Julie Christie wowed audiences with her performances in Darling and, of course, as Lara in Doctor Zhivago. The British actress became well-known in the business, cementing her place in film history.
Christie was on top of the world when she abruptly chose to leave Hollywood. Instead, she chose a location that few would have expected.
So, what prompted Julie Christie to depart in the midst of a great career? And what is she up to these days? This is all there is to know about her!
Being a celebrity may be difficult. Yes, fame, glamour, and money might make it look tempting, but it’s also all-consuming; high-profile personalities are constantly expected to be accessible to their admirers in some manner, whether through employment or other appearances.
Many celebrities’ greatest ambition is just to be able to stroll down the street, purchase some milk at the local supermarket, and then walk back home. Of course, it isn’t always feasible owing to the millions of people who know them and demand a photo or an autograph.
In summary, it’s tough to be the person everyone believes they know. Some individuals choose to embrace it and incorporate it into their daily lives, while others decide that enough is enough and strive to permanently put the stress of being in the limelight behind them.
That’s exactly what Julie Christie, the stunning blond Brit with the sharpest jawline in film, did.
Christie abandoned Hollywood glory after becoming famous. Her career was lengthy and prosperous, but while her work life was always in the spotlight, her personal life was not.
Julie Christie was not born in the United Kingdom, contrary to popular belief. She was born on April 14, 1941, in colonial Assam, India, where her father managed a tea plantation. Her mother was a painter, and she appeared to be following in her mother’s footsteps at the time.
Julie’s educational career did not begin smoothly. At the age of six, she was moved to an English boarding school. Christie was expelled from multiple schools in the years that followed.
“It would be frightening for you to realize how easy it was to get expelled back then,” she stated in 2007.
“Once, I was accused of tempting local guys because I had my school dress tucked into my underwear.”
Julie has never been one to brag about herself or lavish herself with accolades throughout the years. While she eventually realized she had a nice appearance, this was not the case as a child. This was presumably made worse when, according to Christie’s recollection, a nun scolded her, “Stop making faces—you’re ugly enough as it is.”
Julie went on to study in Paris, France, before returning to England and studying acting at the Central School of Theatre in London. She had always wanted to be an actress, and at the age of 16, she made her stage debut with the Frinton Repertory of Essex. Following that, the bright young actor began traveling with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Christie made her film debut in 1961, in the BBC science fiction program A for Andromeda. That wasn’t her most remarkable part, but it piqued the interest of directors and producers. Julie had her signature look, the “sweet grin,” and it was obvious that she was gifted.
After years of performances (and many more parts), Christie’s breakthrough came in 1963, when director John Schlesinger cast her in his film Billy Liar. Just two years later, she’d score her big international break as the promiscuous model Diana Scott in Darling.
Christie not only began a new, glamorous Hollywood life, but she also received an Academy Award for best actress. That, of course, raised her profile in the eyes of many other filmmakers and production firms, and it wasn’t long before she had another smash on her hands.
Christie played Lara alongside Omar Sharif in the 1965 romantic drama Doctor Zhivago. The film became a cult classic, and Julie Christie became a megastar as a result. She was one of the most promising British actresses since Vivien Leigh, and everyone wanted a piece of her.
Filming and being on set may appear to be an incredible and thrilling situation right now. Julie and the rest of the actors, on the other hand, were filming in both Russia and Spain at the time.
” St. Petersburg in midwinter was, in reality, Madrid in a heatwave. “This multimillion-dollar epic was waiting to be made while we were all sweating away in our furs in 100-degree heat, waiting for snow that never came,” she explained to Express.
“I never wanted to be a big star.”
“Finally, the props and set dressers saved us.” So they blanketed the entire set in mountains of marble dust, and the fields were covered in miles and miles of bed linens for the long shots.
Before the premiere of “Doctor Zhivago,” director David Lean predicted that Christie would become an international celebrity, and he was correct. Christie, even at that time, had no desire to be famous or renowned.
Julie said in a 1965 interview that she had turned down numerous big parts in order to tour Eastern Europe and the United States with the Royal Shakespeare Company. She was terrified of becoming famous and living with friends, sleeping on an air mattress at their house.
“I never wanted to be a big star.” Yet I must admit that it is starting to appeal to me. Yet, I’m scared I’ll become intolerable. “In fact, I’m sometimes plain unpleasant to people now,” Julie said.
