In 2014, Walters portrayed Mrs. Bird, the Browns' housekeeper, in the critically acclaimed Paddington (2014). [37] Walters reprised her role for the sequel, Paddington 2 (2017), which has also received universal acclaim. [38] [39] Upon the 2014 release of Paddington, Walters designed a "Primrose"-themed Paddington Bear statue, which was located in Primrose Hill (one of 50 placed around London), with the statues auctioned to raise funds for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). [40] Walters has won eight BAFTAs, six competitive awards plus two honorary awards. The first honorary award was a special BAFTA that she received at a tribute evening in 2003, before receiving the BAFTA Fellowship in 2014. [67] After studying at Manchester Poly, she was absorbed into a group of actors and writers in Liverpool, including Alan Bleasdale, Willy Russell and Victoria Wood. Then came Educating Rita - first the play, then the film that would bring her an Oscar nomination. Offers from Hollywood came, but Walters never wanted to move to LA. "I'm not right for it. It's about glamour, and that's just superficial." Starkey, Adam (2 March 2023). "Julie Walters pulls out of Channel 4 show due to ill health". NME . Retrieved 11 March 2023.

Walters became a nurse before leaving to go to drama school. Her mother, who believed in "proper" jobs, was distraught when Julie opted for acting, and predicted that she would end up in the gutter by the time she was 20. But years later, after her mother's death, Walters found boxes of newspaper clippings that her mother had collected charting her career. The book took 10 years to write, on and off (some years Walters would only write a few paragraphs). It's not her first book. When she was pregnant with her daughter, she wrote a book about her experience. "It was just gags, really," she says. "I was so terrified of all the pregnancy books I'd read and I felt like, 'I've done this wrong already and she's not even born.' So I wrote a little diary about it." Channel 4 commissions brand new gripping drama, Truelove, starring Julie Walters and Clarke Peters". channel4.com/press. 16 May 2022 . Retrieved 6 June 2022. They went on to appear in their own Granada Television series, Wood and Walters, in 1982. They continued to perform together frequently over the years. The BAFTA-winning BBC follow-up, Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV, featured one of Walters's best-known roles, Mrs Overall, in Wood's parodic soap opera, Acorn Antiques (she later appeared in the musical version, and received an Olivier Award nomination for her efforts).Julie Walters and Willy Russell: how we made Educating Rita". The Guardian . Retrieved 30 October 2020.

Walters, Julie (2008). That's Another Story: The Autobiography. Orion Publishing Co. pp.102–23. ISBN 978-0-297-85206-3. TV tonight: the Abominable Snow Baby is the Christmas telly we deserve". The Guardian. 25 December 2021 . Retrieved 13 November 2022. Ellise Shafer (20 June 2020). " 'Mamma Mia!' Producer Teases Third Film: It's 'Meant to Be a Trilogy' ". Variety . Retrieved 15 March 2021.Lodge, Guy (26 October 2017). "Film Review: 'Paddington 2' ". Variety. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017 . Retrieved 27 October 2017. Farber, Alex (1 March 2023). "Julie Walters pulls out of Channel 4 drama Truelove due to ill health". The Times . Retrieved 11 March 2023. The Last of the Haussmans– Productions". National Theatre. Archived from the original on 5 June 2012 . Retrieved 13 June 2012. Dame Julia Mary Walters DBE (born 22 February 1950), known professionally as Julie Walters, is an English actress. She is the recipient of four British Academy Television Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two International Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and a Laurence Olivier Award. Guide, British Comedy. "Julie Walters And Friends – ITV Sketch Show – British Comedy Guide". British Comedy Guide . Retrieved 31 August 2018.

Walters first received notice as the occasional partner of comedian Victoria Wood, whom she had originally met in 1971 when Wood auditioned at the School of Theatre in Manchester. The two first worked together in the 1978 theatre revue In at the Death, followed by the television adaptation of Wood's play Talent. Walters later told interviewer Alison Oddey about her early schooling, "I was never going to be academic, so [my mother] suggested that I try teaching or nursing. [...] I'd been asked to leave school, so I thought I'd better do it." [10] Her first job was in insurance at the age of 15. [11] At the age of 18, she trained as a student nurse at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham; she worked on the ophthalmic, casualty, and coronary care wards during the 18 months she spent there. [12] She decided to leave nursing and went on to study acting at the newly-established Manchester Polytechnic School of Theatre (now Manchester School of Theatre). She worked for the Everyman Theatre Company in Liverpool in the mid-1970s, alongside several other notable performers and writers such as Bill Nighy, Pete Postlethwaite, Jonathan Pryce, Willy Russell, and Alan Bleasdale. [13] Career [ edit ] 1971–1979: Career beginnings [ edit ]In May 2022, it was announced that Walters would star in Truelove, an upcoming drama series from Channel 4. [47] That same month, Walters narrated the BBC documentary The Queen: 70 Glorious Years, which took a look at the Queen's life in her seventieth year on the British throne. [48] In March 2023, she pulled out of filming Truelove due to "ill health", according to The Times, [49] and her role was replaced by Lindsay Duncan. [50] [51] Personal life [ edit ] In March 2023, Walters announced she had withdrawn from appearing in a new Channel 4 drama, Truelove, due to ill health. She was replaced in the show by Lindsay Duncan. [59] Filmography [ edit ] Film [ edit ] Year Goldbart, Max (28 February 2023). "Julie Walters Pulls Out Of Channel 4 Drama 'Truelove' Due To Ill Health, Replaced By Lindsay Duncan". Deadline . Retrieved 11 March 2023. Julie Walters Pulls Out Of Channel 4 Drama 'Truelove' Due To Ill Health, Replaced By Lindsay Duncan". Deadline. 28 February 2023 . Retrieved 2 March 2023.