The hills will come alive to sound of Julie Andrews again

The Oscar-winning Mary Poppins star, 88 last Sunday, is winning a new generation of fans with regular children’s singalongs and gentle lullabies on her popular bedtime story podcast Julie’s Library.

This comes as the Sound of Music actress aims to reconnect with her army of followers this Christmas.

On December 1, deluxe remastered editions of the soundtrack of the 1965 hit movie, in which she played Maria von Trapp, come out.

They feature more than 40 previously unreleased tracks and 11 “alternate takes” of classics like Do-Re-Mi and My Favourite Things. And it has led to renewed hope Dame Julie can recover more of that famous soprano range she feared had been permanently lost.

READ MORE: Julie Andrews unrecognisable in throwback snaps in honor of 88th birthday

A botched throat operation in 1997 left her with scarred vocal cords and reduced her voice to a croak.

She won an undisclosed settlement of millions of dollars three years later after suing the two New York doctors who performed the surgery to remove non-cancerous nodules.

She said at the time: “Singing has been a cherished gift. My inability to sing has been a devastating blow.”

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But now a friend of the British actress – made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000 – said: “She is doing voice therapy. She won’t rush into anything, she’s aware procedures like structural implants and vocal cord repositioning are widely available and usually successful.

“It’s her dream to sing solo once more on stage with a full orchestra.

“It would take a minor miracle, but she’s never given up hope.”

The legendary star, who presents Julie’s Library with one of her three daughters – children’s author Emma Walton Hamilton, 60 – has even joked how, after her voice went from glass-shattering soprano to fragile alto, she was able to “sing the hell out of Old Man River”.

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