Julie Andrews: A life in dates

Key dates in the life of British actress and singer Julie Andrews, who presented the latest instalment of her memoirs in London Saturday:

- October 1, 1935: Julia Elizabeth Wells is born in Surrey, England. Her father is a school teacher and her mother teaches piano.

- 1945: She sings in music halls with her mother and stepfather, Ted Andrews, whose surname she takes.

- 1946-1947: Makes her radio debut in a duet with Andrews on a BBC variety show; gives her first performance as a solo artist at London's Stage Door Canteen.

- 1954: Moves to the United States for her Broadway debut in the musical The Boy Friend, earning widespread plaudits.

- 1956-58: Plays Eliza Doolittle in Broadways original My Fair Lady.

- 1959: Returns to Britain for the West End version of the show. Marries her first husband, childhood friend Ted Walton, a set and costume designer.

- 1964: Plays the title role in the children's classic Mary Poppins, for which she earns a leading actress Oscar.

- 1965: Stars in The Sound of Music, one of the world's top-grossing films for which she is nominated for an Oscar.

- 1982: Directed by Blake Edwards, her second husband, in Victor/Victoria, notching an Oscar nomination for her dual gender role.

- 1997: Botched throat surgery to remove non-cancerous nodules permanently damages her singing voice.

- 2004: Narrates the Queen Lillian character in animation blockbuster "Shrek 2".