Julie Andrews: I had therapy and it saved my life
Dame Julie Andrews has revealed she went to therapy and she believed it saved her life.
The 84-year-old star of Mary Poppins and The Sound Of Music has opened up about her decision to seek professional help with her mental health following the breakdown of her first marriage in 1967, and revealed it was The Graduate director Mike Nichols who persuaded her to try therapy.
Dame Julie told The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: “Sadly, I separated from my lovely first husband, and separations were always inevitable and the marriage was over and my head was so full of clutter and garbage. Believe it or not, it was Mike Nichols who really tipped me into wanting to go to therapy.
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“He had been, and he was so sane, and funny and clear. He had a clarity that I admired so much. I wanted that for myself. And I didn’t feel I had it, so I went and got into it and it saved my life, in a way.”
The Princess Diaries star was married to set designer Tony Walton from 1959 to 1967 and then to director Blake Edwards from 1969 until his death in 2010.
Dame Julie decided to open up about going to therapy in her new memoir Home Work because she wanted to help others by showing there should be no negative stigma attached to seeking help.
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She said: “The truth is, Stephen, why not [share it]? If it helps anybody else have the same idea.
“These days, there’s no harm in sharing it. I think everybody knows the great work it can do. And anybody that is lucky enough to have it, afford it and take advantage of it, I think it would be wonderful.”
