Julie says she was in denial that her voice was gone for about a year. "I just thought I was taking a long time to heal, but the voice sounds like it's chalk on a blackboard when I sing certain notes," she says.

Though the loss of her singing voice was a tough blow, Julie's career persevered. She voiced the queen of Far, Far Away in the Shrek movies, portrayed the Queen of Genovia in The Princess Diaries and is a best-selling author and publisher of 30 children's books. Her latest, Little Bo in Italy, was co-written with her daughter Emma.

"As Maria says in the movie, 'When God closes a door, somewhere he opens a window,'" Julie says. "I began to write with my daughter and we began a small publishing collection, called the Julie Andrews Collection. And one day I said to my Emma, 'You know, I am missing so much,' and she said the most wonderful thing. She said, 'Mom, you've just found a different way of using your voice.'"