AP Exclusive: Julie Andrews reflects on her Hollywood years

Everyone is on their best behavior when Julie Andrews is around.

It's early June in Los Angeles and Andrews is coming to film segments for a night of guest programming on Turner Classic Movies and speak about her new book, "Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years," which hits shelves Tuesday. The air is thick with anticipation before her arrival. When her car does appear — as prompt as Mary Poppins — the crew, the producers and even the catering staff all abandon their lunches and stand to attention. When she steps out, some even start to softly clap, as though she is royalty or perhaps even something bigger than that.

But Andrews, seemingly knowing the effect she has on people, brings it back down to earth.

FILE - This May 5, 2007 file photo shows actress and singer Julie Andrews poses in Los Angeles. Andrews released a memoir, “Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years,” which hits shelves on Oct. 15, 2019. (AP PhotoChris Carlson, File)

"Hi gang!" she says cheerily, with that voice that for many is as familiar as their own mother's, putting everyone (almost) at ease as she glides through the room.

Even TCM host Ben Mankiewicz, who is no stranger to speaking to screen legends, is a little awe struck.

"God, every time you talk I think, 'She sounds just like Julie Andrews!'" Mankiewicz says to his guest.

This cover image released by Hachette shows "Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years" by Julie Andrews with Emma Walton Hamilton. (Hachette via AP)

Andrews just laughs. "Shut up, shut up," she says.

For the next few hours, The Associated Press got a front-row seat as Andrews and Mankiewicz turned the little soundstage into a cozy living room for movie lovers as they discussed three films from her career: 1967's "Thoroughly Modern Millie," 1982's "Victor/Victoria" and 1986's "That's Life!," all of which she touches on in her memoir.

Although they may not be as well-known as "Mary Poppins" or "The Sound of Music," each provides a revealing glimpse into her work at different stages of her career outside of those beloved nanny roles. In talking about George Roy Hill's adaptation of "Thoroughly Modern Millie," Andrews reflected on her friendship with co-star Mary Tyler Moore.

FILE - In this Sept. 29, 2015 file photo, actress Julie Andrews arrives at the Los Angeles Philharmonic 20152016 season opening gala at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. Andrews released a memoir, “Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years,” which hits shelves on Oct. 15, 2019. (Photo by Richard ShotwellInvisionAP, File)

"She called me Millie and I called her Miss Dorothy for the rest of our lives," Andrews, who just turned 84 this month, said. "I miss her so much."

All of the films are special to Andrews in some way, but naturally the ones she made with Blake Edwards, her husband of 41 years, are particularly so.

"We made seven pictures together," Andrews said. "The first one 'Darling Lili' was such a huge flop it's amazing we stayed together for 41 years!"

FILE - This Nov. 10, 2005 file photo shows actress Julie Andrews posing in front of posters for the 40th anniversary special edition DVD release party of the "Sound of Music" in New York. Andrews released a memoir, “Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years,” which hits shelves on Oct. 15, 2019. (AP PhotoJulie Jacobson, File)

On "Victor/Victoria," she said Edwards advised her to watch her old friend James Garner for inspiration, telling her "not only is he a great actor, but he's a great reactor."

"Blake would love to be sitting right here," she said wistfully as Mankiewicz praised the film. "He probably is."

The third film they discuss, "That's Life!" may be the least known of the bunch, but is one that is in some ways the most personal. The dramatic comedy starring Jack Lemmon as man dreading his impending 60th birthday party and Andrews as his wife was a low-budget, non-union family affair that was filmed in her and Edwards' own home using all of their friends and nothing but a 13-page outline to guide the process.

FILE - This Nov. 1, 2011 file photo shows honoree Julie Andrews attending the Princess Grace Foundation Awards gala in New York. Andrews released a memoir, “Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years,” which hits shelves on Oct. 15, 2019. (AP PhotoEvan Agostini, File)

"(Blake) wrote his demons in this film," Andrews says. "It was really a gift to us all to say 'I'm sorry if I've offended' ... it's his apology to us but it's on film."

In "Home Work," Andrews writes frankly about her relationship with Edwards, a man she remains deeply and wholly in love with and in reverence of but who also had his struggles with prescription drugs.

"I wanted to honor him properly. I wanted it to be truthful, but didn't want to hurt anybody, especially my kids," Andrews told the AP later that day.

FILE - This Feb. 26, 2004 file photo shows director Blake Edwards, left, and his wife Julie Andrews as they arrive for a special reception for Edwards, who will receive an Honorary Oscar at the 76th Academy Awards ceremony, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. Andrews released a memoir, “Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years,” which hits shelves on Oct. 15, 2019. (AP PhotoRene Macura, File)

Deciding what to leave in and what to take out, she said "was hard and I'm very nervous about that."

The films and her conversation with Mankiewicz will air on TCM on Oct. 29 beginning at 8pm Eastern and serve as a companion to the memoir, co-written with her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton, which picks up where her first memoir "Home: A Memoir of My Early Years," left off: Her arrival in Los Angeles to film "Mary Poppins," with then-husband Tony Walton and baby Emma in tow.

