Julie Andrews to receive Venice Film Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award
Julie Andrews, the English star of such classic movies as “Mary Poppins” and “The Sound of Music,” will get the Golden Lion for Career Achievement at the 76th Venice Film Festival, organizers said on Friday.
The decision was made by the board of the Biennale di Venezia, chaired by Paolo Baratta, based on a proposal made by festival director Alberto Barbera, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“I am so honored to have been selected as this year’s recipient of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement,” Andrews said. “The Venice Film Festival has long been recognized as one of the world’s most esteemed international film festivals. I thank the Biennale for this acknowledgement of my work, and I look forward to being in that beautiful city in September for this very special occasion.”
Barbera said, “This Golden Lion is the well-deserved recognition of an extraordinary career, which has admirably parsed popular success with artistic ambition, without ever bowing to facile compromises.”
The festival director also highlighted, “At a very young age, Andrews made a name for herself in the music halls of London and, later, on Broadway thanks to her remarkable singing and acting talent. Her first Hollywood movie, ‘Mary Poppins,’ gave her top-tier star status, which was later confirmed in another treasured film, ‘The Sound of Music.’ Those two roles projected her into the Olympus of international stardom, making her an iconic figure adored by several generations of moviegoers.”
Barbera added, “Above and beyond the different interpretations that can be given to her two most famous films (and highlighting the transgressive value of her characters rather than their apparent conservatism), it must be remembered that Andrews went out of her way to avoid remaining confined as an icon of family movies. She accepted roles that were diverse, dramatic, and provocative, and imbued with scathing irony.”
As examples, he cited, ‘The Americanization of Emily’ by Arthur Hiller, and movies directed by her husband Blake Edwards.
The Venice Film Festival this year runs from August 28 to September 7.