Losing voice opened 'windows' for Julie Andrews

It was "devastating" for Julie Andrews of "The Sound of Music" and "Mary Poppins" to lose her voice, but the actress says that it was then she discovered other pleasures in life.

Andrews had lost her voice as she went under the knife in 1997 to remove non-cancerous nodules on her vocal chords.

"If it had happened earlier, it would have been really devastating," Andrews told People magazine.

The actress revealed that her vocal trauma forced her to develop other creative outlets.

"For a while, I was in total denial," but then "I had to do something," she added.

The actress then also penned dozens of books, including the "Dumpy the Dumptruck" and "The Very Fairy Princess" children's series with her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton.

"What I say in the ('The Sound of Music') is true: a door closes and a window opens," added Andrews.

What if the 79-year-old had not lose her voice?

"I would never have written this number of books. I would never have discovered that pleasure."

"I thought at the time (of the surgery), my voice was what I am. But it seems it's not all that I am," she said.