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Julie Christie

Julie Christie pictured in a trailer for 'Doctor Zhivago'

Julie Christie (1941-    )
An iconic figure from the Swinging Sixties, Indian-born British actress Julie Christie's career peaked between 1965-1968, with such films as 'Darling (1965)', 'Doctor Zhivago (1965)', and 'Far From The Madding Crowd (1967)'.

1962 saw the young actress in her first leading screen role, playing the female lead opposite Stanley Baxter, in the comedy, 'The Fast Lady', and in 1963, in the successful screen adaptation of Keith Waterhouse's novel, 'Billy Liar' - one of the classic British kitchen sink dramas - she starred opposite another blossoming talent, Tom Courtenay.

Julie Christie's sensitive beauty was backed up by sensitive performances, and she won an Oscar in 1965 and a British Film Academy Award (BAFTA) in 1966, for Best Actress in a film about a female Alfie really - 'Darling', whose lovers included characters played by Dirk Bogarde and Laurence Harvey. In the same year she played Lara, opposite Omar Sharif's Yuri in the sweeping epic, and originally a Boris Pasternak novel, 'Doctor Zhivago'.

1966 saw Julie appear in the very bleak science fiction film, 'Fahrenheit 451', which was adapted from the Ray Bradbury novel. Julie Christie has certainly appeared in a wide variety of roles throughout her career, and even by her late 20s this was the case.

Julie was directed by 'Darling' director, John Schlesinger, in the 1967 adaptation of Thomas Hardy's Wessex novel, 'Far From The Madding Crowd', starring with that other '60s icon, Terence Stamp.

Julie Christie's relationship with American actor Warren Beatty, which began in the early '70s, also saw the two appear in several movies together, notably 'McCabe And Mrs. Miller (1971)', the rather lurid 'Shampoo (1975)', and the very successful 'Heaven Can Wait (1978)'.

Becoming more selective about her roles in later years, Julie Christie refused to appear in overly violent movies, or movies depicting cruelty to animals, and is a supporter of animal rights, environmental protection, and is anti-nuclear. She wore a pin at the 80th Oscars ceremony indicating her support for the closure of Guantanamo Bay.

Julie was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar in 2008 for her role as Fiona Anderson in 'Away From Her (2007)'.

- Paul Rance/booksmusicfilmstv.com.