Audrey Hepburn: Beyond the Silver Screen | Full Biography (Roman Holiday, Breakfast at Tiffany’s)

Audrey Hepburn: Beyond the Silver Screen | Full Biography (Roman Holiday, Breakfast at Tiffany’s) 

Inset quote: “I always played only  on stage or in front of the camera,   remaining myself the rest of the time. I lived the  role, but I did not play in life, never confusing   one with the other.” (Audrey Hepburn) She was a style icon and trendsetter.   She was considered the most  beautiful woman in the world,   but she was skeptical about her own appearance.

  Her legendary roles were bright and unforgettable,   although she loved being a wife and mother  above all else. The incomparable Audrey   Hepburn quickly conquered Hollywood. But did she  get fame and international recognition easily?    What facts from the dark past of her  parents did the star have to hide? What   role was the actress terribly ashamed  of? And why did Hitchcock dislike her?   You will learn about this and much more from  today’s video. So get comfortable.

 This is the   “Biographer” channel, and we are starting! Difficult childhood   Audrey Kathleen Ruston [ɔdri kæˈθlin  ˈrʌstən], and later Hepburn-Ruston,   was born on May 4, 1929 in the municipality of  Ixelles [iksɛl] in Belgium [ˈbɛlʤəm]. Her family   called her Adriaantje [ˈeɪdriəntiə].

 Hepburn’s mother, Baroness Ella van   Heemstra [ˈhimstrə], was a Dutch noblewoman,  daughter of Baron Aarnoud van Heemstra,   who was mayor of Arnhem [ɑrnhɛm] and governor  of Dutch Guiana [ɡiˈɑnə], and Baroness Elbrig   Willemine Henriette van Asbeck [ɛlbrɪɡ  WIHL-EHMAHN hɛnriˈɛt væn æzbɛk]. Ella   also had two sons from her first marriage.

 The actress’s father, Joseph Victor Anthony   Ruston, was a British subject and had British  and Austrian ancestry. Although Joseph was   born with the surname Ruston, he later changed  it to the more “aristocratic” Hepburn-Ruston,   perhaps at Ella’s insistence, as he mistakenly  believed that he was descended from James Hepburn,   the third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots.

 Audrey’s parents were married in the Dutch   East Indies [dʌʧ ist ˈɪndiz] in September 1926.  Shortly after their marriage, the couple moved   to Europe, where Joseph began working for  a loan company in London. A year later,   the couple moved to Brussels [ˈbrʌsəlz],  where Joseph was to open its branch.   After three years of traveling between  Brussels, Arnhem, Hague [heɪɡ] and London,   the family settled in a suburb of Brussels, the  municipality of Linkebeek [linkəbeːk] in 1932.   

Hepburn’s early childhood was sheltered and  privileged. Her multi-national background was   enhanced by having traveled to three countries  with her family through her father’s work.   In the mid-1930s, Hepburn’s parents were  supporters of fascism and recruited and   collected donations for Oswald Mosley’s [ˈɔzwɔld  ˈmoʊzliz] British Union of Fascists.

 Her mother   met Adolf Hitler and wrote favorable articles  about him for The British Union of Fascists.   On Audrey’s sixth birthday, her parents  went to Munich to have lunch with Hitler   and his other supporters and forgot to  congratulate their daughter on her holiday.   Joseph left the family shortly after  this incident and moved to London, where   he became more involved in fascist activities  and never visited his daughter abroad.

 Hepburn   later admitted that this act of her father  was the most traumatic event in her life.   Since that time, Audrey was afraid to  blame her mother for anything, and she,   in turn, tried to teach her daughter and  raise resilience to any life situations.   Inset quote: “My mother taught me everything – to  draw and read, to love books and to be diligent,   to restrain emotions and think first about others  and then about myself, taught me to be kind even   when you want to howl like a wolf, taught me  to work and not to give up.” (Audrey Hepburn)  

The hardest thing for Ella was to protect her  daughter from disappointment in her father. She   did not want Audrey to consider herself the  daughter of a fascist or a worthless person,   and therefore preferred to appear cruel and unfair  in her eyes, in order to prevent the child from   having close communication with her father.

 Before the Second World War’s start,   Ella took Audrey from the boarding school,  brought her sons Alex and Ian home and moved   them all to Holland, in Arnhem, near  which was the grandfather’s estate.    Audrey really liked Arnhem.  Inset quote: “I remembered my   mother’s stories about the big parental  house, about the beauty of the city itself,   a

bout the wonderful parks and fountains there… I  was more attracted to theaters and concert halls,   besides, I was promised that I would study dance  in Arnhem conservatory”. (Audrey Hepburn)    The house really turned out to be big and  beautiful, and the relatives were kind.   Audrey especially loved her uncle William.  During the short months she lived with him,   her uncle instilled in her a lifelong hatred not  just of war, but of violence in general.

 Half a   year passed in peace and quiet, and only in May  it became clear that the war had reached Holland.   The childhood of Audrey, who was already 11 years  old at that time, suddenly ended under the roar   of tanks in the quiet streets of Arnhem. The Hepburn family was evicted from their   rooms and into the servants’ annex.

 With the  war beginning, the girl learned to survive   in any conditions, she learned that there  was a much worse injustice in the world   than the fact that her father left home. The most difficult thing in the first months   of the occupation, until she was starving and she  could still take dance lessons, was the need to   hide that she had English documents, an English  name and a father in England.

 Then she became Edda   instead of Audrey and had to speak only Dutch.  In order not to accidentally reveal her English,   the girl tried to be more silent and  dance more. The first years it worked,   as long as there was enough strength to dance. And then the family just tried to survive.   Resistance to the fascists grew stronger,  so in response, repression intensified,   executions became more frequent, fewer  and fewer products were issued for cards,   and more and more bans were imposed. Children,  unaware of the dangers, often became liaisons  

in the resistance movement, and Audrey was no  exception. She often ran around Arnhem with notes   for the Resistance fighters, and once, risking  her own life, even searched for a downed English   pilot in the forest, who then hid in their house. The war caused irreparable damage to the future   star’s family. Beloved uncle William was shot  for killing several German soldiers.

 One brother   was taken to a concentration camp because he was  caught by a roundup and tried to escape, although   he later returned. Another one miraculously  escaped being shot, but was taken to work in   Germany. Father was also in the camp, but in the  English camp, because he supported the enemies.    Then the hunger started.

 Fascists,  enraged by the railway workers’ strikes,   forbade the food delivery to civilians. Audrey  and her mother had to go to nearby villages   for food, exchanging things for products. Inset quote: “I remember my legs swollen   from malnutrition and anemia… You can’t dance  on such logs, because it was our only source of   income from teaching dance.

” (Audrey Hepburn) When the Germans moved the townspeople from   Arnhem, Audrey and her mother went to Velpe,  her grandfather’s house. A roof over the head   was found, but under this roof it was cold and  there was absolutely nothing to eat. When the   food finally ran out, the girl had the idea  to go to deserted Arnhem to get breadcrumbs,   which they had forgotten to take from home.

 It  turned out that someone had already taken them,   but in one of the abandoned bakeries, Audrey found  two dried rolls and some apples. It turned out   that the Germans had not left the city, and one  of the patrols almost noticed the girl. She hid   in the basement and could not come out for a long  time. She had to fight for food with an enormous   amount of rats.

 One of them bit Audrey, and when  the girl managed to get out of the basement and   reach Velpe, it turned out that she had jaundice.  Buns and apples saved the family for a short time,   but then the British began dropping food for  civilians from airplanes and thus finally   saved the Hepburns from starvation. After the war, they were forced to move   to Amsterdam, because their house in Arnhem  no longer existed.

 The wealthy Dutchman Paul   Ruebens [pɔl ˈrubənz], who headed the huge  Anglo-Dutch industrial association “Unilever”,   became their patron after the war. He helped  the family of the future star to get out of   poverty and disease, first in Amsterdam  [ˈæmstərˌdæm], and then in London. This   man effectively replaced Audrey’s father, and  she later thanked him for his help and support.  

After recovering from her illness, Audrey began  learning to dance with Sonia Gaskell [ˈɡæskəl], a   wonderful ballerina and dance teacher. She praised  the girl’s tenacity, paid tribute to her efforts,   although she never promised that she  would become a great ballerina.    And what do you think, would Hepburn have been  able to build a career in ballet? Write to us,   it will be interesting to hear your opinion! Living in Amsterdam became more and more   difficult and Gaskell decided to move to  Paris. She recommended Audrey to her friend  

Madame Rambert [ˈræmbərt], who had a famous dance  school in London. Ruebens had an apartment in the   city and the Hepburns decided to move there. Madame Rambert accepted the girl solely at the   request of Sonia Gaskell, and did not hide  her displeasure. She was sharp and outspoken   and considered Audrey too tall, too thin, and  too immature for her age.

