My Fair Lady (movie) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids My Fair Lady |
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![]() Theatrical release poster by Bill Gold,
original illustration by Bob Peak |
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Directed by | George Cukor |
Produced by | Jack Warner |
Written by | Alan Jay Lerner George Bernard Shaw |
Starring | Audrey Hepburn Rex Harrison Stanley Holloway Wilfrid Hyde-White Gladys Cooper Jeremy Brett |
Music by | Frederick Loewe (Music) Alan Jay Lerner (Lyrics) |
Cinematography | Harry Stradling |
Editing by | William H. Ziegler |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. (Original) Hollywood Classics CBS Productions (current, under Paramount Pictures and CBS) |
Release date(s) | October 21, 1964 |
Running time | 170 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $17 million |
Money made | $72,000,000 |
My Fair Lady is a famous American musical movie from 1964. It's based on a popular stage musical of the same name, which itself was inspired by an old play called Pygmalion. The movie tells the story of a clever professor who tries to transform a simple flower girl into a refined lady. It won many big awards, including the Best Picture Oscar!
Contents
Discovering My Fair Lady
What is My Fair Lady About?
The movie's main character is Professor Henry Higgins. He is an expert in phonetics, which is the study of how people make speech sounds. Professor Higgins makes a big bet. He believes he can take a simple flower girl named Eliza Doolittle and teach her to speak like a high-society lady.
Eliza Doolittle is played by the famous actress Audrey Hepburn. Professor Higgins is played by Rex Harrison. The story follows their journey as Eliza learns new ways of speaking and behaving. It shows how language can change how people see you.
Who Was Cast in the Movie?

For the movie, Audrey Hepburn was chosen to play Eliza Doolittle. She was already a very well-known movie star. However, in the original stage musical, Eliza was played by Julie Andrews.
The head of Warner Bros., Jack Warner, wanted a big star for the movie. He thought Audrey Hepburn would make the movie more successful. Julie Andrews had not been in many movies yet. Interestingly, Julie Andrews starred in Disney's Mary Poppins in the same year. She even won the Best Actress Academy Award for Mary Poppins, while Audrey Hepburn was nominated for My Fair Lady.
Awards and Recognition
My Fair Lady was a huge success! It won eight Oscars. These are some of the most important awards in movies. The awards it won include:
- Best Picture (the top award for a movie)
- Best Actor for Rex Harrison
- Best Director for George Cukor
The movie is still loved today for its music, acting, and beautiful costumes.