Name: Julie Andrews on Letterman, February 17, 1982
Uploaded: 2015-10-15T06:11:58.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Julie Andrews on Letterman, February 17, 1982' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2015-10-15. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Julie Andrews on Letterman, February 17, 1982' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2015-10-15. Transcript available.

Thank you. Thank you. Paul Schaefer in the book. And again, our thanks to the
folks down there at
the Duggar Study Club in Duggar, Indiana. Julie Andrews, who is not a member,
not a member of the
Duggar Study Club, is with us tonight. She was the original Liza Doolittle on
Broadway and in
My Fair Lady in film. She has delighted audiences as the star of The Sound of
Music, Mary Poppins.
Her newest film, Victor Victoria, she plays a role that is said to be quite a
departure for her.
Please welcome the charming Julie Andrews.
Very nice of you to be here. I actually mispronounced your name because, quite
frankly, I'm a little nervous, seated next to you.
That makes two of us. You're not nervous, are you? A little bit, yeah. About
what? Just problems at home or something?
Well, Mr. Lindemann, it's like this. See, I didn't mean it. I almost said Julie
Anderson is here. And she's not here, Julie Andrews is.
You're not the first person who's done that, so don't worry. Well, I'm happy
that you're here and it's a thrill.
Now, we mentioned, of course, Mary Poppins and you were in the Motion Picture
10 and many, many others. And this one, Victor Victoria, described as a
departure. And I guess I'll let you explain why or how.
Oh, well, it's a love story, I guess, and just a slightly unusual one. I play a
lady who's very down on her luck in the Depression in 1934 in Paris.
And I'm persuaded to become a female impersonator. In other words, I play a
lady who pretends to be a man who then pretends to be a lady. And it gets very
confusing.
But was that the thing to do in the Depression?
It was for me.
Yeah, but I mean, that's unusual. I understand how a man could be persuaded to
be a female impersonator.
Well, I'm so down on my luck and Robert Preston is so down on his. We're both
out of a job we haven't eaten in like four or five days. It's kind of a
desperation move there.
But is it not a happy movie?
Oh, it's a wonderful movie. It's funny and it's warm and endearing. And
obviously, it becomes very successful and Victoria becomes the toast of Paris.
Now, I'm told by way of clarification that perhaps we should look at the film
from the motion picture that you brought with us.
Aha, all right.
Or you brought with you.
Well, I think the piece you're about to see is early in the film, Robert Preston,
who works in a nightclub, gets in a terrible fight and absolutely wrecks the
joint.
And later in the film, which is what you're about to see, he takes me and James
Garner back there.
I'm now very successful and very big in Paris and everything seems to be all
right until, in fact, a ball breaks out again.
Okay, nastiness occurs.
Yes.
This is Victor Victoria and you can watch the monitors here in the studio.
Oh, I'm sorry.
The company is hand-combed.
This is the police. We have to come here.
Don't argue with me. This is it.
Shush yourself.
Wait up.
Oh, my God.
No! Get away!
No!
No!
Come on, come on! Everybody!
He's on his back!
I'm so sorry.
Yes, so am I.
It's impossible!
I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!
Thank you.
You did take it well.
We're going to pause and...
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Paul Schaefer.
Very nice, aren't they?
Yeah.
Great.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Paul Schaefer.
Very nice, aren't they?
Yeah.
Great.
Yeah.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
In fact, tell them what you said.
I said you...
I didn't realize there were just four of you.
It was such a big, good sound.
Paul Schaefer, ladies and gentlemen.
Uh, now, before we went away and I said that you looked like one of the Smothers
brothers,
I didn't mean that.
I know it sounded like an insult, of course, but I didn't mean that in a
negative fashion.
I just meant that appearing as a man there, which you were...
I'm glad you recognized that.
Yeah.
Do you think that you would...
Actually, if you were out walking around like that, pass for a man?
Mmm...
Well, maybe not in Houston, but in Hollywood, I know.
Um, that's...
Now, Robert Preston is gay.
James Garner, yeah.
And he thinks you are...
No, no, no.
He's the one that cooks up the whole situation.
Oh, yeah.
And he's my...
He becomes my good friend in the movie.
