49 pages • 1 hour read
Julie Andrews EdwardsThe Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1974A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Authorial Context: Julie Andrews’s Career and Significant Acting Roles
Julie Edwards Andrews is both the author of The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles and an acclaimed performer. In 1969, she married the movie director Blake Edwards and took his last name, but she’s better known as Julie Andrews—the actress and singer who starred in Broadway shows like My Fair Lady (1957) and the movie musicals Mary Poppins (1964) and The Sound of Music (1965). She also appeared in the Princess Diaries films (2001, 2004), and she provides the voice of Felonious Gru’s mother, Marlena, in the Despicable Me movie series (2010-). In addition to receiving Oscar, Grammy, and Emmy awards, Andrews was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000.
Similar to the character of Samuel Savant, much of Andrews’s work has influenced children and young people. Arguably, Andrews is most famous for playing the titular nanny in Mary Poppins and the governess Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music. Both characters find themselves in similar positions to Savant as they must look after and care for young people. Moreover, much as Savant teaches the Potter children how to look, listen, and sharpen their imaginations, Mary and Maria go beyond the basics in providing instruction to their charges, teaching them how to conduct themselves more thoughtfully.
