Biography - Julie Christie

Julie Christie is a true screen legend. The star of such iconic films as “Doctor Zhivago,” “McCabe & Mrs. Miller,” and “Shampoo,” Christie has been one of most popular and revered actresses of the last 40 years. Al Pacino once called her “the most poetic of all actresses.”

Christie was born on April 14, 1941 in Chabua, Assam, India, which was then part of the British Empire. Her father ran the tea plantation on which she grew up. Following her parents’ separation, Christie moved to England with her mother and attended several schools, taking up acting at the all-girls boarding school Wycombe Court and eventually studying at the Central School of Speech and Drama. Her break came in 1961 with a role on the BBC mini-series “A for Andromeda.”

The attention of critics came with John Schlesinger’s terrific comedy “Billy Liar” in 1963, which prepared her for the onslaught of adoration she received for two roles in 1965. For Schlesinger’s “Darling” she received an Oscar for Best Actress, and in this same year she starred in David Lean’s “Doctor Zhivago” alongside Omar Sharif, a film that became one of the biggest box office hits of all time. This prompted a move to Hollywood, which was truly Christie’s town in the late 60s and early 70s. She starred in “Fahrenheit 451,” “The Go-Between,” Robert Altman’s superb “McCabe & Mrs. Miller,” and Nicolas Roeg’s haunting “Don’t Look Now” with Donald Sutherland. She embarked on a highly-publicized romance with “McCabe” co-star Warren Beatty, a relationship that proved terrific gossip fodder for several years. After perhaps their final break-up, she starred in “Harold and Maude” director Hal Ashby’s comedy classic “Shampoo” with Beatty and Goldie Hawn. She finished the 70s with her most underrated performance in Donald Cammell’s techno-horror film “Demon Seed” and Beatty’s resurrection comedy “Heaven Can Wait.”

Christie slowed down considerably in the 80s, especially when it came to big Hollywood projects, choosing instead to focus on smaller (mostly English) productions. She had a triumphant return to stardom in the mid-90s with roles in the blockbuster “Dragonheart,” Kenneth Branagh’s “Hamlet,” and Alan Rudolph’s gentle comedy “Afterglow” alongside Nick Nolte. The latter earned her an Oscar nomination. In the 2000s Christie has appeared in films including Hal Hartley’s “No Such Thing,” “Troy,” and “Finding Neverland.” She was set to take another long break from acting, claiming disenchantment with the profession, until “No Such Thing” co-star Sarah Polley coaxed her into accepting the leading role in her film “Away from Her,” playing a woman coming to terms with the effects of debilitating Alzheimer’s. Christie is the frontrunner for a 2008 Oscar for the role, having won an astounding number of critics’ awards for the performance, along with a Golden Globe and a SAG Award.