Celebrity Parade With Jeanne Wolf

May 16, 2008 — -- Julie Andrews

Losing her beautiful voice after an operation gone bad was traumatic for Julie Andrews, but it pushed her into a new career as a writer. Now, Andrews has a new book "Home: A Memoir of My Early Years." Julie told Parade:

"Anybody who's had the bliss of singing with a big orchestra, knows what it's like not to be able to do it. So I think that the best thing for being sad is to learn something or to do something. And I think that's sort of what I did."

Andrews – who's known for a surprisingly colorful vocabulary of curse words that don't fit her Mary Poppins image – reveals that swearing around the house helped get her started as an author. "My daughter said, 'if you don't stop swearing so much you'll have to pay a forfeit,'" she remembers. "I agreed, but then I said some words I regretted. My daughter went, 'your forfeit is to write me a story.' So I did, and I enjoyed it. It was an absolute joy. I enjoyed it so much that I thought I'd like to continue." Andrews confesses that unfortunately she also continues to swear occasionally.

As for becoming a legendary star, Andrews admits the hard part is learning to cope with fame. "It absolutely knocks you sideways if it really hits you hard," she says. "Certainly like with something like 'Mary Poppins' and 'Sound of Music,' when those really hit, it was huge and it can be damaging, if one is very foolish and one is inclined to be very pompous and thinks one knows it all. I may have had my moments, but you very quickly come tumbling down into reality and then, actually, then the hard work begins."

Jerry Springer

Jerry Springer soon returns to prime-time as the host of "America's Got Talent" while continuing his always wild talk show. What's his secret for success? Jerry told Parade:

"People can relate to me probably 'cause I'm a schlub just like everybody else. Every job I've had, it's always been kind of the everyman kind of a job, whether it's as a defense attorney or my crazy show. But they're regular people involved in crazy situations. But that's, that really is America."

While all the contestants on "America's Got Talent" may not have a future in show business, Springer explains why he loves them. "It sounds corny," he says, "but it really is the All-American show because you don't have to be rich, you don't have to be famous, you don't have to have an agent, you don't have to live in Hollywood. It's just ordinary people living all over the country who did things like singing into a hairbrush in front of the mirror or being a magician, whatever. Their friends talk them into coming down to try out and I really do root for them. They aren't tarnished at all by Hollywood. They're just regular folks and it's refreshing.

As for what drives Springer he explains, "My parents inspired me. My parents were everything. They give me confidence. They loved me unconditionally. And they said education was everything. The rest of my family died in Nazi concentration camps, so they were all I had. They came here and proved that this is a great country and you can make it."

Kim Cattrall

Playing the ever seductive Samantha on "Sex and the City" which will soon be on the big screen made Kim Cattrall a star. But it wasn't always a boost for her off-screen love life. Kim told Parade:

"I remember someone saying that they wanted to set me up on a blind date and when the fella found out it was me and I played Samantha, he said, 'Oh, no way. I'm not going near that.' When I meet people who don't really know me, they really understand quickly that I'm not Samantha."

Cattrall, who was one of the 'Sex and the City' cast most reluctant to make the movie, thinks she did the right thing by not rushing into filming. "I look back at that time, you know, with the series ending and with my marriage coming to an end, and my dad was diagnosed with dementia," she says. "I think it was a time where I needed to take a time out. And I needed to spend less time with my work family and more time with my private family. And I'm glad that I did because now, four years later, things are in a much more positive place. And to come and play this character again was a great joy. Timing is always perfect."

Even though she's authored a couple of books on how to have a better love life, Cattrall admits there's a lot of mystery surrounding it. "Love is what the poets have been writing about. That's what the Greeks were writing about it. And it's the eternal mystery of our feelings and how we're drawn by one thing and not another. I think psychologists try to analyze it and I think that they do a pretty good job. But, I think matters of the heart will always be elusive for human kind."

For more on famous faces, go to Parade.com.