Short answers, pulled from the story.
Julie Andrews won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Walt Disney's Mary Poppins (1964). It was her film debut, and the film received thirteen Academy Award nominations in total, winning five.
Warner Brothers studio head Jack Warner chose Audrey Hepburn over Andrews for the 1964 film adaptation of My Fair Lady, stating that Andrews lacked sufficient box-office name recognition. Warner later confirmed the decision was financial, noting that Hepburn had never made a financial flop.
Andrews underwent throat surgery in 1997 at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital after developing hoarseness during the Broadway run of Victor/Victoria. The surgery caused permanent damage that destroyed the purity of her singing voice. She filed a malpractice suit against the operating doctors, which was settled in September 2000 for an undisclosed amount.
Julie Andrews made her Broadway debut on the 30th of September 1954 in The Boy Friend, playing Polly Browne. Actress Hattie Jacques had recommended her for the part, and the show became a hit with Andrews singled out by critics as its standout performer.
Julie Andrews was born Julia Elizabeth Wells on the 1st of October 1935 in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey. She was conceived from an affair her mother had with a family friend, a fact Andrews did not learn until around age 15 and which was not publicly disclosed until her 2008 autobiography. Her stepfather was violent and an alcoholic, and the family was, by her own account, very poor during the war years.
At the age of 12, Andrews made her professional solo debut at the London Hippodrome on the 22nd of October 1947, performing the operatic aria "Je suis Titania" from Mignon. On the 1st of November 1948, at age 13, she became the youngest solo performer ever to appear in a Royal Variety Performance, singing before King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at the London Palladium.