Short answers, pulled from the story.
Julia Elizabeth Wells arrived in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, on the 1st of October 1935. Her mother Barbara Ward Wells had married Edward Charles Ted Wells in 1932 after an affair with a family friend produced the child.
Andrews lived briefly with her biological father before moving to London at age five. She resided in a bad slum area of London while her stepfather Ted Andrews worked as a teacher of metalwork and woodwork. The family was very poor during these years and her stepfather was violent and an alcoholic who twice tried to get into bed with his stepdaughter while drunk.
Andrews made her professional solo debut at the London Hippodrome on the 22nd of October 1947. She sang the difficult aria Je suis Titania from Mignon as part of a musical revue called Starlight Roof.
A botched vocal surgery in 1997 led to the loss of Andrews singing voice. She developed hoarseness while performing Victor Victoria on Broadway and underwent surgery at New York Mount Sinai Hospital reportedly to remove non-cancerous nodules from her throat. Andrews emerged from the operation with permanent damage that destroyed the purity of her singing.
Mary Poppins became the biggest box-office draw in Disney history and won five Academy Awards including Best Actress for Andrews. The film also earned her the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress Motion Picture Comedy or Musical.