 Hepburn promised to   practice from morning to night to catch  up with the rest, and she really tried,   but she never became a professional ballerina. She had to say goodbye to her dream of ballet   premieres, but Audrey continued to dance.  Firstly, she did not know anything else, secondly,   it was necessary to live for something, and not to  take advantage of Ruekens’s immeasurable kindness.  

Although both mother and daughter worked:  Ella designed interiors for restaurants   and apartments. And Audrey was photographed in the  hats commercial, translated documents for a travel   agency, and took on any available work. And yet, Hepburn really wanted to dance,   so she joined the corps de ballet of the  musical.

 It was there that she met Kay   Kendall [ˈkɛndəl], a remarkable, very energetic  and sometimes just crazy woman. It was Kay that   the actress kept in mind while playing  Holly Golightly [ɡoʊˌlaɪtli] in “Breakfast   at Tiffany’s” and who became her loyal friend. The beginning of a career and the first love   Hepburn took on any role, any job,  as long as it was not related to   undressing or something like that.

 She was  not even always indicated in the credits,   and it was not considered necessary to mention her  in criticism at all. Raised by a strict mother,   Audrey knew exactly what a well-bred lady  could and could not do. The actress always   said that she was “raised by her mother and the  war, and it’s still unknown who was stricter.”   After being noticed by Ealing studio’s casting  director Margaret Harper-Nelson [ˈhɑrpər-ˈnɛlsən],   Hepburn was signed up as a freelance actress  with the Associated British Picture Corporation.  

In 1951, she appeared in the BBC drama “The  Silent Village” and in supporting roles in   the films “One Wild Oat”, “Laughter in Paradise”,  “Young Wives’ Tale” and “The Lavender Hill Mob”.   Hepburn had her first major role, albeit a minor  one, in Thorold Dickinson’s [ˈdɪkɪnsən] “Secret   People” in 1952, where she played the young  ballerina Nora Bretano [ˌbrɛnˈtɑnoʊ] – and   performed her own dance scenes.

 At the movie  party, Audrey met her first love – the young   and wealthy James Hanson [ˈhænsən]. At first, she  did not consider him as a potential husband at all   because of the very large difference in financial  status. The fact is that the Hansons were   obscenely rich. The family business, which started  with the production of trucks, successfully grew   into transportation all over the world. Millionaire James had a glorious past.  

During the war he was an officer, actively  engaged in sports and was quite a lover whose   list of victories included Ava Gardner and Jean  Simmons [ˈeɪvə ˈɡɑrdnər ænd ʤin ˈsɪmənz]. James   was already in his thirties when he met  Audrey and the couple soon began dating.   “My mother was delighted with the appearance of  millionaire aristocrat James Hanson in my life,”   said Hepburn. “I understood her: it is better  to become Mrs.

 Hanson than to portray servants   or furniture in third-rate movies all my life.  She never believed that I had acting talent,   or rather, acting was simply out of the  question, and the path to ballet was closed.”   James was charming, treated his girlfriend  just fine, quickly confessed his love and   asked her to marry him.

 However, Baroness  Ella asked her daughter not to set a wedding   date yet. She wanted to understand that James’  intentions were serious, and that he had become   prudent. Audrey was twenty-two, he was thirty, and  although the young woman wanted to get married as   soon as possible, she listened to her mother. So  the couple decided to wait with the engagement.   According to the contract, Hepburn went to Monte  Carlo [mɑnti ˈkɑrloʊ] to shoot in the bilingual   comedy “Monte Carlo Baby”.

 There she had to play  the role of a nanny who gave the baby to “the   wrong person” and then got out of a ridiculous  situation. Audrey’s mother went with her,   and James stayed in London. He constantly  called her, reminding of his love and   asked her to be faithful to him. Audrey  swore that she saw nothing but the set.   There, Audrey accidentally met the  French writer Colette [ˈkoʊˈlɛt].  

However, the writer really liked this  direct woman and, after several hours   of friendly conversation, she persuaded her. All the days that remained until the end of   the filming of “Monte Carlo Baby”, which  was going at that time, Audrey talked with   Colette every free minute.

 Unfortunately,  she did not live very long after they met,   and died in 1954, but she still managed to see  reviews of Hepburn’s performance on Broadway.   Audrey was so fascinated by Gigi that  she almost failed her role as a funny   nanny in “Monte Carlo Baby”, albeit not  a serious one. And at the same time,   she was terribly afraid of the theatrical stage.

  “Then I realized the difference between theater   and cinema,” the star said. “In the cinema, you  can re-shoot and re-shoot until the film runs out,   in the theater every time is the only one. But  there is an advantage in this, if the film is   shot, nothing can be corrected, and on stage  you can play a little differently tomorrow.”   After returning to London, Audrey went to meet  with Gilbert Miller [ˈɡɪlbərt ˈmɪlər], who bought   the rights to the stage version of Colette’s  book which was rewritten by the writer Anita   Loos [luz] to create the theatrical version, and  Paulette Goddard [pɔˈlɛt ˈɡɑdərd], the actress and  

ex-wife of the great Charlie Chaplin. This trio  had to approve or reject Colette’s choice. Her   fiancé took Audrey to the Savoy Hotel, where  the meeting took place. Even in Monte Carlo,   Hepburn was very worried about how he would react  to such a turn in her career. But James did not   resist, he had a business in Toronto, which  forced him to spend a lot of time in Canada,   and the residence of his beloved in New  York was quite convenient for Hanson.   

Hepburn came to the meeting in a man’s shirt,  socks and shoes without heels and looked 5 years   younger. Miller was shocked by the young actress’s  appearance, but invited her to audition. Despite   her quiet voice and forgotten words, Audrey  was still accepted for the role of Gigi.   The British film company, with which Hepburn had  an agreement, received “recessions” for the young   actress from Miller, because they did not see  much value in her.

 But as soon as the contract   was concluded, a request came from Hollywood for  an actress to play the role of a runaway princess   in the romantic comedy “Roman Holiday”.  Inset quote: “In general, I sailed to   America with two offers already – from  the Fulton Theater on Broadway and from   Hollywood! The fairy tale continued,  although every night, falling asleep,   I was afraid that I would wake up  again in Arnhem or Velpe to the   whistling of falling shells”. (Audrey Hepburn) Audrey went alone across the ocean. Her mother  

received a large order for interior design  and could not refuse it. No one could know   what would come of a Broadway performance. And  “Roman Holiday” was supposed to be filmed in Rome   in just one year. So Ella promised her daughter  to come to the premiere of “Gigi” with Jimmy.    During the ocean voyage, Hepburn memorized  all her words, and she began to eat a lot out   of nervousness.

 When Miller saw her again,  Audrey was almost eighteen pounds heavier   than the last time they met, but she promised  him to lose weight before the premiere.    “If I hadn’t felt that I needed to lose weight, it  would have been my last day of work on Broadway,   but that time I obeyed,” the star  recalled. “I always obeyed if I didn’t   know what to do myself, or when I knew  for sure that the demands were fair.

”   Do you think that the demand to  lose weight was really fair? Write   in the comments below, we read all of them! American producer Morton Gottlieb [ˈɡɑtˌlib]   guided the young actress and her weight.  He took her to Dinty Moore’s Restaurant,   introduced her to the staff, and ordered them to  give her nothing but meat tartare.

 Thanks to a   strict diet and exercise, Audrey managed to lose  weight quickly, which Gottlieb was very proud of.   With her partner on stage, Cathleen  Nesbitt [ˈnɛzbɪt], Hepburn practiced   acting and learned to speak properly, because  before that she just mumbled something and had   no experience of performing on stage.

 Her fiance soon arrived for Audrey and   nearly disrupted all rehearsals. The couple sat  at night in a restaurant owned by James’ family,   after which she appeared at morning rehearsals  in the theater with puffy eyes and a passionate   desire not to listen to her partners’ lines, but  simply to sleep. If it weren’t for Gilbert Miller,   who almost put the aspiring star under house  arrest, she would have failed the role,   but she would have definitely become Mrs. Hanson.

 “Gigi” premiere took place on November 21,   1951 at the Fulton Theater. Despite the fact that  Audrey considered herself the most untalented of   the entire cast and was very nervous on stage,  the audience was delighted with the young star,   and her dressing room was simply filled with  bouquets of flowers. And if on the first poster   it was written “Gigi.