“I’m beginning to feel spoiled.” I’m starting to anticipate things. “When others begin to forecast tremendous things for you, you become extremely pampered.”
“I don’t consider myself a celebrity,” she said. Nobody ever recognizes me wherever I go, which makes me happy. Success is a trap that you fall into. “I’m a really selfish and insecure person.”
Christie, on the other hand, continued her path to Hollywood glory, whether she liked it or not. Far from the Madding Crowd, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Shampoo, and Heaven Can Wait were among her films. Julie featured in some of the shows alongside her then-boyfriend.
It wasn’t just anyone; it was Warren Beatty. The Hollywood icon had a tumultuous personal life and dated several women.
Christie and Beatty started dating in 1967. They initially met a year before at the Royal Command screening of the film Born Free. When he witnessed Christie shaking hands with Queen Elizabeth II, he apparently fell head over heels in love with her.
It didn’t take long for Christie to respond, and the couple began dating soon after.
Christie, by all accounts, was devoted to making the relationship with Warren Beatty work. At the same time, her surroundings attempted to warn her about the womanizing actor. He was well known for his high-profile female love relationships. He had relationships with Jane Fonda, Carly Simon, Goldie Hawn, Joni Mitchell, Jackie Onassis, and Madonna in addition to Julie.
Director John Schlesinger, who cast Julie in Billy Liar, advised her to end her relationship with Warren Beatty. According to reports, the actor “gets through ladies like a businessman gets through a dozen oysters.”
Julie and Warren appeared in numerous films together. They were both in McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Shampoo, and Heaven Can Wait. Later two were primarily shot after they split up in 1974.
Despite the fact that the relationship did not work out, Christie did not regret her time with Beatty. She stated in an interview with The Guardian that it had changed her life.
“He provided me with a political viewpoint, for which I am quite thankful.” “I liked how he would go to baseball games and stand up at the intermission and preach about getting rid of firearms,” Julie remarked.
“He’d be a tiny figure in this enormous baseball stadium, and I’d be looking down at him and thinking he was incredibly courageous for doing that.”
After their breakup, Christie and Beatty remained close friends.
“She and her husband stay in our guest home when they visit Los Angeles. “We’re really close, and she’s an extraordinary person,” Beatty told People in 2016.
Christie had had enough of stardom by 1977, despite becoming a Hollywood superstar. She made the decision to leave Los Angeles and return to England.
Following a brief hiatus, the actress appeared in a number of lesser-known and low-budget movies. Nonetheless, it was evident that appearing in blockbusters was not a priority.
“I was absolutely content not to do them,” she told the New York Times. “There were really no parts that piqued my interest.”
Christie moved to Wales and lived on a farm with a couple and their children. They became her family because she “truly didn’t have any relatives of my own.” She also discovered other things she was enthusiastic about, such as feminism and environmental protection.
Christie didn’t even have a car after returning to the UK, and she baked her own bread. In a nutshell, she had a carefree existence. She then began a relationship with journalist Duncan Campbell in 1979. They married; however, the pair never publicized the exact date of their wedding.
Julie’s fame and position were never in her hands, but she would ultimately return to the film business graciously. She appeared in the 2006 film Away From Her as an elderly Alzheimer’s sufferer.
She received her fourth Academy Award nomination for “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” for her remarkable performance. Despite the fact that she was and continues to be a great star, Christie does not place much value on fame and riches.
She still claims, decades after leaving Hollywood, that the motivation for her return to England is the same.
“I recognize the necessity for iconography,” she explained. “I have had idols, and there are still individuals whose skills I am in awe of, so I try to be understanding.” “Yet I despise being a public figure rather than a private one; I’m not as pleasant as I should be.”
Julie, who is now 82, claimed that she had had cosmetic surgery in the past. Simultaneously, she says that having a good make-up artist is the key to appearing gorgeous.
She received a neck lift after being forced to have her neck taped while shooting.
“That saved me from having to pin it up and hold my hair back with sticky tape,” Julie explained. “It was both pragmatism and vanity.”
Julie Christie will always be a real Hollywood star, even if she wishes she wasn’t. She is still as stunning as ever, and her net worth is estimated to be approximately $10 million.
Christie now claims she has “no relationship at all” with her younger self, who played so many memorable characters in her early career.
“That person is no longer there,” she continued.