Julie Christie became a British star of the Swinging Sixties through her performances in such films as Doctor Zhivago (1965), Darling (1965), Fahrenheit 451 (1966), and Far from the Madding Crowd (1967). She discovered her passion for the performing arts at the age of nine during her days in boarding school. Renowned for her incredible beauty and husky smooth voice, Christie has a reputation for giving her all to her job.
Over time, Julie Christie became choosy with accepting roles but didn’t fail to deliver a top-notch performance. Fellow celebrities have lauded her talent, including Al Pacino who described Christie as “the most poetic of all actresses”. Christie speaks English, French, and Italian which also makes her stand out among others. She is the recipient of a BAFTA Award, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award among other career achievements.
Julie Christie’s Early Life and Education
While she is of British nationality, Julie Christie was actually born at Singlijan Tea Estate, in Chabua, Assam, British India, on April 14, 1940. Her father, Frank, managed the tea plantation where she spent her childhood while her mother, Rosemary, was a Welsh painter. The rest of Christie’s family includes her younger brother, Clive, and an older half-sister named June – a product of her father’s relationship with a tea picker who worked at the family’s plantation.
Her parents divorced when she was young and her mom moved to rural Wales where Julie Christie visited often. Christie was raised in a Christian home and was baptized in the Church of England. Nevertheless, she attended mostly Catholic schools and was expelled from two of them. Christie was six years old when she was sent to Wycombe Court School, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. She was a boarder at the independent Convent of Our Lady school in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex before she was expelled. Another convent school expelled her for telling an improper joke in school. Consequently, Christie completed her education in Paris where she also learned to speak French. She returned to England to study at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London before going into full-time acting.
A Look At Julie Christie’s Career From 1957 To Date
At the budding stage of her career, Julie Christie was no fan of the theatre but she gained exposure through her stage performances. She began honing her skills at Wycombe School by performing in school plays, including a production of Shaw’s Saint Joan. Christie made her screen debut on the British television series A for Andromeda in 1961 and later recorded her film debut in 1962, appearing in two comedies Crooks Anonymous and The Fast Lady. Christie was considered to play Honey Ryder in the first James Bond film, Dr. No (1962) but the role went to Ursula Andress as Christie’s breasts were too small for the part.
The rest of the ’60s was career-defining for Julie Christie who got her breakthrough as Liz in Billy Liar (1963) which earned her a BAFTA nomination. Other notable projects she appeared in during this time include Young Cassidy (1965), Darling (1965), Doctor Zhivago (1965), Fahrenheit 451 (1966), and Far from the Madding Crowd (1967). For her performance in Darling, Christie won the Academy Award for Best Actress and the BAFTA Award for Best British Actress in a Leading Role. In the early 1970s, Christie played a lead role in the romantic drama The Go-Between (1971). The same year, she appeared in McCabe & Mrs. Miller as a brothel madame, her first collaboration with Warren Beatty. The duo later worked together in Shampoo (1975) and Heaven Can Wait (1978).
The 1980s and 1990s were slow for Julie Christie who took a long break from acting. Nevertheless, she appeared in a few projects such as Heat and Dust (1983), Power (1986) – alongside Richard Gere and Gene Hackman, Dragonheart (1996), and Afterglow (1997). She bounced back in the 21st century with roles in high-profile films like Troy and Finding Neverland (both in 2004), Away from Her (2006), New York, I Love You (2008). One of her most recent roles was in The Company You Keep (2012) also starring Robert Redford and Sam Elliott. Over the course of her career, Julie Christie has won 40 awards from numerous nominations.
Julie Christie Is Married To Journalist Duncan Campbell
The British screen legend was in a lot of high-profile relationships before she married Duncan Campbell. She dated English actor Terrence Stamp in the early 1960s. Before dating American actor and filmmaker Warren Beatty, Christie had a live-in relationship with an art teacher named Don Bessant. She began an on-and-off relationship with Beatty in 1967 and it ended in 1974. Other men she was romantically linked to include English musician Brian Eno, American record producer Lou Adler, American director Jim McBride, and British photographer Terry O’Neill.
While there are many speculations about her marriage, the exact date Julie Christie married Duncan is yet to be confirmed. However, they have been together since 1979. Christie has no children with her husband or any of the men she dated in the past.
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