 Starring Audrey Hepburn”,  then after a few days, it was replaced by another:   “Audrey Hepburn in “Gigi”, thus emphasizing  the importance of the main actress.   Her mother could not come to the premiere  and went to New York only a month later,   when her daughter’s popularity had become almost  common, and the number of people willing to take   an autograph was growing every day.

 Ella really  didn’t like the hotel for nine dollars a day   where her daughter lived, and the fact that  Audrey was not given a car. But she liked the   performance itself and the performance of the  younger Hepburn, and although the baroness was   not used to expressing excessive emotions,  her daughter felt her pride and support.   The play was presented in a total of 219  performances, although it was removed from   the repertoire for a while only because the star  had to act in “Roman Holiday”.

 And for her Gigi,   Audrey received the Theater World Award. Audrey’s “Roman Holiday”   After the first success of “Gigi”, Hepburn  went to Rome to conquer the film Olympus,   i.e. to star in “Roman Holiday”. James,  although he was displeased, still let his   bride go but only after she agreed to publish  an announcement about their engagement.  

In “Roman Holiday” Audrey played Princess Ann,  who arrived on an official visit to Rome, but,   tired of her status, ran away for a day to walk  around the city with an American journalist,   played by Gregory Peck [pɛk]. Before the auditions, the actress   was immediately advised to change her last  name, because Katharine Hepburn was already   famous in Hollywood. However, Audrey stood her  ground and was not going to change anything.  

Auditions for the role, according to Audrey,  were not very successful. She played a scene   from “Holiday”, but Thorold Dickinson, who  was filming the tests, did not turn off the   camera and just started chatting with Hepburn.  Though she noticed that she was being filmed,   she stopped being nervous, instead she laughed.

  Director William Wyler [ˈwaɪlər] liked these   improvisations, did not notice the bad acting  in the scene, instead he saw Audrey’s sly smile.   About her acquaintance with him, Hepburn later  said: “Going to the first meeting with William   Wyler, I knew nothing about him, I had not seen a  single film by the brilliant director. They only   said that he had two Oscars of his own, fourteen  actors who starred in his movies also received   this award, and thirty-six were nominated  for it, everyone could only dream of filming   by Wyler at least in one episode. Could I have  thought then that I would become fifteenth?”   

Oscar-winning fashion designer Edith  Head [idɪθ hɛd] worked on Audrey’s   image and outfits. She was delighted  with Hepburn’s thin waist, only 50 cm,   and promised to make her a trendsetter. Alberto De  Rossi [ˈrɔsi] did makeup for Hepburn in the film,   and his wife Grazia was a hairdresser. Since then,  they have worked together in five more films.   

To shoot in Rome, Audrey flew in the status of  the bride of Mr. James Hanson, which gave him the   right to interfere with the shooting schedule.  “It was awful!’ the actress recalled. “I could   not explain to Jimmy that there is no star on the  set, but an almost helpless girl, that there is no   question of any demands, that I catch every  word of the director and partners and think   not at all about the deadlines for the end of  filming, but about playing as well as possible.

”   With her partner on the set, Gregory Peck, the  actress immediately found a common language.   It was he who became her true friend in life  and a mentor during filming. Every time before   the start of filming, Peck tried to make Audrey  laugh so that she would stop trembling with fear,   and he also supported her in every  way.

 Of course, after the film release,   the press attributed an affair to those two,  although the actors had nothing but sincere   friendship and mutual sympathy. But those gossips  affected Audrey’s relationship with her fiancé.   Do you think the romance between  the actors was really made up,   or could there have been something between those  two? Write to us in the comments, let’s discuss!   “Basically, I almost didn’t have to play in “Roman  Holiday”,” Hepburn recalled, “I felt like the same   Princess Ann. Everyone around me treated me like a  real royal person. My mother instructed me no less  

strictly than the Countess instructed Princess in  the movie, and I constantly wanted to escape from   the strict rules of behavior and just play around.  At the same time, I never forgot that I had to   “behave decently according to my status.”  The perfectionist director exhausted all the   actors, demanding endless takes of each scene in  the hope of finding the perfect shot.

 For which   everyone secretly called him “90-take Wyler”. During the filming of the scene where it   was necessary to cry, Audrey could not do it,  remembering her mother’s words that ladies do not   show emotions in public. However, the director’s  scream provoked real tears from the actress,   and in the future, when she needed to cry  on camera, she remembered this episode.  

Relationships with James were also experiencing a  crisis. From the beginning, the man did not like   the chaos on the set. Filming was dragging on,  he was nervous, demanding to shorten the process,   to finish it by mid-September so that he and  Audrey could fly to London to get married. James   was ready at any moment to pay the studio a ransom  for Audrey and finally make her Mrs. Hanson.   

James was eventually assured that  filming would wrap up on August 25th,   and immediately issued a press release about the  upcoming wedding on August 30th in Yorkshire.   However, everything was delayed until September  30, and on October 1, Audrey was already supposed   to be at the rehearsals of “Gigi”. Then Hanson  gave her an ultimatum – September 30 or never.   

At James’ request in Rome the actress was made  a wedding dress, although the management of   “Paramount” announced that all of Princess  Ann’s outfits from “Roman Holiday” were kept   as a wedding gift, and she could get married  in a luxurious white dress from the movie.   “The situation was terrible,” the star said.

  “The wedding day was set, two hundred guests   were invited, and no fewer reporters were  still expected, gifts began to be brought   to Huddersfield [ˈhʌdərsfild] in Yorkshire  [ˈjɔrkʃər], the daughter of the American   ambassador Sharon Douglas agreed to be  my maid-of-honor… And I had the “Roman   Holiday” going on, and there was no way I could  show my true self on the set, when I wanted to   bang my head against the wall.

” As a result, the  wedding never happened, the couple broke up and   the actress returned to America already free.  “Roman Holiday” became a real hit and the turning   point of the future legend of cinema. And for  the role of Ann, Hepburn later received the   “Oscar” and “Golden Globe” awards. The most difficult projects   The Paramount studio decided that Hepburn’s  popularity could be very profitable.

 So the   actress didn’t have to wait long for her next  project. Audrey was offered the role of Sabrina   in the romantic comedy of the same name. After  reading the play, based on which the movie was   to be filmed, the young star herself asked to  play. Paramount considered the role ideal for her,   bought the rights to the screenplay, and work  began.

 However, it did not bring joy or simple   pleasure to any of the participants. And if  there were no strict contracts, the movie   would probably never have seen the light of day. Before filming, Audrey was allowed to go to Paris   to see what was worn in Europe, and to pick up  clothes for “Sabrina” herself from one of the   Parisian fashion designers.

 Although, according  to the contract, the wardrobe was to be selected   by Edith Head herself, who worked on the image  of Princess Ann and even received an “Oscar” for   her efforts. The trip coincided with the London  premiere of “Roman Holiday”, so Audrey first went   to her mother, who never dared to move to America,  and then visited the then young fashion designer   Hubert de Givenchy [ˌʒɪˈvɛnʧi] and selected the  entire wardrobe for the film.

 The friendship of   the actress with Hubert would be lifelong and  those two would change the trends of fashion   and style more than once. Audrey would constantly  recommend her favorite designer to create her   movie looks, and he, in turn, would give life  advice, support her in difficult moments of her   life and always be there when needed.

 Those two  would never have a romantic relationship, but   they would truly love and respect each other.  That was the end of the positive moments of   “Sabrina”. Billy Wilder [ˈwaɪldər], who was  assigned to make the film, suddenly began to   change the text. Screenwriter Samuel Taylor  [ˈteɪlər], after seeing the edits, refused to   work on the script, and it was assigned to Ernest  Lehman [ˈlimən].

 As a result, most of the text was   written by Wilder himself, Lehman edited it, and  all this already during the shooting and at night,   so that at dawn in the studio he could  give a new text with lines to the actors,   who had to learn their words immediately. “Most  often we didn’t know exactly what we were going   to shoot tomorrow, we studied the text as we went,  got nervous and got angry,” Hepburn recalled.  

When Cary Grant [ɡrænt] turned down the  role of Linus, Wilder gave it to Humphrey   Bogart [ˈhʌmfri ˈboʊˌɡɑrtˈ]. He didn’t get  along with everyone on the set right away. It   seemed to the actor that all were against  him, so he was angry most of the time,   and he took out his anger on his young partner,  whom he often called “an English dilettante who   imagines herself to be an actress.

