Few voices are as enduring as the smooth, bright soprano that told us how to get our medicine down and why the hills are alive. Julie Andrews, who turns 80 on Thursday, may be American theater and cinema’s most beloved British import of the 20th century, as fondly remembered for her sternly magical Mary Poppins as she is for her hill-frolicking Maria in The Sound of Music. Her frequent roles on stage and screen during the heyday of LIFE Magazine made her a regular subject in its pages. The best of those images are featured in this gallery.
Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk.
Scene from the stage version of My Fair Lady with Julie Andrews as Eliza Doolittle, 1956. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesJulie Andrews with Rex Harrison in the stage version of My Fair Lady, 1956. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesJulie Andrews in the stage version of My Fair Lady, 1956. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesJulie Andrews taking a sip from the glass slipper during the TV production of Cinderella, 1957.Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesJulie Andrews and Jon Cypher rehearsing music for the TV production of Cinderella, 1957.Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesRex Harrison and Julie Andrews during a TV interview, 1958.Mark Kauffman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesJulie Andrews at a TV interview after the opening of My Fair Lady, 1958.Mark Kauffman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesJulie Andrews at a party, 1959.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesJulie Andrews at a party, 1959.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesJulie Andrews reenacting a typical rehearsal of the musical My Fair Lady', being filmed for a spot on the TV show Fabulous Fifties, 1960.Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesJulie Andrews reenacting a typical rehearsal of the musical My Fair Lady', being filmed for a spot on the TV show Fabulous Fifties, 1960.Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesJulie Andrews rehearsing for the TV show Broadway of Lerner and Loewe, 1961.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesJulie Andrews rehearsing for the TV show Broadway of Lerner and Loewe.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesJulie Andrews rehearsing for the TV show Broadway of Lerner and Loewe.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesSinger Harry Belafonte with Julie Andrews at party following the Broadway premiere of The Sound of Music, 1965. Bob Gomel—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesComposer Richard Rodgers with Julie Andrews at the Broadway premiere of The Sound of Music, 1965.Bob Gomel—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesActress Julie Andrews at the premiere of the film The Sound of Music, 1965. Bob Gomel—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesJulie Andrews with producer Robert Evans, talking at Paramount Studios, 1968.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
