Richard Burton enter marriage #1
1977 TV star Brian Tee (Chicago Med, The Wolverine) born in Okinawa
1985 Satire Lost in America opens in movie theaters
1987 Future Tony winner and TV star Jane Krakowski (Nine, Ally McBeal) makes her Broadway debut -- on rollerskates! -- in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Starlight Express
2013 Harmony Korine's controversial and critically acclaimed Spring Breakers opens in limited release
2020 Westworld Season 3 begins on HBO
Reader Comments (16)
I love Audrey in My Fair Lady and would not exchange her for Andrews, even if she could sing the score herself.
Julie Andrews is the one and only "Mary Poppins". Hepburn was a lovely "My Fair Lady" the problem with that movie is some of the horrible staging- specially the scenes with her father
Funny, My Fair Lady is not my choice for the role where Audrey Hepburn was miscast. I can't imagine anyone saying the line "Dover...move your bloomin' arse" better. It's an unpopular opinion but I think she was miscast in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Marilyn Monroe really should have played Holly.
Truman Capote did not approve of Hepburn for "Breakfast at Tiffany"
If Julie Andrews takes the role of Eliza in the movie, perhaps Mary Poppins either gets pushed back or another actress gets cast in the part. Either way I think Andrews wins the Oscar that year.
Now if Mary Poppins gets pushed back so they can only use Andrews, then The Sound of Music also gets pushed back. Does Doctor Zhivago win the Oscar that year or does Mary Poppins?
Even though she doesn’t sing, I just think of Eliza as Audrey. It’s almost impossible for me to do so otherwise because of the film.
I would have loved to see Julie in the part, but it’s a bit far from her screen persona, so I wonder how different her career would have been.
I'm not overly fond of My Fair Lady the movie. Rex Harrison's character is just hateful. I've seen clips on YouTube of Julie doing a number from the stage production, and she was wonderful. Plus I think Julie has the superior singing voice.
I'm not a big fan of My Fair Lady and I love Mary Poppins, so I wouldn't change a thing.
I am fine with Audrey. I wish Cary Grant had accepted the opportunity to play Henry Higgins. That would have been wonderful, and Grant would have won Best Actor.
@James. Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant? I don't imagine them together. When offered the role, Grant told Jack Warner that if he did not cast Harrison, he would not even go see the movie.
Another comment: What was Hollywood thinking when they cast Audrey opposite big stars so much older than she was?
Cary Grant: 25 years older.
Humphrey Bogart: 30 years older.
Gary Cooper: 28 years older.
Fred Astaire: 30 years older.
I tink Julie wld still hav won if she was cast in My Fair Lady, thus completing all the four major wins after It Happened One Night.
Her closest competitor tt year is Anne Bancroft, which had just won the Oscars 2 yrs back. Julie saw The Pumpkin Eater n was so impressed by Bancroft's performance tt she thot the latter wld win. But Julie has the momentum n the narrative to a win then.
Had Geraldine Page won for Sweet Bird of Youth in 1962, Bancroft might hav won in 1964, n Julie might hav won for Sound of Music in 1965, n Julie Christie might hav won for Away from Her in 2007.
So Meryl's 3rd win will be the more deserving Out of Africa, ratther than the much vilified The Iron Lady? 😂
Audrey was the better choice if the whole role is considered. Julie would have won the Oscar regardless. If by miracle Mary Poppins and Sound of Music we’re both released the next year she may have been collectively strong enough to beat Christie. Also she lost the Tony to the incomparable Judy Holliday who I wish had snuck into the 1960 lineup for Bells Are Ringing. She was effortlessly perfect.
Young Julie Andrews giving off Sally Hawkins vibes in that first image.
I miss the trend of men winning in musical roles even though they cannot really sing lmao
@Tom G, Walt Disney was willing to wait for Julie Andrews since she was pregnant when he first asked her for the role, I think he would have waited her for My Fair Lady too.
@Marcos, You don't imagine Cary and Audrey together? Have you ever seen Stanley Donen's "Charade"?