” Hepburn later said: “Bogart teased me   as much as he could, clinging to intonation, to  the smallest stutter, doing it himself at every   step. And I had to play love to Bogart’s  character, and it got harder every day.”   But with Bogart’s screen brother, William  Holden [ˈhoʊldən], on the contrary, the   actress had the best relationship.

 The couple had  a passionate affair that almost ended in marriage,   but Holden deliberately deprived himself  of the opportunity to have children,   and Audrey dreamed of a large family. Everyone suffered during the shooting   process. Humphrey and William were constantly  drunk and often fought with each other,   due to which makeup artists had to paint  over their bruises.

 Hepburn “played love”   to someone she hated. Lehman was rewriting the  text at night, the cameraman could not find the   right angle for filming, and the other actors  quarreled with each other every day. Later,   Hepburn admitted that she had never had such  terrible conditions during filming in her life.   At the pre-premiere screening, Audrey invited  Givenchy to evaluate his creations on the screen.  

However, Edith Head was listed in the film  credits. The actress was unhappy that Hubert   was not included in the list and demanded it to  be corrected. But everything was left as it is,   because Edith was bound by a contract with  the studio, unlike Hubert. At the Oscars,   “Sabrina” was presented in six nominations,  but won only one golden statuette – for   costumes. After receiving the award, Head  did not say a single word about Givenchy.  

By Christmas 1953, it was announced that José  Ferrer [ˈfɛrər] and Audrey Hepburn had been named   the best actors of the year in the annual poll  of film critics, much to the latter’s delight.   At a party dedicated to “Roman Holiday”,  Gregory Peck introduced Audrey to Mel Ferrer,   a well-known actor at the time. It was mutual love  at first sight.

 However, at that time the man was   already married for the third time, and to his  first wife. He immediately started a new divorce   process, although Hepburn was in no rush to get  married. Mel, inspired by the beautiful actress,   decided to produce “Ondine” on Broadway, where he  played the knight Hans, who fell in love with a   water nymph. Audrey was supposed to portray her.

  Alfred Lunt [lʌnt], who was famous at the time,   became the director of the play. Hepburn was not happy with this idea,   because she did not want to play on stage  anymore. And, it turned out, she was right. Work   on “Ondine” turned out to be the most difficult in  her life, after which she declared that she would   never play in the theater again.

 It wasn’t the  acting itself that was difficult, but the tearing   between the director’s and Mel’s instructions.  In the morning at rehearsals, she heard one thing   from the director and partners, and another thing  from Ferrer in the evening. There was no desire   to quarrel, and Audrey tried to get along with  everyone, but it only turned out worse. It got   to the point that Ferrer threatened the director  to leave the play and take Hepburn with him.

 The   actress couldn’t stand it anymore and declared  that she would really leave, but also from him.   The premiere on Broadway took place in February  1954. “Ondine” was received with enthusiasm,   Alfred Lunt received the award as the best  director of the season. However, critics   did not appreciate Mel’s performance, and his  future mother-in-law was not delighted with him.  

After the end of the theater season, the couple  went to Switzerland. Mel insisted on the wedding,   but Audrey’s family and friends dissuaded  her from such an act. The star herself was   tired of endless filming and a large number  of performances and just wanted to rest.    Thanks to the screening of “Roman Holiday”  in a local Swiss cinema, Hepburn could not   even leave her hotel unnoticed.

  Everyone asked for an autograph,   imposed their company and did  not let the new celebrity rest.   Financial problems also greatly contributed to  the awful mood. Despite very successful projects,   there was a catastrophic lack of money. The  admirable actress lived extremely modestly.   And for “Roman Holiday” and “Sabrina” she received  much less than her partners, theatrical earnings   were small, and life in New York was expensive.

 Mel, who was then filming in Italy, took his   beloved to a quiet place, where she really  revised her views on life. In her chosen one,   she now saw the guardian of her  peace and a reliable partner.    So on September 24, 1954, Hepburn and Ferrer got  married in the town hall of Buochs [bʊˈɑks] in   Switzerland. And the next day, the couple had  a church ceremony.

 It was modest, only the   closest relatives were present, and Audrey’s  mother cried all the time. After the wedding,   the newlyweds went to Italy.  Inset quote: “I wanted to become   an exemplary housewife and mother! Learned  to cook Italian dishes, bake rustic bread,   f

ell in love with spaghetti… happily took  care of our two dogs, many cats and a charming   donkey… I just lived…” (Audrey Hepburn) Now all contacts with Paramount were handled   by her agent Kurt Frings [friŋz], whom Audrey  was introduced to by her husband. She did not   go anywhere often. And at that time, Mel was  conducting difficult negotiations about filming   “Ondine”.

 The producers did not want to simply  transfer the created version of the play to the   screen, because the widow of the play’s author,  Giraudoux [ʒiro’du], asked for too much money for   the screenplay rights. Mel chased success, wanted  recognition and expected the same from his wife.   “Mel began to simply manage my life,” the actress  recalled. “If at the same time he locked me in   Villa Bétania, which we rented, I would not mind,  but he gradually began to dictate everything to   me: what to play, what to wear, what to say, how  to behave.

 And I wanted one thing: a child!”   “War and Peace” and dancing with Astaire The young couple was running out of money,   and it became clear to them that very soon they  would have to act anywhere and in any role just   to live. And Hepburn had a miscarriage,  after which the actress experienced severe   depression. She had to work to escape from sad  thoughts.

 In the spring, the couple agreed to   film in “War and Peace” – Mel was to play Prince  Andrey, and Audrey – Natasha Rostova [rɔs’tɔva].   Hepburn’s fee was thirty times more than  the fee for participation in “Sabrina”,   but it was much more modest for Mel. The entire  film was incredibly expensive, large-scale,   complex and equally unprepared.

 Producers Carlo  Ponti and Dino De Laurentiis [ˈkɑrloʊ ˈpɑnti ænd   ˈdinoʊ di ˈlɔrənˌtiz] for some reason were in a  hurry, setting the start of shooting on July 1.   At the same time, the Oscar-winning director  George Stevens [ˈstivənz] called the star and   offered her to play Anne Frank [æn fræŋk].  Audrey answered with a categorical refusal,   because she knew very well what it was like to  survive the war and did not want to experience   it again, even on the screen.

 Stevens was  persistent, and even brought Anne’s father   to the star – the only one who miraculously  survived the concentration camp from their   large family. And still, Hepburn could not agree  to this role. As a result, Anne Frank was played   by Millie Perkins [pɜrkɪnz] in the film. Inset quote: “I hope that George Stevens   wasn’t mad at me, although he had nothing more to  offer me.

 But I really couldn’t play Anne Frank,   because that would mean returning again to  the terrible years of the occupation, which   I tried so hard to forget.” (Audrey Hepburn) Meanwhile, preparations for the filming of   “War and Peace” were just boiling. Director King  Vidor [ˈvidɔr] hastily selected fifty actors for   roles with words.

 Costume designers sewed more  than twenty thousand outfits, which were simply   impossible to buy. Horses were brought from  all over Europe, about ten thousand of which   were required. To film a Russian winter in the  middle of a hot Italian summer, trucks hauled in   hundreds of tons of artificial snow, and military  museums rented out vintage cannons for filming.   The producers made the mistake of breaking the  translation of the novel into parts and giving   each to a separate group of screenwriters, not  caring at all that different people would write   in different styles. This process took three weeks  and the result was appropriate. King Vidor said  

that he clutched his head when he saw a script  of half a thousand pages, each part of which   existed independently. Then several writers were  hastily invited to rectify the situation. Still,   the movie was very long and difficult to watch. The film was shot in just two summer months and   two autumn months.

 The bet was made on  beautiful scenery, the scale of filming   and the fine acting. But it was also not easy  to play. The producers’ mistake was to combine   Hepburn and Ferrer in a love story. Inset quote: “Ferrer and I simply   could not play in front of the camera  with neither passion nor even love,   it is ours and only ours, neither  I nor he are capable of showing our   feelings to the audience.

” (Audrey Hepburn)  Already at the film premiere, it was clear that   neither the star cast, nor the shooting scale,  nor the huge amount of money spent saved the film,   and neither the audience nor film critics could  like the hastily made epic. The movie received   only moderate reviews from critics regarding  the scale of the project, beautiful scenes and   pretty Natasha Rostova.

 Henry Fonda in the  role of Pierre Bezukhov was scolded for his   gloom and depression, and Mel in the role of  Prince Andrey – for his perfect dispassion. The   relationship between Ferrer and Hepburn after  the end of the project also became cooler.   Are you familiar with this movie? If so,  share with us your thoughts about the   actors’ performance in it, we’d love to read it! “War and Peace” did not become a box office hit   or even just a popular movie.

