Her best known movie. Breakfast at Tiffany's, 1961. Audrey may not have been author Truman Capote's Holly Golightly but she sure was director Blake Edwards'. Audrey gave a classic performance in one of the great romantic comedies of all-time.
Today would have been Audrey Hepburn's 84th birthday, but she passed way too soon, 20 years ago at age 63. An icon of style, grace and elegance, the incredibly thin Hepburn was an unusual sex symbol, especially in the boob conscious 50's and 60's America. Audrey once said, she was too skinny, her feet were too big, her legs and neck were too long. Like all of us, she only saw her imperfections. Born in Belgium on May 4th, 1929, Audrey Kathleen Ruston was caught up in the horrors of World War II like so many in Europe, in fact her father was a Nazi sympathizer. In the mid-1930's Audrey's mother caught her father in a rather compromising position with the family nanny and he swiftly left the family. Hepburn's experiences during WW II and it's human suffering led to her later involvement with UNICEF.
As Billy Wilder's Sabrina. Back from Paris looking so chic her old crush, David Larrabee, won't recognize her.
1953's Roman Holiday, her first starring role, made Hepburn a star and won her an Oscar for Best Actress. When she won the Oscar she was in New York appearing in the play Ondine. She would go on to win a Tony Award for that performance making her one of 3 actresses to win both Oscars and Tonys the same year. In 1954 came Sabrina with Bogie and William Holden {a love affair ensued between Holden and Audrey}, War and Peace in 1956 opposite Henry Fonda and new hubby Mel Ferrer, while both Funny Face, dancing with the peerless Fred Astaire and Love in the Afternoon with an aging Gary Cooper were released in 1957 and Fred Zinnemann's The Nun's Story in 1959 and on and on into the 60's.
Love this pic. Beautiful, even with rings under her eyes and getting her hair styled
Men were intrigued with her gamine quality but women absolutely adored her. I suppose the first time I saw her was in her comeback film after 9 years away from the screen, 1976's Robin And Marian with Sean Connery. I like the movie a lot but I don't think Hepburn made much of an impression on my 17 year old mind. In 1979 Hepburn top lined the big budget box office disaster Sidney Sheldon's Bloodline, another movie I caught at my local cinema {in those days of youth I saw everything. Usually with my friends or my sister and niece, but often on my own too}. Audrey looked great, clothed by Enrico Sabbatini, but the movie, directed by Terence Young {Dr.No, From Russia With Love, Wait Until Dark}, was a dog with fleas.
In 1983 Audrey joined John Ritter, Ben Gazzara, Colleen Camp and a group of talented unknowns for Peter Bogdanovich's They All Laughed, a thoroughly delightful romantic ensemble comedy that I saw with my sis and niece at the old Granada theater in Santa Barbara, back in the day when it was the best movie palace in town and the only one with a balcony that never was closed off. I loved this movie from day one {in fact, it would make a good post of an Underrated Gem}, but again, Audrey left me with a feeling of less than I had hoped or been led to believe. My first glimpse of Audrey in her movie prime was, I think, 1954's Sabrina. I really love this movie, even with a miscast Humphrey Bogart as eldest brother Linus Larrabee; it does feature a spot-on William Holden as playboy/younger brother, David. A Cinderella story, Sabrina was directed by the great Billy Wilder, caught in a Lubtisch mood, just as he would be 3 years later when he would direct Audrey and Gary Cooper in Love in the Afternoon. This second pairing of Wilder and Hepburn may not be everyone's cup of tea; for one thing Coop, though excellent in the part, looks too old for her. Wilder had wanted Cary Grant, but the great comic actor said no. The YouTube clip, above, is recommended for those who have seen the movie, as it is a spoiler. But it contains what may be my favorite ending to a movie, ever. Certainly the most romantic ending I have ever scene.
Audrey in the mid-50's, having tea with hubby Mel Ferrer. The marriage didn't last. But I love this photo, they look so happy.
My other favorite Hepburn's are Funny Face, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Charade {with Cary Grant, finally!}, My Fair Lady and Two For The Road. Curiously, throughout her career, Hepburn was paired up with much older leading men: Bogart was 54 to Audrey's 24 in Sabrina, Fonda in War and Peace was about 50, Astaire and Cooper were over 55 when she worked with them, ditto Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady. Even in that splendid pairing of Audrey and Cary in 1963's Charade, one cannot deny that fact that Grant is much older than she {though I for one have to say he doesn't look nearly 60}
Had no idea they knew each other! On the Sabrina set, 1953.
Audrey died in January 1993 of appendiceal cancer. Her last movie appearance was in Steven Spielberg's Always, as Hap, the angel who helps Richard Dreyfuss' character after his plane has crashed. Hepburn continues to live on after her death as an icon of fashion, sophistication and glamor. To the under 40 crowd, she may be best known for that, rather than for her work in films, although I like to think a lot of girls still travel through the Hepburn filmography of Tiffany's, Sabrina, Roman Holiday and My Fair Lady; etc. A lot of guys could benefit from that visit too.
With the fawn, named Ip, she helped to raise from it's infancy for the movie Green Mansions, a 1959 dud directed by husband Ferrer.
Audrey's cowgirl look, unusual for her, is fetching. On set of Huston's The Unforgiven, 1960
Miss Hepburn checks out.
Sources : Wikipedia
Audrey Hepburn by Barry Paris
Images: Fuck Yeah, Audrey Hepburn
And the movies of Audrey Hepburn
No comments:
Post a Comment