Watch young Julie Andrews accept her Oscar for Best Actress for Mary Poppins

It was a truly happy holiday on August 27, 1964, when the Disney classic Mary Poppins come to the cinemas.

The film starred two actors who were considered rising talents at the time: Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. The film ultimately grossed over $100 million at the box office and has been a family classic ever since.

Upon its release, the film made its leading ladies into megastars and earned them countless award nominations. Andrews also won an Academy Award for Best Actress – her only Oscar.

At the 1965 show, the then 29-year-old star competed against fellow icon Anne Bancroft (The Pumpkin Eater), Sophia Loren (Getting married in Italian style), Debbie Reynolds (The unsinkable Molly Brown) and Kim Stanley (Seance on a rainy afternoon).

Television legend Bob Hope was there alongside actor Sidney Poitier, who won his first Oscar for best actor a year earlier for Lilies in the field.

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Andrews was visibly shocked when her name was called; before entering the stage, she gave her then-husband Tony Walton a kiss while Van Dyke applauded enthusiastically.

“Thank you! Thank you. Oh, that’s beautiful,” said the actress. “I know you Americans are famous for your hospitality, but this is really ridiculous.”

She continued, “I have so many words of thanks that I don’t even know where to start, and that is with Mr. Walt Disney. And of course, he has the biggest thanks of all. I wouldn’t even know where to stop.”

“I want to somehow try to express my really deep gratitude and, well, gratitude – well, I just said that, didn’t I? – for making me feel so welcome in this country. Thank you so much.”

Andrews has two other Oscar nominations for Best Actress, for The sound of my music in 1966 and Victor/Victoria in 1983. Van Dyke was never nominated for an Oscar, but his extensive television work earned him nine Primetime Emmy nominations and four awards, namely for The Dick Van Dyke Show.

Speaking to PEOPLE in 2018 as Mary Poppins Returns was released in theaters, Van Dyke said that he and Andrews “felt” that their original film “would work.”

“Walt Disney led me from one room to another, which had watercolors of all kinds of scenes,” he said. “And when I left the room, I was on cloud nine. He had convinced me. And the score just blew me away.”

Disney recruited Andrews for the role after seeing her on Broadway in Camelot; in a clip from the Mary Poppins He recalled going backstage at the premiere and “trying to talk them into it. I tried to convince them that I was capable of making a film with real actors as well as cartoons… I think I put on quite a show that night.”

Van Dyke told PEOPLE that the chemistry between him and Andrews, now 88, “was there from the start. She’s got a bit of British aristocracy about her – that wonderful accent – but inside she’s a bit of a leprechaun!”

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And Andrews recalled meeting the legendary actor during the two-hour Dick Van Dyke 98 Years of Magic CBS special in December 2023.

The actress said her co-star, now 98, was “young, as fit as can be and really beautiful to look at” at first glance, and admitted that meeting him was “intimidating”.

“I had never made a film before and had just given birth to my beautiful daughter Emma nearly six weeks earlier. I quickly realised I needed to get my act together and get in shape,” she said. “I found it quite daunting, I can tell you that. Dick couldn’t have been nicer, more genuine and more helpful. I like to think we hit it off straight away.”