 And when the grand  advertising campaign of the film studio ended,   it was immediately forgotten. Audrey’s next work was Stanley   Donen’s [‘dɒnənz] musical “Funny Face”, in  which she portrayed a bookstore saleswoman   tempted by a free trip to Paris. Her partner  on the set was Fred Astaire [əˈstɛr], who   played the role of a fashion photographer who  made Hepburn’s character a beautiful model.  

A modern fairy tale, clothes by Givenchy, music  by Gershwin [ˈɡɜrʃwɪn] and live shooting in Paris   did not compensate for the separation from her  husband, because at that time Mel was shooting   a movie with Ingrid Bergman [ˈbɜrɡmən].  Moreover, Fred Astaire, who was 30 years   older than his screen lover, was very complex  due to the age difference and therefore was often   not in the mood.

 And although the director made  almost no comments to Hepburn, simply explaining   what exactly her character should feel, Astaire  repeatedly stopped the shooting in annoyance when   he thought that Audrey was acting implausibly. However, this negativity was overshadowed by the   dance scenes, because Fred was a master dancer and  almost every actress dreamed of being paired with   him.

 During one such scene in a café, Donen  insisted that Hepburn add white socks to her   all-black outfit so that her movements would not  blend into the background. The actress was very   upset, thinking that it would look ridiculous and  got into a quarrel with the director. However,   having calmed down, she still agreed  to wear white socks and as a result,   they really looked appropriate, and the audience  followed her feet during the dance.

 Audrey   later apologized to Stanley for her tantrum.  At the same time, Hepburn’s mother came to Paris,   because she really wanted to see what filming was  like. There she became friends with the author of   “Funny Face” Leonard Gershe [GÛRSH]. He was happy  to talk with Baroness van Heemstra, show her the   city as he saw it himself and did not let her  get bored.

 However, the filming process left   Ella with negative emotions, because she did not  understand the commotion and chaos on the set.   Basically, during the work there were many moments  when everyone was afraid that nothing would work   out. It was very difficult to dance in the  rain that was just chasing the film crew in   Paris and to sing at the same time.

 Of course,  all the songs were recorded separately, but in   the frame they had to clearly open their mouths  for the words. Moreover, the grass was wet, the   feet were clinging to something, and the threat  of slipping and falling made the actors clumsy.   The shooting schedule was written down to  the minute, because closing the Eiffel Tower   so that the actors could dance unhindered on  its platform required, in addition to money,   thousands of approvals.

 And location filming,  especially in places popular with tourists,   is always difficult and very short.  Inset quote: “I didn’t manage to become   a prima in the ballet, but I danced at the  foot of the Eiffel Tower and in the squares   of Paris with Fred Astaire! For that alone  it was worth learning to dance in occupied   Arnhem or suffering from my own imperfection at  Madame Rambert’s in London.

” (Audrey Hepburn)    The film was successful, because it  turned out to be fun and moderately easy.   The Nun and “God’s Gift” Having appeared in the last joint   project – the film “Mayerling”, the couple decided  not to act together anymore. Numerous offers of   roles and requests for interviews were almost  daily, but Audrey’s public relations agent, Henry   Rogers [ˈrɑʤərz], was under strict instructions  to politely decline to speak with the press,   and Kurt Frings – to decline roles of various  nymphs that charmed adult men. Hepburn was tired  

of portraying Cinderella, she wanted serious work.  And soon she was offered such a project – the role   of Sister Luke in the drama “The Nun’s Story”. Inset quote: “This film is unlike any I’ve ever   acted in, and the role of Sister Luke is  unlike any of my roles except the last one,   the one I’ve played for the last (now I  know it) five years of my life, being a   goodwill ambassador of UNICEF”.

 (Audrey Hepburn)  After reading the novel, the actress realized that   her agent had found exactly what she needed at  that time – a film about a spiritual search. The   screenplay based on Kathryn Hulme’s [hʌlmz] book  of the same name was written by Robert Anderson   [ˈændərsən], who also worked on “Ondine”. At that time, Audrey’s relationship with   Mel became simply cold, and she really  needed understanding and ordinary male   love.

 She was invited to come to  Hollywood to meet with Anderson,   Zinnemann [‘zinəmən], the film’s producer Blanke  [blæŋk], and the author of the book, Hulme.    The movie screenwriter met Audrey at the airport.  They began a real romance, which Anderson later   openly talked about in his book “After”, which  Hepburn was very unhappy with. The actress quickly   realized that all of Robert’s passion was rather  a product of loneliness than true love for her.  

Moreover, the star still really wanted children,  and Anderson, like Holden, could not have them.   Marie Louise Habets [‘hɛbəts] lived in Los  Angeles together with the author of the   book and was the prototype of Sister Luke, whom  Hepburn was initially afraid to meet. However,   after meeting Habets, whom everyone  called Lou, the women became very close.  

“We became friends for life,” said  the star, “forming, as they called us,   the “union of the three H’s” — Hulme,  Habets, Hepburn. This soulful friendship,   even hundreds of kilometers away on the other  side of the ocean, has helped me to get through   difficult moments of life more than once.

” The first thing that surprised the star after   starting work was the thoroughness of preparation  for shooting. The director of “The Nun’s Story”   Fred Zinnemann categorically did not want  to rush during the preparation period. He   personally spoke to several hundred women to  find those who would play in mass. Fred found   many among the Roman aristocracy. In addition, he  invited twenty ballerinas from the Roman Opera.   

Zinnemann not only studied the locations on which  to shoot, he involved the entire female cast,   led by Anderson, on trips so that they could  experience the atmosphere of the monasteries   firsthand. The actresses who played the  nuns lived, ate and slept in the cells,   prayed with the sisters, learned to  walk like them and stand like them.  

The star later recalled this period of her  life: “Prayer at half past six in the morning,   a very modest breakfast, all day obedience  and… silence, because talking was not part   of the evening prayer. And after that too…  It was January, and it was damp and cold,   the monastery cells were practically not  heated, and we refused any indulgences,   so we were simply turning blue from the cold.

”  But the main thing was not even subordination   to the daily routine and observance of the  vow of silence. In order to understand the   real experiences of the nuns, the actresses  spent several days in a hospital for lepers,   helping to alleviate the pain of the patients.  So when Zinnemann’s filming finally began,   they didn’t just know the script, they  lived every scene.

 “You can’t play something   without feeling it yourself,” said Hepburn.  The creators wanted one thing: to make a film   worthy of the beautiful novel of Kathryn Hulme and  the fate of Maria Louise Habets, and also for the   audience to correctly understand their intention. It was during the shooting of “The Nun’s Story”   that the star realized that the pursuit of noisy  success is not the most important thing in life:   Inset quote: “If you’re really good at  what you do, success will come on its own,   but it will give you a happiness that you can’t  get in the pursuit of fame.” (Audrey Hepburn)  

If it was freezing in the monastery cells  in January 1958, it was suffocatingly   hot in the Congo [ˈkɑŋɡoʊ]. Despite the  numerous vaccinations given to the actors,   they had to be afraid of a wide variety  of diseases, spiders, poisonous snakes and   beetles crawling onto the set again and again.

 The performers of the main roles really lived   like nuns, often limiting themselves in many  ways so as not to disturb the inner feeling,   and the entire crew also behaved strictly.  “Though I didn’t quit smoking, surprising the   local population,” Hepburn said, “they never  saw nuns with cigarettes in long mouthpieces.   Zinnemann shrewdly explained that I was an  American nun.

 It seems that from then on,   half of the Congo was convinced that  American nuns should smoke by statute.”   And yet, Audrey almost disrupted the filming,  although not of her own free will. When the film   crew returned to Rome, the actress began to suffer  from renal colic. The attack was terrible, but she   endured the pain patiently. Doctors insisted on  surgery to remove the stones.

 Zinnemann and the   rest of the cast were shocked because only part  of the footage was shot, and Hepburn appeared   in almost every frame. However, Audrey’s prayers  were heard – the stones came out without surgery,   but she still had to spend some time in a  hospital. Then she learned that Mel’s friend,   through the Red Cross, had found her father, who  was living in Dublin at the time.

 The actress   would meet him, but more on that later. When filming was completed, the entire crew   was very pleased with the result. But the  management of the “Warner Brothers” studio,   where the movie was shot, thought  otherwise. Officials found the film gloomy,   boring and oversaturated with real details.  Everyone was upset, especially Zinnemann.  

All that remained was to wait for the premiere.  The financial terms in Audrey’s contract were   very good – $200,000 fee and 10% of the profits  after the royalties were paid off. But after   the experience during filming, the actress  was least worried about financial issues.   On the day of the premiere, everyone was more  nervous than ever. But they shouldn’t be.

