See Iconic '60s Star Julie Christie Now at 81
The award-winning actor prefers to stay out of the spotlight these days.
In the '60s, Julie Christie was one of the biggest stars of the moment. She won both an Oscar and a BAFTA award at the age of 25 for her leading role in 1965's Darling. That same year, she also starred in the massive hit Doctor Zhivago. The actor went on to appear in movies including Fahrenheit 451, McCabe & Mrs. Miller (for which she received another Oscar nomination), Shampoo, and Heaven Can Wait. And not only was she known for her acting work, but she became one of the most popular stars of London's "Swinging Sixties" movement and admired for her style, as well.
While she stepped back from public life, Christie continued acting throughout the years to come and has remained active until recently. She's also devoted herself to various causes that are important to her. Read on to learn more about Christie's life today.
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Her acting career spans decades.
Christie went on to receive two more Oscar nominations: one for Afterglow in 1997 and one for Away from Her in 2007. Some of her other more recent roles have been small parts in popular films including Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Troy, Finding Neverland, and New York, I Love You. In 2007, she told The New Yorker of working on Troy, "Absolute heaven. I got to do one whole day in a Maltese bay, a blissful bay, sitting in one of those director's chairs with Brad Pitt, who is a charming and thoughtful young man. What could be nicer?"
In a 2007 interview with The Guardian, Christie shared, "Mostly, these days, I'm interested only in playing people who have lost their marbles. I did a film, based on a book by William Trevor [Fools of Fortune], in which I went crazy. I really enjoyed that. It is so nice to be irrational and to act irrationally and really not to do what is expected of you at all.'
Christie's most recent onscreen role was in 2012's The Company You Keep, which was directed by and starred Robert Redford.
She's not a fan of fame.
Christie doesn't like being in the spotlight, which she spoke about with The Guardian. "I think celebrity is the curse of modern life, or at least advertising, which it is a branch of," she said. "And I don't like being part of something dirty. I know that sounds prissy. But I talk to some young stars and say: why do you do all these publicity things? They say they have signed up to it. I suppose I have never wanted to sign up." She also shared the she often felt anxious. "Even in the '60s, especially then, I was always deeply anxious. I never felt that I was cool enough, or that I was dressed right. Silly things."
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She's passionate about social and political causes.
Christie has been active in various causes, including protecting the environment, campaigning against nuclear waste, animal conservation, and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. In the interview with The Guardian, she shared that she was inspired in this part of her life during her lengthy on-and-off relationship with Warren Beatty. "He gave me a political perspective, which I am very grateful for," she said. "I loved the way, say, that he would go to baseball matches and stand up in the interval and talk about getting rid of guns."
She's married, but no one knows for how long.
In 2008, it was rumored that Christie and her longtime partner, journalist Duncan Campbell, had gotten secretly married in India. Speaking to reporters at London's Film Critics Awards (via People), she said that the rumors were "nonsense" and explained, "I have been married for a few years. Don't believe what you read in the papers."
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