Julie Andrews

Born: 1 October, 1935
Where: Walton On Thames, Surrey

For millions Dame Julie Andrews will always be Mary Poppins, or Maria, the governess to the Von Trapp family in The Sound of Music.

The crowd-pleasing family performances went on to win her an Oscar and an Oscar nomination respectively.

Andrews' parents discovered that she had a four-octave singing voice when she was a child.

Vaudeville performers, they launched her singing career and she hit Broadway in 1954 with The Boy Friend and, two years later, played Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady.

She lost out on the film version to the more experienced Audrey Hepburn and so accepted Walt Disney's invitation to star in Mary Poppins.

My Fair Lady won several Oscars in 1964 - except, ironically, best actress, which went to Andrews. From 1965-1970 she became the highest paid movie star in Hollywood.

Andrews then starred in what's been dubbed the first made-for-TV movie, Bing Crosby's High Tor, as well as Hitchcock's Torn Curtain.

Next up was the starring role in the comedy musical Thoroughly Modern Millie alongside James Fox and Mary Tyler Moore.

However, she subsequently suffered two musical flops in a row - Star! And Darling Lili - her first collaboration with husband Blake Edwards.

He helped her escape her saccharine-sweet stereotype, as she bared her breasts onscreen in SOB and was nominated yet again for an Oscar for another of his films, Victor/Victoria.

An operation on her vocal chords in 1998 left her singing voice badly damaged - she sued the New York hospital which operated and settled for a reported $30m.

She recently returned to Disney for the first time since Mary Poppins, to play an austere queen in The Princess Diaries and the sequel.

Shrek 2 also benefitted from her vocal talents as the voice of the Queen.