โAs a mother, my children have always come first,โ Julie says, โand even though Iโve always been a working woman, I have also tried to have them with me, as often as I could.โ The juggle was not easy, โbut there were other children [playing Mariaโs children] on set. I tried to make things silly and funny, so we all had a good time.โ
In an interview with The Australian Womenโs Weekly on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of The Sound of Music, Julie said by the time the film wrapped, Julie and her husband were formally separated (they remain โgreat chumsโ). By the time it came out, she was dating Blake, a director who made Breakfast At Tiffanyโs and, later, made a star of the beady-headed โจBo Derek in 10 (nobody remembers this, but Julie Andrews played the woman whom๏ทฏ Dudley Moore scorns in 10).
Blake didnโt know Julie all that well before they started dating. In fact, he โจhad only seen her in Mary Poppins and apparently told friends she was โso sweet she probably has violets between her legsโ.
Julie promptly sent him a bunch of purple flowers, which was terribly cheeky, but hey, this was the โ60s. The romance was on and isnโt it funny how life mirrors art?
There was Julie playing a stepmother โ Maria โ who had to win over the von Trapp children on screen and there was Julie thinking of ways to win over Blakeโs two children in real life.
โI still went through a lot of stepmothering. And it was rarer [than today] because divorce was rarer and there was an idea that stepmothers must be wicked. But Maria, in the film, turned out to be not so wicked,โ Julie says. โNot even in real life, from what I gather. She brought a quality of life to the children that they hadnโt had. I think they had โจa lot of nannies. She brought fresh air โจand fresh life into the family.
Julie with her daughter, Emma.
โBut it is difficult,โ Julie says. โAnd besides being a stepmother, Iโm an adoptive mother, too. I have my natural-born daughter and Blakeโs two children, and then we adopted two children โฆ can you imagine the hodge-podge?โ
Julie adopted her daughters, Amy Leigh and Joanna Lynne, at two months and five months old, from an orphanage in Vietnam just as US troops were being airlifted out after a long, miserable war.
โWe wanted a child and it hadnโt happened,โ she says. โAmy came into our lives and it was wonderful. Then Saigon began to fall and within three months, โจwe had another one. We said [to the orphanage where Amy had come from], โWe know you are not going to be able โจto do this for long. Once the South falls [adoptions will cease] so if you care to send us another one, please do.โ So suddenly Joanna was with us and they were not sisters, but like sisters.โ
Early video of Julie playing with her โsad-eyedโ girls on a Malibu beach shows a woman devoted to her new daughters. The road ahead wasnโt trouble-free, for reasons that many adoptive parents will instinctively understand: Julie and Blake had in mind what โwe could do for the childrenโ and not what the children would have to go through, adapting to life in America. โBut,โ says Julie, โthe love kept us going.โ
Julieโs decision to adopt two infants led directly to her decision to step down, if not entirely away, from her film career.
โI wanted to be there,โ she says. โTo make a proper protein breakfast for them before school in the morning. To go to parent-teacher interviews. It is important. I do admire women who manage to do both. I tried and it is extremely difficult.โ
Julie and Blake with Amy and Joanna.
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