The The Sound of Music star announced Thursday she had reached a settlement with the surgeons she accused of botching a throat operation that thrashed her legendary pipes.
Although terms of the deal were not disclosed, London tabloid reports say the settlement topped $10 million. Meanwhile, the Oscar winner said she was "glad to have settled this case in a favorable manner" and was "glad to close this chapter on an event which was unfortunate for all concerned."
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in New York last December, named New York's Mt. Sinai Hospital and Drs. Scott Kessler and Jeffrey Libin as defendants. In the complaint, Andrews said with her now-hushed voice, she is unlikely to find work belting out show tunes again--a tough proposition for one who's known for her turns in the 1960s movie musicals Mary Poppins (for which she won her Oscar) and The Sound of Music, as well as the original Broadway production of My Fair Lady.
"Singing has been a cherished gift, and my inability to sing has been a devastating blow," the 64-year-old Andrews said last year.
Andrews went under the knife in 1997 to remove noncancerous throat nodules, which had caused the entertainer to cut short her Broadway run in Victor/Victoria. She was hoping the surgery would expedite her return to the stage. But her doctors had bad news: Instead of clearing the way for her to resume her songbird ways, there was a 50-50 chance she would never sing again.
And, with the exception of a game (but barely audible) attempt at the Tony Awards in 1999, she hasn't. Instead, she says she has scarred vocal cords, permanent hoarseness and general vocal problems.
The loss of her singing voice had the depressed stage and screen vet checking into a clinic for grief counseling earlier in 1999.
Andrews has since started writing children's books and recently signed on to star in Disney's Princess Diaries (in a non-singing role). She's also set to host the PBS special Leading Ladies of Broadway, which will air in December.