It's a little-known fact that Julie Andrews met her first husband on a train ride back home to Walton when she was just 13.

A new book provides a fascinating insight into how that little girl from Walton went on to became the world renowned Dame Julie Andrews, Richard Stirling wrote the book after following the life of Dame Julie for many years. He was curator of her 70th birthday National Film retrospective in 2005 - which was timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the release of The Sound of Music.

He says: "I first saw Julie in 1986. When writing I found interesting aspects of her character in Walton on Thames that carried her through her whole career.

"She was first into musicals, Broadway and then Hollywood, but she never forgot Walton."

Julia Wells, as she was christened, lived in Westcar Lane and her mother, Barbara, was a pianist.

In her early days she would perform at the Walton Playhouse where her auntie ran a dance class - The Joan Morris School of Dancing.

Richard says: "Walton provided her with her first part on stage. One of the first memories she has is of peeing on stage at three and later when her pyjama button popped and exposed her bright pink underpants."

Her mother, whose family originally lived in Hersham, divorced and moved to London before returning to Walton when she remarried some years later.

Dame Julie was always an earthy girl, according to her biographer, and got her love of wildlife and poetry from her father.

He says: "Even when she was doing shows in London she would rush back on Sunday evenings for just a few hours at home to see her family."

The book also recounts how she met her first husband.

Dame Julie was playing Humpty Dumpty at the London Casino at the time. The author says: "Her mum was taking her home on the train and one of the boys from the concert kept looking into her carriage and her mum met the boy's mother and they became friends."

That inquisitive boy would later become her first husband, coincidentally named Tony Walton.

After marrying in 1948 they divorced in the 1960s. Mr Walton went on to become on of the most recognised film designers in Hollywood and Dame Julie married Blake Edwards.

Richard says: "She lived in West Grove Road and Tony lived in Ashley Road. It's amazing that the two from the same area became so successful."

On Broadway, Dame Julie's performance in My Fair Lady cemented her status as a world star (even though Audrey Hepburn famously pipped her to the film role opposite Rex Harrison) and as Mary Poppins she won an Academy Award.

However it was The Sound of Music in 1965 that made her one of the most iconic stars of her generation. Richard says: "Even now she talks about carrying her country with her. I think she is saying she still carries Walton in her heart."
Julie Andrews, An Intimate Biography, by Richard Stirling, is published by Portrait Books.

Do you remember Dame Julie growing up in Walton? Email pcahalan@london.

newsquest.co.uk.

10:39am Thursday 15th March 2007