This week, Sunday, April 19, 2015, through Fathom Events, Turner Classic Movies has hosted the showing of THE SOUND OF MUSIC in theaters across the USA.
At this point in time, there are many who have seen this film yearly on their televisions screens. If you have not seen THE SOUND OF MUSIC on the big screen, then you really have not seen it. It is magnificent, a fact that hit me once again today. The makers of the Sound of Music were truly inspired men (and women if such is the case). Each scene is a brilliant work of art. Salzburg is really another character in the film.
In a day and age where we look for bigger highs, more shock, more violence, pain and outrage to shake us up, The Sound of Music shocks us because of how different it is from all that. The film harkens back to a day when excellence and inspiration were the true goals of the top filmmakers.
The Sound of Music qualifies as a great film because we have many of the opposing qualities we find in reality.. We have gorgeous scenery and a troubled girl, great music and unhappy children getting happy, love against a backdrop of evil as the Nazis move in. We know that the face of the world is about to change forever, even as love triumphs for this couple and this family.
That the music of the film, written by the brilliant Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II makes the film goes without saying. It was great on Broadway, but again, the way the filmmakers have meshed the music with the actors and the landscape of Salzburg brings out it's true grandeur. And again, they could not have chosen a more perfect Maria than Julie Andrews.
In 1965, Julie Andrews was a fresh-faced young woman with an amazing voice. Although she was fairly well-known at that time, The Sound of Music would hurl her into the kind of fame where people can't get enough of you. Christopher Plummer, although handsome, seems rather churlish in a good portion of the film. It is Julie as Maria, who can't help being attracted to him and falling in love with him, that makes us believe he is a decent fellow. The children are brilliant as well. When one takes a simple song like Do-Re-Mi and sees how grand and wonderful it can be, it brightens your entire aspect on life!
I'm not saying I can write anything half decent on this film. It has been written and written about - both as great and as too sweet and silly, but maybe those watching it this week on the big screen, after all we have experienced in our world during the last 50 years, will see it with fresh eyes and find it is a necessary value in our world. We need this joy!
(c) Michelle Russell, 2015
The Julie Andrews Hour
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Meeting Julie Andrews Again and, Finally, Thank You!
In the years following my meeting with Julie Andrews,
I went on with my life. Julie was living a new life herself, as a wife, mother
and film star. And as far as I knew, she spent most of her time in Europe. My
memories and mementos of The Julie
Andrews Hour were packed away in a closet in my parents’ California home,
where they remained for the next 30 years.
Whenever I saw a mention of Julie’s success, I felt
happy for her. In the late 70s, when she toured the country, singing in
concert, I traveled to Westchester, NY to see her onstage. I was thrilled by her ease
and beauty before an audience, receiving the applause she so richly deserved.
The nay-sayers of Hollywood had been left far behind...
***
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Singing at "The Bushes" Park Royal Hotel around 1977 |
After moving to Washington, D.C., I lost my voice -- a combination of misuse and emotional trauma. Thank heaven for my coming into contact with an amazing teacher, Don Zuckerman. Don taught singing using the Alexander Technique, as a basis, along with breathing techniques taught by an Olympic atheletic coach and a certain amount of pyschology.
Using these techniques Don taught helped me change habits and thoughts that were holding me back. I learned to laugh at myself and not to be
afraid of any unpleasant sounds I made in the process of retraining my voice. I also learned
to become aware of when my vocal production felt right, rather trying to listen to myself and create a sound I thought was good. None of us
hear ourselves as we sound to others.
Humbled by the fact that I could not sing at all if I
didn’t listen, I followed Don Zuckerman’s instructions to the letter. Like a baby learning to walk. I learned how to breathe and how to make sounds all
over again Over the next three years,
I began to be able to sing again. For the first time in my life, I knew this was my true voice.
"HOME"
My old friend Alice gave me a copy of Julie's wonderful book "Home." Finally after finishing the writing of a two volume work of my own, I was able to sit down and enjoy it.
When I picked up Home and began to read. I
recognized the voice in the book. It was Julie. While some may have been
surprised by the stories in Home, for
me, it was a revelation and explanation of the woman I’d already spent so much
time with. I felt as if Julie had taken me by the hand, and led me on a journey
into her life; I felt I understood her better. And I felt grateful.
Reading Julie's book made me remember my old diaries on The Julie Andrews Hour. Where were they? What did they say? Was there a story there? When I finally took them out, I knew there was a story, and an exciting one.