 “The   Nun’s Story” became one of the highest-grossing  films in general and the most profitable of those   in which Hepburn acted personally. But she didn’t  worry about the money, although the interest   brought the star about a million a year, she was  happy because her work was appreciated by the   public. The film was even nominated for an Oscar,  but did not receive a single golden statuette.  

Such success greatly supported Hepburn,  because six months before this film,   there was another premiere – “Green Mansions”,  a film after which the actress promised herself   never again not only to act alongside  Mel, but also to star in his movies.    In this film, shot immediately after “The  Nun’s Story”, everything was bad: the script,   the lack of drama in the text and liveliness  in the lines, the artificial jungle in the   pavilion and the boring performance of Hepburn  in a duet with Anthony Perkins. A huge amount  

of money – 3 million dollars, was spent by  the “Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer” studio in vain.   “I honestly played everything that could be played  in a completely empty text,” the star admitted,   “even trying to liven up the love scenes  with Perkins, but Anthony was clearly not in   love with Rima or me, he not only did not feel  passion, but also didn’t want to play it! It’s   even worse than insensible Mel, although Ferrer  portrayed love, and Perkins didn’t do either.

”   As a result there was everything: exotic  animals placed in artificial jungles,   astronomical bills for their food, because some  needed only shrimp, some needed fresh horse meat,   and others ate nothing but wheat sprouts. “Wild,  primitive” music, the same dances and even a small   guitar for Perkins. There wasn’t just the movie  itself.

 The artificial jungle, no matter how hard   the illuminators tried, looked artificial, the  music hurt the ears, the dances looked like some   kind of twitching, and the acting was horrible. It was a complete failure, only the performance of   a tiny fawn – Little Ip – was recognized as good.  Ip was happy to be photographed for commercials   and not only, and usually without Hepburn.

  Inset quote: “I would like to forget about the   existence of such a film altogether and pay the  studio myself so that they did not release this   disgrace on the screens, but there was also  Mel, for whom the possible success meant a   lot. And there was no success.” (Audrey Hepburn) In 1958, the star, wanting to avoid a collision   with a car that was overtaking her, crashed into  the car of actress Joan Lora [lɔrə], who was   driving ahead.

 Lora’s lawyer stated that this  incident led to the mutilation of his client,   but they were never able to discover these  mutilations. Audrey sympathized with Joan,   she would like to pay some amount as compensation  for her guilt, but the young actress did not want   to hear anything. Apparently, she needed the  scandal with Audrey Hepburn much more than   the money. The court did not find Hepburn  guilty, but she did not drive anymore.  

Meanwhile, Kurt Frings, not relying only  on the success of “The Nun’s Story”,   found two roles for Audrey at once – in Houston’s  [ˈhjustənz] western “The Unforgiven” with a lot   of riding scenes and in Alfred Hitchcock’s  film with the working title “No bail for the   judge”.

 The actress wanted to star in Hitchcock’s  movie for a long time, so she agreed without even   looking at the script, which she later regretted. On the set, Hepburn got used to doing everything   herself, besides, during the filming of “War and  Peace” she learned to ride a horse quite decently,   and therefore she refused the double. It was  a fatal decision. The fact is that Audrey was   pregnant, and Houston in “Unforgiven” was in a  hurry to shoot her scenes as soon as possible.   

During filming, the actress fell  from a horse called the Devil,   which turned her upside down. As a result,  Audrey suffered damage to two vertebrae   and four broken ribs. She was immediately  hospitalized at Beverly Hills Hospital.   “I don’t know how I would have endured  this emotional pain,” said the star,   “if Maria Louise Habets had not suddenly appeared  in my room! The one that I recently played in the   film came to help me in such a difficult  moment. Lou read to me, told me something,  

just distracted me with conversations…  She couldn’t relieve physical suffering,   but she alleviated mental suffering. That’s  when I understood the true purpose of the nuns’   service as sisters of mercy: they really can’t  always take away pain, but they can soothe.”    Audrey returned to filming, although she was still  in a lot of pain, and even mounted the same Devil,   this time the horse did not dare to throw her  off. But the film was still not successful.   

The star already had a clearly visible belly,  and she and Mel went to Switzerland in a rented   house in Bürgenstock [‘bɜːrgənstɔk]. She  was already preparing to become a mother,   when one day she felt a severe stomach  ache. The child could not be saved.   Surviving this tragedy, Audrey closed herself off  from people.

 It was then that she finally read   the script for the Hitchcock film, which she had  been putting off for later. And she was shocked,   because her character was supposed to be r*ped.  After her child’s loss, Hepburn could not even   imagine how she could play such terrible scenes.  And Hitchcock would not agree to take them out   of the film, on the contrary, it was precisely on  these scenes that the entire plot should have been   built. The contract with the studio was signed and  Audrey could not simply refuse to participate in  

the filming. Another pregnancy saved the actress. Inset quote: “Now I guarded myself like a crystal   vessel. And I was a crystal vessel, a new life  was born in me, and no filming, no movie was   worth breaking it off!” (Audrey Hepburn) The only thing the star allowed herself   was an appearance at the London premiere of  “The Nun’s Story” and a trip to Dublin.

 She   really wanted to see what impression such  a serious job would make on her mother,   because this was her first real serious role. And  in Dublin, Hepburn and her husband were supposed   to meet with the actress’s father. Both meetings  brought only pain and disappointment to the star.   The mother greeted her daughter coolly, but  she never knew how to express her feelings.  

The meeting with dad was not better either.  Joseph Ruston dropped the Hepburn surname   and lived with his young wife Fidelma in  Dublin. At the very beginning of the war,   as a member of the British Union of  Fascists, he was arrested and spent   the entire wartime in the camps. After  the war, the man settled in Ireland.  

“The Rustons and I met at the Shelbourne Hotel,”  Hepburn recalled. “I looked at the elderly,   but still handsome father and tried to understand  how I felt about him. So many times, presenting   our meeting with him, I dreamed how I would tell  about the successes, how he would be surprised,   h

appy, say that he always wanted to see  photos of his daughter in the newspapers…”   None of this happened. Ruston didn’t care  about his daughter’s success, her awards,   and the fact that he would soon become a  grandfather, too. And although Audrey was   very upset by her father’s indifference, she was  glad that she had finally found him. Now that she   knew he was alive and healthy, she knew where to  send him help.

 And she really sent it until his   death in 1981, and before that she congratulated  him on the holidays, told him about her life,   but always felt a gap between them, although  she did not understand why it happened.    Her relationship with her husband improved  after the trip to Dublin. They eagerly   awaited the arrival of their firstborn.

  Audrey’s belly was bigger than her, and she   jokingly called her unborn baby Winnie the Pooh. Soon the star gave birth to a boy named Sean, who   weighed ten pounds and really looked like a bear  from a famous cartoon. The parents baptized the   child in the same church where they were married. Inset quote: “I was overwhelmed with   congratulations, gifts, flowers… I was starting  a new life, as if I was reborn.

 I became a mother,   and now I’ve had a real family.” (Audrey Hepburn) Sean was given dual citizenship – Swiss-American,   and the United States ambassador,  who was present at the christening,   solemnly handed Audrey his son’s passport,  and also put an American flag in his fist.   The baby grabbed the “toy” so tight that it was  not easy to pull it out of his strong hand.  

Hepburn tried very hard to make Sean’s life  no different from the lives of other boys. She   remembered how her mother raised her, and tried  to take into account all the baroness’ mistakes,   so as not to make them in her own methods of  upbringing. She praised Sean for his successes,   scolded him when necessary, and  always showed him her endless love.  

“Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and subsequent success Although Audrey did not want to act anymore in   order to spend all her time with her child, she  still had obligations to the Paramount studio,   to which she owed three more films. The script offered by Kurt Frings was simply   impossible to reject.

 For 750,000 dollars, the  actress was offered to play Holly Golightly – the   main character of the film based on the novel  “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. This book was one of   the most popular in America in those years, and  its author, Truman Capote [kɑ’pəʊti], was the   most famous writer. A role in such a film meant an  absolute success, and for Hepburn it was a gradual   transition from the roles of princesses and saints  to new images that flashed more and more often on   American screens and were in no way similar to the  pure and naive girls she had played until now.   

And no matter how much the star didn’t want to fly  to Los Angeles for filming, Mel also found things   to do in America, and the couple decided to go  there together. They invited a nanny to take care   of Sean while his mother spent time on the set.  Truman Capote believed that Holly should have   been played by his favorite Marilyn Monroe  and did not agree with the studio’s choice.  

