Julie Andrews wows fellow actresses at Elle honors

Even stars get star-struck.

It happened Monday to Zoe Saldana, Katie Holmes and Renee Zellweger at Elle magazine's Women in Hollywood tribute, where they were honored alongside legendary actress Julie Andrews.

Saldana burst into song - "A Spoonful of Sugar" - at the thought of meeting the "Mary Poppins" star. Zellweger said she'd "certainly be star-struck" when she met the actress.

"I just don't want to fall or say dumb things," Zellweger said, "so I'll keep my fingers crossed."

Holmes let out an "oh my God" and said she couldn't wait to meet Andrews.

"She is amazing," Holmes said. "We have 'Mary Poppins' and 'Sound Of Music' playing a lot in our house right now."

Longtime friend Carol Burnett shared a different side of the venerable star during a private dinner at the Four Seasons hotel.

"Not only is my chum such a great actress, such a great singer, such a beautiful person and all," Burnett said of Andrews, "she is also very bawdy."

The comedian told a story of how Lady Bird Johnson once caught her and Andrews kissing. Andrews had planned to play a trick on director Mike Nichols when the former first lady spotted them.

"Aren't you Carol Burnett?" Burnett recalled her asking. "I said `Yes, and this here's Mary Poppins.' "

"Absolutely true story," Andrews said. "She brings out the worst in me."

Andrews recognized her fellow honorees, including Julianne Moore, Emily Blunt, Robin Wright Penn and casting director Bonnie Timmermann, and thanked the "giants" with whom she worked during more than five decades in Hollywood.

She shared her experiences with Walt Disney and told of how he took her on her "very first ever trip to Disneyland." She talked about working with Rodgers and Hammerstein and Alfred Hitchcock and "those delicious leading men" such as Paul Newman and Omar Sharif. She spoke of working with her husband, director Blake Edwards, and how once when he was directing her during a love scene, he told her, "That was just fine, darling, but I know you can do it better."

"It's a little distracting at times," Andrews said.

She credited Hollywood for creating "more opportunities for women than most other businesses" and said the cement ceiling that existed when she started in the industry "has turned to glass and it's disintegrating before our very eyes."

The ever-poised actress then confessed that she was feeling "extremely nervous" on stage.

"I'm wondering if you can see through my gown," she said. "I'm wearing a Spanx and pop socks and God forbid you happen to see all that."

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On the Net:

http://www.elle.com

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AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: Follow her at http://twitter.com/APSandy.