He befriends me since I'm so down and out, and he's down and out, too.
And as I become the Toast of Paris, so into that scene walks James Garner.
And he sees me performing as a lady and has no idea that I am, in fact, a man.
And, of course, it's a horrible revelation to him when I take my wig off at the
end of the big production number.
And it challenges all that he feels and all that he sensed.
And he thought he was kind of getting turned on by this nice lady.
And he's appalled that it could be a guy.
And he feels so unsure that he sets out to prove that his instincts were
correct.
Now, was this confusing for you when you were doing the thing, or...?
It absolutely stood me on my ear.
Yeah.
Because I was sometimes a lady with a man's...
Sometimes a man with a woman's feelings.
You see what I mean?
Yeah.
And, you know, was I...
How was I coming across as a man while thinking as a lady and so on?
Yeah.
And so on.
It was fun to do that.
Yeah.
I'm sitting...
You have great teeth.
That's about all I can think of at this moment.
Just...
Doesn't...
I mean, I think you may have the best teeth that we've seen on the show so far.
Not sure exactly what I meant by that, but it was just an observation.
Well, I'm like one of his mother's brothers and I have great teeth.
No, no, no.
I'm being fine so far.
You're gonna get steamed here in a moment and there'll be bloodshed.
Yeah, I throw a mean right these days.
Yeah, I noticed that.
Yeah.
Now, do you mind if I ask just a second about where you live?
Because I find this notion terribly romantic.
You live part of the time...
I live in Switzerland.
Yeah.
Most of the time.
In what community there?
In the canton of Bern, which is...
I live just about two hours outside of Geneva.
Uh-huh.
And what kind of...
I have no notion of what that must be like.
What kind of a community is that?
Well, out of season, it's just an ordinary village with duckies and piggies and
horses
and all those kind of country things.
Just like New York.
Yes.
But in season, it's a fabulous ski resort.
Yeah.
But since it's just home to us, it's heaven.
Yeah.
It's beautiful in the summer and ravishingly lovely in the winter.
It sounds amazing.
We have to interrupt here.
Again?
Yes, I know.
There's nothing we can do about it, but we'll be back.
All right.
Welcome back to the show.
Julie Andrews is here, as you must know by now.
And I've been told that you have a sense to you that craves practical jokes or
loves to participate
in them, and that there is one famous one that you perpetrated or were involved
in.
Any of this ring a bell?
Well, since being married to Blake, it's hard not to get involved in practical
jokes, but I think you're referring to the one with Carol Burnett.
Something to do with Carol Burnett.
I hope I can remember it.
That's if you'd like to hear it.
I think we were too far into it now not to hear it.
Well, Carol and I were asked to perform at President Johnson's inaugural gala.
And so we went to Washington and we were doing rehearsals and a great friend of
ours, Mike Nichols, was due to arrive.
And we waited and waited for him.
And he still didn't turn up.
It got very late.
And we put our robes on and still he didn't turn up.
And we finally got a phone call that he was coming right up to our suite and,
you know, have a chat and a cup of coffee and whatever.
So we said, let's do something dumb.
Let's go to the elevator in our robes and think of something crazy to do.
And we went down to the elevator and our slippers and our robes and we sat
there and we said, well, what are we going to do?
And I don't know whether it was me or Carol, but we said, well, let's be
kissing.
Let's be in a passionate embrace and shades of Victor Victoria there, right?
So the elevator went ding and we went into this passionate embrace and the
doors opened and there was a whole bunch of strangers in there.
And they just looked at us and then the doors very slowly closed.
Carol, by this point, had gone around behind the sofa.
Anyway, the elevator went ding.
So we flung ourselves back into the embrace again and Lady Bird walked out of
the elevator.
I mean, we don't think that's bad.
And the end of the story is that she went off with all her security guys or
whatever down the corridor and the elevator again sounded and we did it once
more for luck.
And Mike did walk out of the elevator and he just said, oh, hi, girls, and just
walked on.
Thank you very much for being here.
Good luck with everything and have fun on your way back to Switzerland.
We have to pause.
Andy Kaufman will be here.
Mr. Rogers and Dr. Stephen Swope.