Near the end of her one-year run with The Boy Friend, Andrews was approached to audition to Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe for the role of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady. She was offered the part during her third reading.
Julie Andrews reveals she wishes she could have starred in the film for My Fair Lady. Julie Andrews originated the role of Eliza Doolittle for Broadway in 1956, but Warner Brothers ended up casting Audrey Hepburn instead.
However, he turned it down believing he couldn't play a dialectician. He jokingly said, “I sound the way Liza does at the beginning of the film.” Rex Harrison won an Oscar for his film performance.
Why didn t Audrey Hepburn get nominated for My Fair Lady?
Warner didn't think she was "known" enough as a movie actress. Many felt that this snub, as well as Audrey Hepburn's singing being dubbed, led to Hepburn's not being nominated for the Best Actress for the Oscar nomination.
Julie Andrews On Why She Wasn't Cast In 'My Fair Lady' | The Dick Cavett Show
Why didn t Julie Andrews get the part in My Fair Lady?
Julie Andrews on auditioning for Rodgers & Hammerstein
However, despite originating the lead role of My Fair Lady on Broadway the actress was swiftly replaced by Audrey Hepburn for the film as producers thought she wasn't famous enough.
In a minute-long speech interupted by cheers and applause from the standing audience at the curtain call of the May 8 matinee, Andrews said "I have searched my conscience and my heart and find that I cannot accept this nomination, and prefer instead to stand with the egregiously overlooked --" At that point she was ...
How old was Audrey Hepburn during the filming of My Fair Lady?
Although playing a 21-year-old flower girl, Hepburn was actually 34 in real life. The opera that was playing the night Professor Higgins and Eliza meet in Covent Gardens was Faust.
As the voice of Maria in 'West Side Story' and Eliza Doolittle in 'My Fair Lady', Marni Nixon should have been one of Hollywood's biggest stars. Instead, other actors got the credit and she became American cinema's 'most unsung singer', writes Alexandra Pollard.
My Fair Lady, American musical film, released in 1964, that was adapted from the long-running Broadway musical of the same name and proved to be a great popular and critical success. The movie, which starred Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn, won eight Academy Awards, including that for best picture.
Does Audrey Hepburn actually sing in My Fair Lady?
Unlike the 1964 musical My Fair Lady in which her sings were dubbed by legendary ghost singer Marni Nixon, Audrey Hepburn sings the songs herself in the 1957 musical Funny Face, which was her first musical. Hepburn performs one solo, "
Famously, Grant rejected the opportunity to star in Billy Wilder's Sabrina because he had heard that Wilder had a dislike for actors. That wasn't the only role he rejected, having passed on David Lean's 1957 epic The Bridge on the River Kwai.
Eliza is insulted at receiving no credit for her success, packing up and leaving the Higgins house. As she leaves she finds Freddy, who begins to tell her how much he loves her, but she tells him that she has heard enough words; if he really loves her, he should show it ("Show Me").
How old was Julie Andrews when she was in My Fair Lady?
When My Fair Lady opened on Broadway 60 years ago—on Mar. 15, 1956—TIME's reviewer called it “a delight” and noted that “Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews play Higgins and Eliza to perfection.” As related by the article, the then-20-year-old Andrews had been singing since the age of 8.
The entire movie was filmed at Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, California, from August to December 1963. Principal filming took place on six stages of the studio, specifically 4, 7, 8, 11, 16, and 26.
GROSS: That's Marni Nixon on the soundtrack of the film "My Fair Lady." Audrey Hepburn played the role of Eliza Doolittle in the film, but Nixon did the singing for the role.
Love Won Out. At first Warner thought that Rex Harrison, who turned 56 in 1964, looked too old to be the love interest of the 19-year-old Eliza Doolittle character.
However, when studio executives informed her that Elizabeth Taylor would play Eliza Doolittle if she didn't accept it, Hepburn decided to take the job. Although the actress was admired for her girl next door beauty and classy composure, her singing voice proved subpar for the film.
Did Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer dislike each other?
Julie Andrews Remained 'Great Friends' with 'Sound of Music' 's Christopher Plummer Until His Death. Charmaine Patterson is a former digital news writer at PEOPLE.
After her last note, "The Sound of Music" star Julie Andrews came out to give Gaga a big hug. "Dear Lady Gaga," said Andrews. "Thank you for that wonderful tribute. It really warmed my heart.
Unfortunately, a lifetime of singing has the potential to take a toll on any voice, even one as incredible as Andrews'. In 1997, she had vocal cord surgery to get rid of a benign lesion — but instead the procedure left her unable to sing.