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Julie rehearsing for a number on The Julie Andrews Hour |
One thing that surprised me the most in my research on The Julie Andrews Hour was that nothing
had been done with the show. Many television shows had come out on DVD, but not Julie’s. In the long run I learned that it is not owned by ABC or anyone in the United States. It is owned by a television company in Great Britain.
After reading my old diaries again and interviewing people who had worked on the show I was eagar to see Julie again. Maybe now that I'd grown up and lived a little I would be able to talk to Julie.
That opportunity came soon enough at an event where Julie and Emma Walton Hamilton were signing one of their new "Very Fairy Princes" books. Although things didn't go quite as planned - mainly because I was on a strong medication for my allergies, I am happy I saw her again and will treasure that last squeeze she gave my hand as we said goodbye.
Here, I would like to say something I never really said. Julie, for all the beauty and inspiration you've given us these many years I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Sincerely,
Michelle Russell
***
Catsong2@netzero.net
(c) Michelle Russell
NOTE: All photos included in this blog are for entertainment purposes only.
(c) Michelle Russell
NOTE: All photos included in this blog are for entertainment purposes only.
Monday, March 30, 2015
Meeting Julie Andrew - April 1975
Note: This detail in my story is only possible due to the fact that I kept a very detailed diary at the time!
This sequence is only including snippets as I work toward a book.
It was March 26, 1975, and I’d just returned from acting class. The bell in my little 7’ x 10’ room buzzed, signaling that there was a call down the hall for me. I went out the door and walked to the closet telephone booth. I’d been living in New York City for a little over a year, working as a waitress during the weekdays and studying acting and voice at HB Studio on the weekends.
It was March 26, 1975, and I’d just returned from acting class. The bell in my little 7’ x 10’ room buzzed, signaling that there was a call down the hall for me. I went out the door and walked to the closet telephone booth. I’d been living in New York City for a little over a year, working as a waitress during the weekdays and studying acting and voice at HB Studio on the weekends.
I picked up the phone. It was my friend, Michael
Bruck. Michael was the brother of my Julie Andrews pen
pal, Dennis, and my
first New York friend. He’d helped me find a place to stay the day I got off
the plane. Michael had some surprising news—Julie Andrews was coming to town.
She was going to be one of the stars appearing in the Sir Lew Grade Tribute
which would be filmed and televised later. Of course, Sir Lew Grade had been
the producer of The Julie Andrews Hour.
![]() |
Sir Lew presenting Julie Andrews with her Emmy for The Julie Andrews Hour. Blake Edwards on the right. |
Hanging up the phone, I hurried back to my room. As
soon as the door was closed the door, I began jumping up and down, “Julie’s
coming! Julie’s coming,” I exclaimed like a child who has just heard Santa will
soon arrive. That night, in my diary, I
wrote, “Julie’s coming. Oh joy!”
***
... Then, finally, I heard that lovely, very familiar
English voice. She was with a man and wearing dark glasses and probably would
have escaped my notice if it were not for that voice. I rose quickly out of my
seat and walked across the floor.
“Julie,” I called.
“Yes?”
If only I could describe what those few seconds meant
to me. How many times had I listened as director Bill Davis and others called
Julie and she answered them, but now I was the one calling and she was
answering ME! Then, without thinking I said,
...The next night I returned to the Hilton, where one of
the musicians had offered to get me in to hear Julie sing. In the midst of the
show, he arranged for someone to come out and get me. It was thrilling to see
her on the large stage, singing so beautifully for a huge audience, though my
friends who had paid big bucks to get in were not too pleased with me.
So that was my big adventure. Although in the
following years I would see Julie quite a few times on stage, it would be more
than thirty years before I spoke to her again.
(C) Michelle Russell 2015
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Julie Andrews, Lady Gaga and The Sound of Music - A Glorious Celebration
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Salzburg, Austria |

Watching Julie Andrews and listening to her behind the scenes stories is sure
to bring back fond memories of our own. Each person who has seen the film has their own very personal
memories of where they were in their life when they first saw the film. Those of us who love it remember as well how it inspired us and affected our lives. Without a doubt, it
is one of the most loved films ever, and a large part of this is due to the
greatness of Julie Andrews’ performance. She brought passion, insecurity, humor
and love to her portrayal of Maria, as well as that glorious voice, which
touched us all.
I have my own memories of seeing the film for the first
time. My grandmother and Great Aunt Dora took me to see "The Sound of Music" shortly after it
opened. I was eleven years old at the time, and Aunt Dora, who had seen the
Broadway production, thought I should see it. Of course, like most kids, I
longed to be one of the children in the film, but being from a theatrical
family, I also dreamed, not just of living the story, but of working with a group of
children like those in the film and a singer like Julie. But who is like Julie? No, of course, I dreamed of working with Julie herself, humbly. And for the
first time in my life, I thought about singing, not just as a child or a
popular singer, but as a singer who could do something much finer, like Julie
Andrews.