Even when the movie was already released,  the writer told everyone how the actress   “spoiled” his Holly Golightly, how she  “didn’t see the main thing in the book”,   because the character was “real, she has a strong  character, not at all like Audrey Hepburn”.    But the star did not try to be like Holly from  the book.

 She saw her character as diametrically   opposite, who hides all her weaknesses and fears  behind a mask of courage and indifference.    The iconic scene in the film, at first glance,  is ridiculous, where a girl in a black evening   dress with a perfect hairstyle gets out of a  taxi early in the morning on an empty street   in the center of New York, parades to the  window of the “Tiffany’s” jewelry store,   takes out a plastic cup with coffee and a roll  from a bag and begins to eat breakfast, looking   at diamonds. Hepburn later said: “Everything there  was unbelievable: an evening dress at dawn, the  

perfection of a hairstyle after a stormy night,  some student breakfast with a smartly dressed   beauty and diamonds in a window, left overnight.  But life has shown that director Blake Edwards’   calculation was accurate, this scene became  almost a calling card of the film and mine too.”   Henry Mancini [mɛn’sinɪ] wrote the song  “Moon River” for the star.

 Its melody was   not complicated. The composer tried to ensure that  the actress’s vocal data was within her power. A   few weeks of guitar lessons and vocal lessons  allowed Hepburn to perform Mancini’s creation   decently. And the melody itself accompanied  the image of Holly throughout the film.   They decided to rewrite the film ending and  make it more positive and life-affirming,   as the audience wanted to see it, which  Capote did not approve of.

 He believed   that the film creators and the actors could not  convey what the author had in mind. However,   the film did not interfere with the  novel, and both creations became popular.   Revenues at the “Tiffany’s” jewelry house  increased significantly after the movie’s   release.

 The owners even offered Hepburn  to show their jewelry for very high fees,   but she refused. She didn’t want to  become Miss Diamond after “The Nun’s   Story”. After filming “Breakfast   at Tiffany’s” and its premiere, the Ferrer  couple returned to the rented Villa Bétania in   Bürgenstock. And family friends Sophia Loren and  Carlo Ponti lived next door to them.

 At that time,   Sophia starred in “Two Women” and was  nominated for an Oscar, where she and   Hepburn competed in the “Best Actress” category. Inset quote: “When we were nominated for an Oscar   at the same time – me for the role of Holly  Golightly in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and Sophia   Loren for Cesaria in “Two Women” and the statuette  went to Sophie, I wasn’t upset, as her performance   in this film was too strong.

” (Audrey Hepburn) “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” was very liked by the   public. Hepburn became increasingly popular  and overshadowed the success of her husband,   who could not find himself either as an  actor or as a director. Later, she did   star in Ferrer’s “Wait Until Dark”, playing a  blind woman, but Mel was then not a director,   but rather a producer, and probably that’s why  the film turned out to be quite successful.  

However, the crack in the relationship became  more and more visible and the couple was kept   together only by their common son Sean. Hepburn had one more film left on her   contract with Paramount, as did her former  lover William Holden, so the studio decided   to reunite the two celebrities on the set of  Richard Quine’s [kwainz] light comedy “Paris   When It Sizzles”.

 The author of the script was  George Axelrod [ˈæksəlˌrɒd], who also wrote the   script for “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. The terms of payment were good,   and the filming took place in Paris. The star’s  outfits were again from her favorite Givenchy,   and the partner was the cheerful Holden.  The story itself was also quite simple:   Audrey was supposed to play the young assistant of  a Hollywood screenwriter who helped him overcome   writer’s block by acting out his fantasies  about possible plots.

 However, despite all   the positive moments, the shooting process  turned out to be difficult and unpleasant.   First, just as filming began, Audrey was  informed that their villa had been burgled,   with diamonds and a golden Academy Award statue  stolen. Later, however, “Oscar” was found not far   from the house, but the actress realized her  defenselessness for the first time in her life.  

The shooting itself was overshadowed by the  other thing – at that time, Holden’s light   passion for drinking turned into a serious  one. The actor drank from morning to night,   often simply did not understand what he  was saying and doing. For Audrey, hugging   in the frame with a constantly drunk Holden was  unbearable. But she held on as best as she could.  

Her emphasized kindness to a colleague was  misinterpreted by him, and Holden decided   that Hepburn would not mind rekindling their  old romance. No amount of reminders that she   was married and had a child helped. When the  wasted Holden was removed from the gutter,   through which he tried to get to the  third floor in the star’s dressing room,   Quine convinced the actor to go to the rehab.

 It was a disaster for the studio, because downtime   meant losing money. The film creators deliberately  invented a new character, the writer’s boss,   played by Tony Curtis [kɜːrtis], and began  diligently “patching holes” in the plot due   to the forced absence of the main character. After treatment, Holden returned to the set,   but not for long. Addiction took its toll and  he was again admitted to the clinic.

 Sensing   that everything was not so simple, the journalists  started attacks on the still unrealized film,   and the critics were merciless  in advance. Moreover, the studio   decided not to hurry with the movie release on  wide screens, which also did not benefit it.   At the same time that William went to the clinic  once again, Hepburn got the script of the witty   and confusing thriller “Charade” in her hands.

  The film was directed by Stanley Donen, whose   Hepburn had already starred in “Funny Face”. This time, the star’s partner on the set was   Cary Grant. Their meeting was organized by Donen  in an Italian restaurant. Audrey and Cary were   visibly nervous, and Hepburn also accidentally  spilled a bottle of red wine on Grant’s jacket.    “The whole restaurant turned around at my scream,”  the star recalled.

 “Cary’s jacket had to be sent   to the dry cleaners, but he acted all evening  as if nothing had happened and begged me to stop   asking about it. I felt terrible, and the next day  I received a caviar, as a souvenir, from Grant,   whom I offended and I started crying.” Shooting was easy and without any special   incidents.

 At the same time,  Audrey learned the amazing news:   “Warner” bought the rights to the film adaptation  of the musical “My Fair Lady”, paying an   incredible amount at that time – 5.5 million  dollars. This meant that the actors’ casting   for the roles began. The film budget threatened to  exceed 17 million, making it the most expensive at   that time.

 The musical itself was incredibly  popular on Broadway, and now Warners hoped   to surpass it with worldwide popularity. Thanks to the actress’ agent, Kurt Frings,   the role of Eliza Doolittle went to Hepburn.  She dreamed of it from the first minute she   saw the musical on stage. The role seemed easy  to her technically, but very difficult vocally,   because there were many complex songs, which  required great vocal range.

 Remembering the   long rehearsals and classes with the vocal  teacher for the film “Funny Face”, Audrey   felt confident that she would be able to handle  the musical parts in “My Fair Lady” as well.   Inset quote: “Daily vocal lessons and rehearsals  with a diction specialist, who corrected my   classically correct pronunciation to a typical  cockney one, gave their results, I began to sing   quite decently and spoke as if I had spent half  my life in the London slums.

” (Audrey Hepburn)   The star had the most conflicts with make-up  artists and her first image – an uneducated   slob. Audrey didn’t like the dirt under her  fingernails, disheveled hair, and plain clothes,   the real dust she was covered in for most of the  movie. While the extras walked around in chic   outfits from Cecil Beaton [bitᵊn].

 She even began  to regret that she accepted the role of Eliza   because of the small number of beautiful dresses  that she would have to wear in the frame. Once,   the star got so nervous that she ran into the  dressing room and started trying on luxurious   outfits to feel better. It all ended  first with an impromptu fashion show,   and then with a photo shoot. After that, Hepburn  calmed down a little and let go of the situation.  

The next blow for the actress was the news  that the voice in the songs would not be hers,   but Marni Nixon’s. According to the studio,  the lead actress did not pull out the vocal   parts. No matter how much Audrey argued that she  could sing better, the answer was categorical:   “You will still get your million, but we don’t  have the money to re-record your vocals!”   On the set, the star also turned out to be an  outcast.

 The rest of the characters were played   by the same actors who appeared in the play of the  same name on Broadway, only Eliza Doolittle was   not played by Julie Andrews [ˈænˌdɹuz], and others  did not like it. As a result, Audrey still managed   to make friends on the set with her colleagues,  but in America it was not possible to convince the   audience and critics that she played no worse  than a performer in a Broadway play.

 Europe,   which had not seen Julia Andrews on  Broadway, received Hepburn well.    The film turned out great, gathering an  unprecedented “harvest” of Oscars – 12 nominations   and eight statuettes. The film was nominated for  all possible positions, except for one – for the   best female role. Audrey Hepburn was not among  the awardees, nor even among the nominees.  

