Julie Andrews - ©Theda Bara

The name I present in this post is that of the iconic British singer, dancer, theater director, and writer Julie Andrews, famous for winning the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1965 for her performance in the film “Mary Poppins” (1964), playing the protagonist “Mary Poppins”, a nanny with magical powers who seems to transform the sad routine of a traditional family.

In addition to the Academy Award for Best Actress, Julie Andrews won three Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress in a Motion Picture or Comedy (1965, 1966 and 1983); an Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety or Musical Program (1973), “The Julie Andrews Hour”; a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in (2019) and a Grammy Award in (2011).

The actress has a star on the Los Angeles Walk of Fame, located at 6901 Hollywood Boulevard, in the Motion Picture category.

Julie Andrews, born Dame Julie Elizabeth Andrews on October 1, 1935, in Walton-on-Thames, United Kingdom, is now 89 years old.

Julie Andrews was married twice: first to Tony Walton (1934-2022), a British art director who won the 1980 Academy Award for Best Art Direction for “All That Jazz” (1979). The couple lived together for nine years, from 1959 to 1968. They had one daughter, the British-American children’s author Emma Katherine Walton Hamilton (1962-); her second marriage was to the American director, producer, and screenwriter Blake Edwards (1922-2010), from 1969 to 2010, which left her widowed. Julie Andrews had two adopted daughters: Amelia “Amy” Leigh Edwards (1974-) and Joanna Lynne Edwards (1975-), both born in Vietnam. Andrews raised Blake Edwards’s two children from his first marriage, American actress Jennifer Edwards (1957–) and film director and author Geoffrey Edwards (1959–), as her own.

Haiku: The Pains of Life and Death - ©Theda Bara

Haiku and Art by ©Theda Bara — 2025

I don’t like goodbyes

A tree grows in my belly

I will never get used to the pains of life and death!

Claudia Cardinale - ©Theda Bara

The name I present in this post is Claudia Cardinale, an Italian-French actress born in Tunisia, who passed away on September 23 at the age of 87, but who left a legacy of more than 130 critically acclaimed European films in the 1960s and 1970s, primarily Italian and French. She also starred in several British and American films. The actress was known for having her life divided into two parts: Claude, the person, and Claudia, her artistic cinematic pseudonym.

Claudia Cardinale has an autobiography written in 2005, with the original title in French: “Mon Étoile”.

Claudia Cardinale never won an Oscar, but she received an Honorary Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1993, an Honorary Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 2002, and was verbally honored at the 2010 Oscar ceremony.

Unfortunately, Claudia Cardinale did not receive a star on the Los Angeles Walk of Fame because she did not appear in any notable Hollywood films.

Claude Joséphine Rose Cardinale, born on April 15, 1938, in Tunis, Tunisia, died on September 23, 2025, in Nemours, France, at the age of 87.

Claudia Cardinale was married only once, to Italian film producer Franco Cristaldi (1924-1992), from 1966 to 1975. The couple had one son, English actor Patrick Cristaldi (1958-). From a casual relationship with another Italian film producer, Pasquale Squitieri (1938-2017), the actress had a daughter, Italian biographer Claudia Squitieri (1979).

Haiku: Piece of Good Path - ©Theda Bara

Haiku and Art by ©Theda Bara — 2025

The rose is beautiful and has thorns

I am a piece of good path

Everything is as it should be!

Robert Redford - ©Theda Bara

The name I present in this post is that of the iconic American actor, producer, and director Robert Redford, who passed away three days ago, on September 16. Despite starring in more than 50 Hollywood films, Redford never received the Oscar for Best Actor. He received two Oscars throughout his career: one for Best Director in 1981 for “Ordinary People” (1980) and another honorary lifetime achievement award in 2002.

Throughout his career, Redford received other awards besides two Oscars; he also won a BAFTA Award and five Golden Globe Awards, one of which was the Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Robert Redford was a prominent environmental activist. But he also left a legacy of supporting artists, founding the Sundance Institute, a nonprofit organization he founded in 1981 to support independent film and theater, and whose best-known event is the Sundance Film Festival. Redford was also a producer, co-founding the production company Wildwood Enterprises.

Robert Redford refused to have his name engraved on a star on the Los Angeles Walk of Fame, being one of the celebrities who, despite his fame, refused the honor.

Robert Redford, born Charles Robert Redford, Jr. on August 18, 1936, in Santa Monica, California, United States, died on September 16, 2025, in Provo, Utah, United States, at the age of 89.

Robert Redford was a ladies’ man, having had numerous relationships with famous actresses, but he was married twice: first to American historian and activist Lola Van Wagenen (1936-), from 1958 to 1985, and then to German painter Sibylle Szaggars (1957-), who was widowed by Redford after a 16-year marriage, from 2009 to 2025.

Robert Redford had four children from his relationship with his ex-wife Lola. The first was Scott Anthony Redford (September 1, 1959 – November 17, 1959), who died at two months old from sudden infant death syndrome; in (1960), the couple welcomed Shauna, now 64, who followed in her stepmother Sibylle’s footsteps and became a painter; two years later (1962), James Redford arrived, following in his father’s footsteps and becoming an actor and director. James passed away in (2020) from liver cancer; Robert’s youngest daughter, Amy, 54, also followed in her father’s footsteps and is an accomplished actress.