She also received a Drama Desk Award nomination. She appeared in the West End revue Side by Side by Sondheim in 1976, and made her Broadway debut when the show transferred to New York in 1977, receiving a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. McKenzie's early West End musical credits include Maggie May (1966), Mame (1969), and Company (1971). She trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. McKenzie was born on 17 February 1941, in Enfield, Middlesex, England, the daughter of Kathleen Rowe and Albion McKenzie. Her film appearances include Bright Young Things (2003) and Notes on a Scandal (2006). She also starred in the original London productions of the Sondheim musicals Follies (1987) and Into the Woods (1990).

A six-time Olivier Award nominee, she has twice won the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for the 1982 revival of Guys and Dolls and the 1993 revival of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. McKenzie has also starred in numerous musicals, receiving a 1977 Tony Award nomination for her work in the Broadway revue, Side by Side by Sondheim. On television, she is known for her BAFTA Award nominated role as Hester Fields in the sitcom Fresh Fields (1984–1986) and its sequel French Fields (1989–1991), and as Miss Marple in Agatha Christie's Marple (2009–2013).

She has premièred leading roles written by both Alan Ayckbourn and Stephen Sondheim. Julia Kathleen Nancy McKenzie CBE (born 17 February 1941) is an English actress, singer, presenter, and theatre director.

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