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QUEEN OF HEARTS

‘Sound of Music’ Star, 90, Makes Rare Public Appearance

The screen legend used her voice to advocate for patients battling a devastating neurological condition.

Cailey PetschHealth and Beauty Intern

PublishedMay 26, 2026, 2:01 PM EDT

UpdatedMay 26, 2026, 2:01 PM EDT

Updated May 26, 2026, 2:01 PM EDTPublished May 26, 2026, 2:01 PM EDT

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The screen icon who starred in Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music used her famous voice to rally support against Parkinson’s disease.

Julie Andrews, 90, appeared in a World Parkinson Coalition video promoting the seventh World Parkinson Congress on May 25.

“Your participation is invaluable as we seek to find a cure to this terrible disease,” she says in the video. “I know well how devastating it can be.” Andrews, who does not have Parkinson’s, said. “May we all become a beacon of light to stop it in its tracks. Count me in, as a red thread.”

Andrews serves as the narrator for Bridgerton, but has not been seen publicly, aside from the odd paparazzi shot, since celebrating her longtime friend Carol Burnett’s 90th birthday in 2023.

The World Parkinson Coalition is a nonprofit organization and community that brings together experts, doctors, and patients to advocate for those living with the neurological disorder.

Andrews’s video was a promotional cameo for the Congress. The four-day assembly began on May 22, and the actress’s clip was shared on the penultimate day.

​Her “red thread” and “beacon of light” comments in her address echoed the song “Do-Re-Mi” in her 1965 film, The Sound of Music, in which she connects musical solfege to “a needle pulling thread,” and “a drop of golden sun.”

Beyond her prolific acting career, Andrews is known for her advocacy.

The Academy Award winner is an avid humanitarian, having served for 14 years as the Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Fund for Women and as a founding board member of Operations USA.

​She told Operation USA in 2009 that she had remained with the agency for 30 years because it is “a terrific organization, it’s the best international relief agency that I’ve ever worked with.”

The Golden Globe winner is also known for her role as Queen Clarisse Renaldi, the grandmother of Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway) in the 2001 Disney comedy, The Princess Diaries.

Though her royal role was purely fictional, she was named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 1999 for her off-screen humanitarian work.

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Cailey PetschHealth and Beauty Intern

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