Julie Christie is a British actress who rose to fame in the 1960s and became a beloved icon of cinema. She was born on April 14, 1940, in Assam, India, to British parents who were working there at the time. Her father was a tea planter, and her mother was a painter.
Christie spent her childhood in India, then attended several boarding schools in England. She began her acting career in the early 1960s, starting with small roles on television shows and in British films. However, it was her performance in the 1963 film “Billy Liar” that put her on the map.
Christie’s breakthrough role came in 1965 when she starred in the film “Darling.” The film tells the story of a young woman named Diana Scott who rises to fame as a model and actress in London. Christie’s performance was widely acclaimed and earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress. She followed up this success with another Oscar-nominated role in “Doctor Zhivago” playing the love interest of the title character, played by Omar Sharif.
Throughout the 1960s, Julie Christie became one of the most sought-after actresses in the world, appearing in several iconic films such as “Far from the Madding Crowd” and “Petulia.” Her trademark blonde hair, striking beauty, and independent spirit made her a symbol of the era’s changing social attitudes.
With her tremendous popularity, many expected Christie to continue her trajectory as a bonafide movie star. However, the actress grew disenchanted with Hollywood and left America at what some would consider the height of her fame. Read on to find out why and what she’s been up to in the years since.
Christie’s career hit many highs in the 1970s, with hits such as “McCabe & Mrs. Miller,” “Shampoo,” “Heaven Can Wait” and “Don’t Look Back.” As the films garnered her an unrepentant amount of attention she had not sought, so too did the relationships with her co-stars. She was famously attached to notorious Hollywood womanizer Warren Beatty, and although they split, they have remained friendly to this day.
“He gave me a political perspective, which I am very grateful for. I loved the way, say, that he would go to baseball matches and stand up in the interval and talk about getting rid of guns. He would be this little tiny figure in this big baseball stadium, and I would be looking down at him, I thought he was wonderfully courageous for doing that,” she told The Guardian.
Another famous onscreen pairing that made its way into real-life was her relationship with “Don’t Look Back” co-star Donald Sutherland. Their scenes in the film still inspire debate today about their realism. “I wanted always to get to that place as an actress where there are no borders or boundaries,” she said.
However, Christie grew weary of public life. “Films have caused me an enormous amount of anxiety because I don’t have a lot of confidence,” she told Express. “Making them is very social. You have to be with people and you socialize all the time. Actors like that on the whole but I was not born with that quality.”
She added:
“I’m very quiet and do not like to talk to more than two people at the same time. Filming and being with film actors is like being in one long cocktail party without the drinks. Acting took me away from real life to a pretend life. I wanted the real life back.”
At the end of the 1970s, Christie hightailed it back over the pond to settle on a little farm in Wales.
As for why, she told Express, “Hollywood was against everything I had been brought up to appreciate,” and added, “I cherish all those days but I couldn’t hack L.A. Hollywood was a throwaway society run by publicity machines.”
In Wales, Christie was able to get away from the glaring spotlight that had for so long plagued her life and begin a process she described as “de-celebritization.”
“I hated being looked at, hated doing anything in public and hated making speeches. That’s why I am so impressed by some of the young actors who take it in their stride,” she said.
Christie cited her frugal upbringing as instilling a sense of simplicity in her. “I always hang up my washing outside or even on a pulley. It’s a complete waste of energy to use dryers. My mother’s hate of waste has filtered down to me probably because I was a war baby,” she explained.
While Christie still continued to take on acting projects here and there, she lived much of her private life as it should be – private. Because of this, it wasn’t until years after the fact that it was revealed she had married her partner, journalist Duncan Campbell. Christie confirmed to People in 2008 she had “been married for a few years. Don’t believe what you read in the papers.” She added wedded life has been blissful and that “I am much more content now than I have been probably since I was born.”
Now 82, Christie deserves to live a quiet a life as she wants. However, she will always remain one of the most influential actresses of her time due to her timeless beauty and talent.
Were you surprised to hear about Christie’s abandoning the glitz and glamor of Hollywood for a farm by the countryside? What are your favorite memories of her onscreen? Let us know, and don’t forget to pass this along to friends and family, too.