Aided by the diaries she kept throughout her life, some excerpts of which are included in "Home Work," Andrews gives a thoughtful account of her personal and professional highs, lows and everything in between. She tells amusing anecdotes about Alfred Hitchcock teaching her about lenses on "Tom Curtain," her fear of driving on freeways during "Mary Poppins" and how Edwards stood up for her when people at a party were trying to pressure her into doing drugs.

FILE - This March 26, 2015 file photo shows Christopher Plummer, left, and Julie Andrews, cast members in the classic film "The Sound of Music," at a 50th anniversary screening of the film at the opening night gala of the 2015 TCM Classic Film Festival in Los Angeles. Andrews released a memoir, “Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years,” which hits shelves on Oct. 15, 2019. (Photo by Chris PizzelloInvisionAP, File)

And she does not shy away from personal stories either: About financial worries, the breakup of her first marriage, deciding to adopt two daughters from an orphanage in Vietnam and her complex relationship with her parents.

The book and the TCM evening concludes with "That's Life!," although of course her Hollywood years continued after 1986.

But, she said, "They only wanted x number of pages and I was cutting like crazy anyway."

This 1965 file photo shows actress Julie Andrews. Andrews released a memoir, “Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years,” which hits shelves on Oct. 15, 2019. (AP Photo, File)

Still, it leaves open the possibility of another installment.

"There is so much more if I do write about it, 'Victor/Victoria' on Broadway and 'Princess Diaries' and other things and getting into the book writing," Andrews said. "There might be (another). But not just yet, I only finished it 10 days ago!"

Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian court on Friday ordered the detention of the country’s farm minister in the latest high-profile corruption investigation, while Kyiv security officials assessed how they can recover lost battlefield momentum in the war against Russia.

Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court ruled that Agriculture Minister Oleksandr Solskyi should be held in custody for 60 days, but he was released after paying bail of 75 million hryvnias ($1.77 million), a statement said.

Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau suspects Solskyi headed an organized crime group that between 2017 and 2021 unlawfully obtained land worth 291 million hryvnias ($6.85 million) and attempted to obtain other land worth 190 million hryvnias ($4.47 million).

Ukraine is trying to root out corruption that has long dogged the country. A dragnet over the past two years has seen Ukraine’s defense minister, top prosecutor, intelligence chief and other senior officials lose their jobs.

That has caused embarrassment and unease as Ukraine receives tens of billions of dollars in foreign aid to help fight Russia’s army, and the European Union and NATO have demanded widespread anti-graft measures before Kyiv can realize its ambition of joining the blocs.

In Ukraine's capital, doctors and ambulance crews evacuated patients from a children’s hospital on Friday after a video circulated online saying Russia planned to attack it.

Parents hefting bags of clothes, toys and food carried toddlers and led young children from the Kyiv City Children’s Hospital No. 1 on the outskirts of the city. Medics helped them into a fleet of waiting ambulances to be transported to other facilities.

In the video, a security official from Russian ally Belarus alleged that military personnel were based in the hospital. Kyiv city authorities said that the claim was “a lie and provocation.”

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that civic authorities were awaiting an assessment from security services before deciding when it was safe to reopen the hospital.

“We cannot risk the lives of our children,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold online talks Friday with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which has been the key international organization coordinating the delivery of weapons and other aid to Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said late Thursday that the meeting would discuss how to turn around Ukraine’s fortunes on the battlefield. The Kremlin’s forces have gained an edge over Kyiv’s army in recent months as Ukraine grappled with a shortage of ammunition and troops.

Russia, despite sustaining high losses, has been taking control of small settlements as part of its effort to drive deeper into eastern Ukraine after capturing the city of Avdiivka in February, the U.K. defense ministry said Friday.

It’s been slow going for the Kremlin’s troops in eastern Ukraine and is likely to stay that way, according to the Institute for the Study of War. However, the key hilltop town of Chasiv Yar is vulnerable to the Russian onslaught, which is using glide bombs — powerful Soviet-era weapons that were originally unguided but have been retrofitted with a navigational targeting system — that obliterate targets.

“Russian forces do pose a credible threat of seizing Chasiv Yar, although they may not be able to do so rapidly,” the Washington-based think tank said late Thursday.

It added that Russian commanders are likely seeking to advance as much as possible before the arrival in the coming weeks and months of new U.S. military aid, which was held up for six months by political differences in Congress.

While that U.S. help wasn’t forthcoming, Ukraine’s European partners didn’t pick up the slack, according to German’s Kiel Institute for the World Economy, which tracks Ukraine support.

“The European aid in recent months is nowhere near enough to fill the gap left by the lack of U.S. assistance, particularly in the area of ammunition and artillery shells,” it said in a report Thursday.

Ukraine is making a broad effort to take back the initiative in the war after more than two years of fighting. It plans to manufacture more of its own weapons in the future, and is clamping down on young people avoiding conscription, though it will take time to process and train any new recruits.

Jill Lawless contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Ukrainian young acting student Gleb Batonskiy plays piano in a public park in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)