Only seven years after the release of “The Sound of Music,”
I had the opportunity to watch Julie Andrews at work in-person, and I
took advantage of it that opportunity as my blog tells. Now, seeing the clips of the film and Julie at that time makes my memories real. Indeed, it is time to tell the rest of my story, and in the next few weeks, I will.
To learn more about ABC’s Special, visit:
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/journey-meadow-filmed-opening-scene-sound-music/story?id=29698288
(c) 2015 Michelle Russell
All photos and links here for entertainment purposes only.
Saturday, January 10, 2015
A Crazy Trip to Beverly Hills
Note Much of this content has been removed...
***
By September 1973, we knew that Julie Andrews had finished filming "The Tamarind Seed" with Omar Sharriff and settled back in England. In addition, she had scheduled a grand concert at the Albert Hall in London and all the fans I knew were very excited about it. Many of them were planning to travel to London to attend the event.
Meanwhile, my young friend Vivian missed Julie a lot. Determined not to be left behind, that September
Vivian called me to let me know that she was going to fly to London. She'd done a lot of babysitting and had the money. Before she left Vivian wanted to take one last trip to see Julie's Beverly Hills home. She also had a story regarding that home to tell me.
![]() |
Julie Andrews and Blake Edward's home at the time of The Julie Andrews Hour - approximately 1972-73 |
Blake said he was leaving, but suggested they go through the garage to the back of the house. They could knock on the door and tell the butler to give them a hanger. When they got to the back of the house, Vivian told me, they saw the garden and, as Vivian described it, there were so many beautiful flowers back there, it looked like there was going to be a wedding. Vivian told me she just had to see that garden again!
So, it was agreed that autumn that we'd go to Beverly Hills. I often when there on the weekends when I didn't go back to West Covina. I liked to walk around the lovely neighborhoods; it rather reminded me of Pasadena where I grew up.
In short, Vivian got to see that garden again, I did not. This is a story that may one day be told...
![]() |
Julie signing autographs in London around 1973 |
****
Vivian went to England in the next month and attended Julie Andrew's grand concert at the Albert Hall. It was months before I heard from her. She was thrilled and told me she had also spoken to Jenny Edwards while she was there.
Because of some other fans' behavior, I felt sorry for Julie and truly glad that I was thousands of miles away where I would not seen as part of that.
From now on, I would concentrate on my career. My goal - New York.
(c) Michelle Russell
(c) Michelle Russell
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Julie Andrews, Malibu and Me - 1973
During the time The
Julie Andrews Hour was being taped, everyone knew that Julie and
her family
were spending their weekends at the beach in Malibu. This was mentioned in
Blake Edward’s documentary, Julie, and in every magazine interview. But Malibu is a big
place. It includes the “Movie Colony,” a gated community where stars have spent time since the 1930s. So, no one really knew where the Edwards’ home
was. Yet despite the fact that two of the fans I knew, Patty and Kelly, had followed Julie to
the Movie Colony one weekend, I was pretty sure that was not where her
home was.
![]() |
One of my favorite photos of Julie Andrews, taken in Malibu the summer or fall of 1972. |
Even before I was born, my maternal grandmother
owned land in Malibu. As a teenager, my mother spent her summer weekends at the
family’s small cottage on a large plot of land, where, in the mid-1950s, my grandmother built a lovely home
on the hill over-looking the ocean. Much of my early childhood was spent there
and movie actors were no strangers to me. In fact, one of my childhood pals was Allen Jenkins, a character actor who had worked in numerous films with Humphrey
Bogart and Edward G. Robinson. Will Rogers Jr and his family were our
neighbors.
... In this blog, the author discovers that, indeed, Julie Andrews and her family had been closer to her grandmother's home than she ever know.
This blog has been abbreviated toward re-writing this subject for a new book.
(c) Michelle Russell
Coming Next: Beverly Hills Adventure
To find a listing of all The Julie Andrews Hour Blogs –
with links back to this site, please visit http://www.julieandrewshour1972.com
To
request that The Julie Andrews Hour be
released on DVD, please contact: dan.gopal@itv.com at ITV and let your voices heard!
Be
sure to ask for the release of the music on CD as well!
