Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years

I have been waiting all summer for "Home Work," the second volume of Academy Award Winning Actress Julie Andrews memoirs, to be released. I have been a huge admirer of Julie's since "My Fair Lady" in 1956. I only got to hear her beautiful voice on the original cast album but a year later my parents let this 4 year old stay up to see Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella," a original musical made for TV which was shown on CBS. I was entranced by her performance as I have been in the years since when I have watched most of her movies, TV specials, and occasional concert performances and her last two appearances in musicals on the Great White Way known as Broadway and off-Broadway. I also loved the first volume of her memoirs released 11 years ago called "Home." I am only in the second chapter of her gorgeously photographed latest autobiography. It surpasses her first book and since I have read that it ends in the 1980s, may Julie and her gifted daughter Emma please start writing the third volume of Julie's life story soon because we devoted fans want to read the up-to-date story of Julie;s amazing life. If you are looking for an ideal Christmas gift to give anyone who is interested in how the movies from Julie Andrews' Hollywood career were made, this is the book to buy!

I loved Julie Andrews since seeing the Sound of Music in 1965. My great aunt and I were supposed to see Tom Thumb but to our delight we saw The Sound of Music. Then saw it again the next day. Mary Poppins was pure art. I haven't seen many of the other works mentioned but I will have them on my list. Julie is such a wonderful person. Thank you for sharing your story. It couldn't have been easy. Good luck on your books.

Interesting revealing times making big-budget pics. The working parts take second place to much family life. A good read however. Third book?

I really loved Dame Julie's second installment of her autobiography. She begins with a quick recapping her early life story that she wrote about in "Home". After reading the book, I understand now why the title "Home Work" was chosen. Julie is one of the rare people who works as hard at her profession as she does at her homelife. Too many stars write a memoir that is basically a "And then I did ____ movie". Not our Dame! Home Work goes into depth about what makes Julie unique. How can such a talented person get severe stage fright in front of a live audience? She covers events from her first film, Mary Poppins, through her Oscar nominated role in Victor/Victoria. She gave details about each of her films but she also gets into how she felt after the first big wave of fame hit her. If you have read her first book, you'll understand why she needed help coping with the onslaught. Her daughter and co-writer, Emma Walton Hamilton, stated that she admires her mom's resilience. I do too. She had to shift gears, learning film technique after a huge success on Broadway. Not content with being one of the best singers ever, she made sure her body of work also included dramas. Then, she leapt into a second career as an author of children's books. Her goals were to be as versitile as possible in all areas of performing. But just as much as she worked on her performance skills, she worked just as hard to be sure her family was taken care of. Julie seems to be the glue that holds many others in her family together. She was all at once, among other things, a hands-on mother of 5 of kids who ranged in age from infants to teens, caretaker for her youngest brother while he tried to control a drug habit, and the calming presence that helped her volitile husband continue to create films. Trying to juggle everything going on around her was a Herculean feat, but she does it with grace, wisdom and humor. She admits her insecurities and analyzes how she could have handled events better. Possibly the most dramatic sections of the book tell of almost burning to death during the filming of "Hawaii", adopting two Vietnamese baby girls who arrived from the Project: Baby Lift as the Americans left Saigon, and the heartbreaking sights she saw when she visited Cambodia. She didn't just go to look, she financed buying fuel for the planes taking relief supplies, giving her time for benefit performances, and bringing children with severe handicaps to the US for medical care. All of this while she tried to take care of a mother that wasn't very willing to be helped and a husband who was struggling with depression and pain by taking prescription narcotics. All through the book, Julie conveys over and over to the reader how she is a remarkably talented, intelligent and compassionate person. I really hope she sits down and begins her third book in the trilogy because I didn't want this book to end!

While the first half is interesting, the second half really gets rollicking... I honestly can’t Imaginnnne the sheer logistics of her life, especially the life she led in the 70’s with Blake Edwards, five children, assorted animals, international residencies, ailing parents and a booming career. Yes, the choices they willingly made led to the happy (and at times, not so happy) chaos, and she fully agrees that they chose that life - yet, they somehow careened through it all as a family and made it work. I’m astonished at the aplomb and resourcefulness they seemed meet every curveball with, and while her natural reserve does seem prevent her from letting the reader fully in on the more difficult areas, you sure get the idea. Her kind heart really shines through when writing about the lives of those struggling so horribly after the Vietnam War, and, surprisingly, she lets you feel a bit of what it was like living with a wildly creative man who’s moods seemed to swing from light to dark a great deal. I wasn’t sure at first, but going into that second half, I truly could not put the book down. As an aside, I once treated myself to a haircut from Rula at Michaeljohn Salon, and in the parking lot below, there was room for only one car at a time to go up or down. While paying at the booth, I stood and watched as a ratty, ancient, smoke-spewing beater tried to come down the ramp and encountered a gorgeous, silver, two-seater Mercedes sports car trying to go up. Without a fuss, that Mercedes immediately backed up to one side and kindly waited, letting the poor guy pass. The license plate on that beautiful car? JAE. She really is That nice. ❤️

This memoir by Julie Andrews is a fascinating peek into the personal and professional life of one of the most beloved actresses of our time. She tells her life story with courage and grace. She is everything I always hoped that she was in real life. Thank you, Ms. Andrews for being vulnerable enough to tell your story. The world will only respect you more for doing so!🌹

While the first part of her memoirs, Home, was definitely my favorite so far, I absolutely loved Home Work. I really treasure the fact that Julie Andrews, someone who is, in my opinion, very private about her life (her personal affairs, that is), was willing to share so much of it, without fear of mentioning her issues through the years she covered so far, with her fans. She's wonderful, I love her and I recommend this to any fan of hers.

Me encanto el libro, la presentación es hermosa y la historia es increíble.

Love it! Great piece of writing and a valuable lesson for life! I have read the first part of her autobiography entitled 'Home' and I am looking forward to an eventual third part. Great piece of writing and a valuable lesson for life!

40年来のファンの一人として彼女のヒストリーを楽しく読ませてもらいました。

Acquistato per un'amica a cui è piaciuto tanto. Consigliato.