BREADWINNER WHO SANG ON A BEER CRATE
Born Julia elizabeth Wells in 1935 in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, to two teachers, Julie had an impressive four-octave singing voice which was soon put to profitable use — her mother left her father for a canadian tenor, Ted andrews, whom Julie’s mother accompanied on piano.
Standing on a beer crate to reach the microphone, Julie joined the family vaudeville act when she was nine.
on a summer tour in Blackpool, she noticed Ted, now her stepfather, was drinking heavily. Her mother soon followed suit. andrews, who never had time for much formal education, was 15 when she discovered her biological father was a family friend with whom her mother had had an affair.
Ted andrews tried twice, when drunk, to get into bed with her. She prudently fitted a lock to her bedroom door.
Starring roles in the West end meant andrews was the family’s main breadwinner when she was in her teens and able to buy the family home for them.