All photos here for entertainment purposes only.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Julie Andrews Hour Magazine Covers 1972-1973
In 1972, Julie Andrews was one of Hollywood’s
greatest female stars, rivaled only perhaps by Barbra Streisand. Although, years
later, critics made much of the fact that Ms. Andrews’ films after The Sound of the Music did not do that
well at the box office, I can tell you --as person who lived through that
period-- the average person was not judging Ms. Andrews based on the box
office. She was a great star and everyone knew it.
TV
Guide – December 9, 1972
Julie posed for this lovely photo on the set of The
Julie Andrews Hour. This article, for which the writer interviewed Blake
Edwards, gives something of the history of Julie’s career and the creation of The Julie Andrews Hour. At this point,
it was hoped that the television series would continue for at least two years.
In the article, producer Lew Grade states that if the show remains on the air
just two years, he will earn about $15 million.
The TV Guide article also reveals that the show
opened with a Nielsen rating of 17.3 and then descended to a rating of 11.4 the
second week. Unfortunately, the show had
been given a 10pm weeknight slot, which, as producer Nick Vanoff noted, was obviously
too late for a good portion of Julie’s fans.
Toward the end of the article, an interview with Cass
Elliott is quoted. Ms. Elliott speaks of working until 4am with Julie, noting
how even at that hour, Julie was pulling out everything she had to make the
show work. “I was embarrassed to complain. I dunno, but there is something very
special there, which you grow to love…”This McCalls cover was one of my favorite. The blue of the "McCalls" and Julie's eyes were perfectly matched! |
Only a week after The Julie Andrews Hour won seven Emmys, the McCall’s May 1973 issue,
with a beautiful photo of Julie on the cover, appeared on the newsstand. The
article was titled “Julie Andrews Fights Back.”
Author Chris Chase interviewed Julie and wrote this
article before anyone knew publicly whether the show would be renewed or
cancelled. The article features photos of Julie getting out of her car in front
of her Beverly Hills home, standing by her pool in Beverly Hills, in the
recording studio and by the ocean at the family’s beach house in Malibu.
In response to the question about how she would feel
if the show was cancelled, Julie says, “Off course I’ll be hurt, everyone wants
to be accepted and loved, but all you can do is your best… I’ll feel sorry for
all the people who’ve worked so hard…” To close our her statement, Ms. Andrews
concludes that she’ll be rather glad to be home again, hinting that her
daughter Emma has had a rather bad time with her being away from home so much.
Perhaps, Mr. Chase writes, ‘what they (the producers
and Julie) were trying to do couldn’t be done.’ The article also reveals that
the show cost approximately $240,000 an episode ($.... with today’s values).
Julie was given many compliments in this article:
“She’s an angel,” said Nelson Riddle.
“She has no temperament,” added Ian Fraser.
From Alice Ghostley we learn, “She’s so kind, so
sensitive, so unwilling to see anyone embarrassed.”
The article, which began with some sadness and
difficulty, concludes with Julie’s dreams and the sheer happiness of her
present life.
Women’s
Homelife – June 1973
Summer 1973 |
The photo shoot for this cover can be seen in Blake
Edwards’ documentary film, “Julie.” The
editors chose the brightest photo of the shoot and called the article, “The
Trials and Triumphs of a Working Wife.” Although the article did not come out
until a year after the interview and photos were taken, it does reveal much
about Julie’s life at the time the television series was being created. There
is an interesting photo of Julie seated on a chair, with Blake, holding cup and
saucer, looking at her. Behind them on the wall is grand painting, which looks
to be of the Rembrandt period.
The article reveals that Blake was very protective
of Julie, to the point that when, at an introductory dinner before shooting of
the series began, an ABC representative asked to take Julie from table to table
to “meet the press individually,” Blake
told him he thought that was a bit much to expect and said he would not allow
it. Julie, however, thought she should go around, and after speaking quietly to
her husband about it and having it arranged, went from table to table and greeted
everyone.
Interestingly, according to the article Julie loved
to be silly and rowdy, but had to save that aspect of her personality for the
times when Blake wasn’t around. Still, the author concludes, Blake was good for
her.
So, the series was concluded. There were specials
yet to come, but those would be done in Europe. Now, Julie Andrews, who had
been so visible in Hollywood for nearly twelve months, was not gone from the
U.S. And for all we knew, she would never return.
© Michelle Russell
Coming Next: Julie, Malibu and me
To request that The Julie Andrews Hour be released on DVD, please contact: dan.gopal@itv.com at ITV and let your voices heard!
Be sure to ask for the release of the music on CD as well!
Photos appearing here are for entertainment purposes only!
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