Product Description

Julie Walters has been described as the nation's most popular actress and comedienne. She has been delighting us on screen and on stage for over 25 years and we have taken her to our hearts. Now she tells us her own story, in her own words. Born in fifties Birmingham, daughter of an Irish Catholic mother, Julie was sent to a convent school. She always wanted to be an actress but first went into nursing to appease her mother before leaving to join the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool. West End success followed, and she quickly replicated her success on film, earning an Academy Award nomination for her role in Educating Rita. Julie's collaborations with Victoria Wood have given us the unforgettable Mrs Overall in ACORN ANTIQUES and Petula in DINNERLADIES, and she's found a new generation of fans playing Mrs Weasley in the Harry Potter films and starring in the record-break hit film MAMMA MIA!. The winner of countless awards, Julie has continued to be in some of Britain's best TV drama and has been awarded the OBE and CBE.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #264 in Books
• Published on: 2009-07-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Review
'If you can imagine Julie Walters sitting down to tell you the story of her life...this earthy, moving, none too sentimental memoir...is just as you would imagine it.' (INDEPENDENT )

'characteristically amusing and astute' (GOOD BOOK GUIDE )

About the Author
Julie Walters was nominated for an Oscar for EDUCATING RITA, having made the part her own on stage, and starred in BILLY ELLIOT and the smash hit movie MAMMA MIA!. She has also reached a younger audience as Mrs Weasley in the Harry Potter films. Versatile enough to appear both as Mrs Overall in her friend Victoria Wood's ACORN ANTIQUES as well as the sexy Wife of Bath in the BBC's adaptation of THE CANTERBURY TALES, she is often cited as the nation's best-loved actress.

Customer Reviews

Totally absorbing, wonderful
I was enthralled from the very first page.

Julie Walters is not only a brilliant actress, she is also an incredibly vibrant, interesting and honest writer. This autobiography is not just about Julie Walters, the actress, but is also a fantastic observation of growing up in the fifties and sixties.

The characters in Julie's life - her mother, her grandmother, her neighbours, friends - are vividly drawn, and even the most difficult people are portrayed through the eyes of genuine love and understanding. She portrays the richness, joy and sadness of her family life with an honesty that left me breathless. She is also open and honest about herself and her experiences, which makes this wonderful book even more of an honour to read.

She has such a great way of describing things and engaging the reader that I frequently laughed out loud and burst into tears - sometimes simultaneously!

If I sound a bit over the top about this book - I'm not. I've read a lot of autobiographies and this is the best I have ever read, bar none.

Having read this book I now understand what makes Julie Walters such an outstanding actress. She observes without judgement and seeks to understand always the 'whys' of what people do and say. Reading this book taught me something about myself - no mean feat in an autobiography!

I loved her joy and enthusiasm for all the experiences that being an actress brings, and she paints it all so vividly within the pages of this book. She seems utterly unpretentious and I would love to meet her!

In fact, having read this book, I feel I already have......

A Real Story
At the back of this book is a list of all the television and film work that Walters has done in her long and highly successful career. It makes for fascinating reading and takes several pages. This does not include her equally enthralling theatre work.

When you realise quite how much she has done in her career you also realise that a book like this is never going to cram it all in. This is the sadness for me. I felt that the first half of the book was a rich and leisurely journey through Walter's early years. Her childhood and her training ground as a young actress.

Then as the work rolls in and the credits mount up it all gallops on apace in a rushed manner and this I was a little disappointed in. She never loses the great quality of being personal and inclusive in her writing. You almost feel that she is having you round for tea and a gossip, but you do feel towards the end that she might be looking at her watch, wanting you to hurry up so she can get on with things.

I am hoping this means there is another volume in the pipe line. I wanted to know more about her married life, although I understand her reluctance to thrust her daughter and husband into the limelight. I wanted to know more about her work on Calendar Girls, given its stellar cast, it's true story and the fact that it was a very woman centric film.

So basically, good as far as it goes, but more please.

A slow beginning leads to a captivating, engaging finish
I do enjoy a good autobiography, and I much prefer autobiography to biography. Julie is undoubtedly a legendary British actress who deserves all the praise and accolades that have been heaped upon her during her career. I'd been hoping for an autobiography and was delighted to learn it was published.

Initially I found it rather a heavy read, perhaps rather slow to get started. I felt that Julie was finding her feet in a new (for her) medium of expression. Any such shackles were soon discarded and the book became very readable, indeed there were times when I found it very hard to put down, but I wanted to make the book last rather than finish it in a couple of days!

Having now finished it I feel as though I'm a close personal friend, but surely that's the sign of a well-executed autobiography in that it fully engages the reader by its conclusion?