Julie Andrews, our favourite nanny and step-mother, was born in Surrey, England on October 1, 1935. Her parents were both vaudeville entertainers and Julie entered the entertainment world at a young age. She was blessed with perfect pitch and once had a vocal range of four octaves. Difficulties later in life and an unfortunate surgery in more recent years narrowed her vocal range considerably.
Blake Edwards, director of movies such as the Pink Panther, Victor/Victoria and Breakfast at Tiffany's was born July 26, 1922 in Tulsa, Oklahoma
They met when they were both seeing the same therapist following difficulties with their careers and dissolving their first marriages. They passed each other as they were on their separate ways to and from the clinic. Julie said: "I passed his car and he passed mine on the middle island of Sunset Boulevard on Roxbury Drive. I thought, 'That's a very interesting looking gentleman,' and I presumed he must have thought the same about me in terms of being an interesting looking lady. And lo and behold, a couple of days later it happened again and again. Blake rolled down the window after smiling a couple of times and said, 'Are you going where I just came from?' " It was the beginning of a long lasting love affair."
. Blake gave Julie a nine carat diamond as an engagement ring. They married in 1969 in the garden of her home in Beverly Hills.
Julie said of their relationship "Success in our marriage was to take it one day at a time and so, lo and behold, 41 years later there we still were."
They created a melded family of five children, his and hers from previous marriages and two Vietnamese orphans they adopted.
In later years Blake had health problems, suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and depression. He died in 2010 from complications of pneumonia. His wife and children were by his side.
Julie put into words how she coped with his death "Ah God I wish he were here. But he is in a way. I think one carries that love always."