There are few movie scenes more iconic than the scenes in Mary Poppins where Mary takes flight with her umbrella, and those magical scenes dazzle youngsters and fill their minds with wonder to this day.
But the umbrella scenes were a real pain to shoot due to the practical fx, which could have cost Julie her life- because she slipped out of her harness while hanging from a wire and fell to the stage below:
"Yes, there was a very dangerous day right at the end of filming when I was in this excruciatingly painful harness. And I was hanging around up there for the longest time with the umbrella. I thought I felt the wire leave and drop about six inches. I was nervous and very tired. So I called down and I said, 'Excuse me, when you do let me down, could you let me down really gently, because I felt myself slip and I just don't feel too safe up here.'"
She then revealed that she "plummeted to the stage", continuing: "There was an awful silence for a minute and I did let fly with a few Anglo-Saxon four-letter words, I have to admit."
Julie Andrews shared her death defying tale on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and now I have a whole new respect for her as an actress- and a stuntwoman!
-Via CountryLiving