Robert Altman said of her, "She's my incandescent, melancholy, strong, gold-hearted, sphinx-like, stainless steel little soldier".
Al Pacino's favorite actress.
Accompanied her long-time lover Warren Beatty on a trip to Russia which inspired him to write his Oscar-winning epic Reds (1981) which ultimately took him 13 years to write. Beatty had always planned to have Christie play the role of Louise Bryant, but when Reds (1981) began filming several years after the couple's breakup, Christie turned down the role and Beatty gave it to Diane Keaton. However, Beatty dedicated the film to Christie by hinting to her in his best director Oscar acceptance speech. "For Jules" can also be seen in the final credits of the film.
Became very close with director Robert Altman while filming McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971). (Ironically, her lover and co-star Warren Beatty did not get along with Altman, primarily due to his use of overlapping dialog.) She later appeared as herself in Altman's 1975 classic Nashville (1975) and received an Oscar nomination starring in the Altman-produced Afterglow (1997), directed by Altman protégé Alan Rudolph. The two remained very close until Altman's death in 2006.
Born at 10:00am-LMT.
Brother Clive Christie is a professor of SouthEast Asian studies at Hull University.
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Greatest Movie Stars (#91).
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#26). [1995]
Close friends with actress Goldie Hawn. The two women were introduced by Warren Beatty in the late 1960s. Beatty and Christie came to consider Goldie as family, and she co-starred with them in Shampoo (1975). Hawn also introduced Christie to yoga, which she still practices today.
Director David Lean nicknamed her 'sunflower' for her beautiful personality and director John Schlesinger nicknamed her 'Trilby' after the 19th century novel about a lovable bohemian.
Directors she works with often enjoy working with her so much that they use her several times, Robert Altman in McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) and Nashville (1975); John Schlesinger in Billy Liar (1963), Darling (1965), Far from the Madding Crowd (1967) and Separate Tables (1983) (TV); Nicolas Roeg directed her in Don't Look Now (1973) and was cinematographer on Far from the Madding Crowd (1967), Fahrenheit 451 (1966) and Petulia (1968) and lover Warren Beatty used her in Shampoo (1975) and Heaven Can Wait (1978).
Favorite filmmaker is Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
Fluent in English, French, and Italian.
Former co-owner of Katira Productions, along with boyfriend Warren Beatty (named after Beatty's parents Kathlyn and Ira).
Friends with actresses Kate Winslet and Emma Thompson.
Future long-term lover Warren Beatty first espied Christie at the 1967 Royal Command Performance of the film Born Free (1966) in London, which he attended with his then-girlfriend, Leslie Caron. Caron and Beatty were situated near Chrstie in the reception line for Queen Elizabeth II, and Beatty first saw Christie in person when he turned to watch the Queen shake hands with her. Beatty inveigled his friend Richard Sylbert, who was production designer on Christie's film Petulia (1968), to tell her to call him. She did, he flew up to the San Francisco location of the Petulia (1968) shoot and, after a rocky start, they became lovers. She made her first public appearance with Beatty at a sneak preview of Bonnie and Clyde (1967) for the Hollywood elite. It took them several months to rid themselves of their then-current lovers before they came together in a committed relationship, although they usually maintained separate households for the length of their long romance. Most of those w
Great admirer of Princess Diana of Wales and was extremely affected by her 1997 death.
Has played the mother of two Defense Against the Dark Arts professors from the "Harry Potter" series. In Hamlet (1996), she plays the mother of Kenneth Branagh, who went on to play "Gilderoy Lockhart". In DragonHeart (1996), she plays mother to David Thewlis, who plays "Remus Lupin". Christie herself also appears in the third film, with Thewlis.
Has worked with director-screenwriter and actress Sarah Polley three times: co-starring with Polley in No Such Thing (2001) and the Goya Award-winning "La Vida secreta de las palabras" (aka The Secret Life of Words (2005)), and taking the lead in Polley's first feature film as a director, Away from Her (2006). Polley is one of the many co-workers impressed by not only Christie's talent, but her intelligence and independence. After appearing with her in No Such Thing (2001), Polley -- who lost her mom when she was 11 years old -- said that Julie had become one of her surrogate mothers.