Julia Andrews, who did not get the role of Eliza  Doolittle because of her, received an Oscar that   year for the role of Mary Poppins. In her speech,  she first thanked Warner Brothers, because by   refusing to take her in the film, they secured  her participation in other, more successful   projects.

 Hepburn had to present the Oscar to  her co-star Rex Harrison for the best male role,   and he found nothing better than to thank her  and Andrews both, saying that he was pleased   to stand between the two “beautiful ladies”  who played with him on stage and in cinema.   After the award ceremony and the discussion in  the press, Hepburn, who was very distressed by   her failed role, tried to repair her family  relationship, which was badly damaged   by the filming.

 The couple pretended they could  still make it up, but deep down they knew it was   the beginning of the end. At Audrey’s request,  they bought a house, which became her real home.   It was located in the village of Tolochenaz  [tɔlɔʃəna], almost on the shore of Lake Geneva   in the Morges [mɔʁʒ] area. It was a very small  villa, spacious enough to live alone and host a   small number of guests.

 And there was a wonderful  view, fresh air and peace, despite the highway   passing by. The villa was named “La Paisible”  [la p(e)ziblə], which meant “The Peaceful”.   Later, the couple bought another house – in  Marbella, Spain, with a view of the sandy   beach among the greenery, where you could  have a good rest in the summer. But Audrey   continued to consider Tolochenaz her home.

 Hepburn’s next project was the light ironic   comedy “How to Steal a Million”. Her partner on  the set this time was Peter O’Toole [oˈtul], the   costumes were again created by Givenchy,  the director was her favorite William Wyler,   and the filming took place in Paris. Inset quote: “I haven’t had so much fun   playing in a long time, because during most  of the filming, there were at least a couple   of people who treated each other coolly, and  sometimes even started fights, like Bogart and   Holden on the set of “Sabrina”. Such general  adoration of everyone by everyone was only  

on the set of “Roman Holiday”. (Audrey Hepburn) The fashion designer created an entire collection   for his muse, which later made Hepburn a  style icon and role model. Women copied   everything – from suits to a nightgown and  a hat in the form of a helmet with large   glasses.

 The comedy turned out to be wonderful  and light, but there were also those who went   to the film a second and a third time just  to get a good look at Givenchy’s creations.   There was only one negative thing in the film: the  security got more work, because there were a lot   of fools who believed that stealing masterpieces  was very easy. A few museums were even forced to   put up notices that robberies like the one  on the screen were simply impossible.

 But   the museum workers did not take offense at the  creators of the project, on the contrary, they   watched their comedy with pleasure and laughed at  the funny robbers. Hepburn admitted more than once   that it was the easiest film in her career. And on the set, she found out that she was   pregnant again. However, it was not possible to  give birth this time.

 Audrey had a miscarriage   right after Christmas in her new home. The  marriage was also coming to a logical end.   Inset quote: “The worst thing about a broken  marriage is my guilt towards Sean. We didn’t fight   with Mel the way my own parents did – with yelling  and insults, but Sean was still fatherless, and I   filed for divorce myself.

” (Audrey Hepburn) All the property of the couple was divided   equally, although Hepburn was more wealthy. The  star set only two conditions – her son remained   to live with her, and their joint villa “La  Paisible” became her home. Ferrer agreed to   both conditions without arguing. New life and last roles   After the divorce, Audrey felt lonely.

 She wanted  a new relationship, but she was afraid that men   would be more attracted to her star status  than herself. During one of her trips to Rome   with her son, she met the psychiatrist  Andrea Dotti, who had been in love with   the actress since the days of “Roman Holiday”. The star said about her new chosen one: “Handsome,   young, nine years younger than me, smart, he loved  social life, was cheerful and energetic.

 He and   Sean really liked each other and became friends.” He surrounded Audrey with care, told her that he   wanted his own family and children, and soon  proposed to her. The star, to the surprise of   herself and her family, agreed to become a wife  for the second time. Andrea’s relatives were happy   about this engagement, despite the fact that the  bride was only fourteen years younger than his   mother. The baroness, of course, was displeased  and warned her daughter against a hasty marriage.  

Hubert Givenchy was also not happy with his  friend’s decision and refused to make her a   white wedding dress with a veil. As a result,  the star came out of the city hall holding   Andrea’s hand in a short dress made of pink  jersey and a handkerchief tied under her chin.   “This outfit made everyone so excited,” said  Hepburn, “that for a while the hatters were   simply out of work. Brides from all over Europe  rushed to buy handkerchiefs instead of veils.

”   The family moved to Rome. Now Audrey had a  large family. Sean adapted easily in Italy   and learned the language very quickly. The  mother-in-law was friendly and taught the   daughter-in-law to cook Italian dishes. During  this period, cinema was completely forgotten.   However, everything was not so simple.

 Andrea  wanted to see a movie star next to him,   and not just his wife. He liked the popularity,  the attention of journalists. He began to give   interviews, promising Audrey’s return to the  screen. Reporters were constantly waiting   outside the house, met Sean near the school,  and did not allow Dotti to pass. Hepburn really   did not like the excessive attention to  her son and did not understand why she   simply could not be a woman and mother, and  why she would not finally be given peace.  

After some time, the actress realized that she  was pregnant again. She spent the summer at   Dotti’s villa, and then returned to her home  in Tolochenaz in the fall. In February 1970,   Audrey’s second son, Luca, was born. Hepburn was very worried about how the eldest son   would treat the youngest. However, she shouldn’t  worry at all.

 Sean took care of the baby brother   no less than his mother, trying to play with  Luca every free minute. Ten years of difference   did not prevent the brothers from becoming very  friendly, although it often happens otherwise.   It was a happy period in the star’s life. She  got up, made breakfast for the whole family,   drove Andrea to work, drove Sean to school, and  took care of Luca.

 Sometimes with their younger   son, they even went to see Dotti at the clinic  and brought him dinner if he stayed on duty.   The children were happy, Andrea was proud of the  appearance of another man in the family, while not   distinguishing between sons. And although Audrey  dreamed of living in Tolochenaz, her husband had   a job in Rome, so she had to put up with it.

 When the dangerous “Red Brigades” invaded Rome   and began to kidnap people, Hepburn was  afraid for her children and took them to   “La Paisible”. Andrea still lived in Italy,  but at first he often visited the family.   Once, Richard Lester [ˈlɛstə˞], who intended  to shoot “The Return of Robin Hood”, came to   Tolochenaz and offered Audrey the role of a  friend of the elderly Robin – Abbess Marion.  

Robin Hood himself was played by Sean Connery. By the way, we have a video on the channel about   this legendary actor. We will leave a link  for you in the description below this video!   The actress was satisfied with everything,  even the terms of filming. Lester promised   to shoot during the summer vacation so  that Hepburn could take the children to   Spain and not disturb their academic rhythm.

  Moreover, a considerable fee was waiting for   her – $760,000 for six weeks of filming. The film was immediately renamed “Robin   and Marian”. Lester really shot quickly,  the manner itself was completely unusual   for the star. After all, the director  needed two or three takes for one scene,   instead of the usual 40-50.

 Lester set up several  cameras that did everything at once: general plan,   medium and large, targeting different actors. If Audrey liked to work everything out, clearly   understand each future move and only then go on  the set, Sean Connery, on the contrary, easily   played everything at once. But everyone supported  the actress, helping and not demanding anything.   Inset quote: “My boys didn’t like their  mother in rough monk’s clothes at all,   but they really liked Robin Hood’s weapons  and the opportunity to feel like they were   among real medieval outlaws.” (Audrey Hepburn)  The film itself did not become a masterpiece,  

because the main characters were not young and  not too happy. The viewer of that time was not   interested in the personal experiences of  elderly people who decided to start life   over and try to “remember” their love. It seemed that Andrea should have been   pleased – his wife was back on the set, they  were interviewed again, they went to America for   a promotional campaign for the film, where Dotti  had plenty of time to talk to representatives of   the film industry, talk to journalists, smile  and feel like a star. The same was true at the  

Oscars in 1976 in Los Angeles. Dotti was much  happier about everything than his famous wife,   who, on the contrary, was terribly nervous. The marriage began to crumble like a house   of cards. The star learned about the numerous  betrayals of her young husband and did not want   to turn a blind eye to it. The couple divorced.

  Andrea did not show nobility and tried to defend   his guardianship of Luca. It cost the actress  incredible efforts and a lot of money so that her   lawyers managed to get her son to live with her. In 1979, Hepburn reunited with director Terence   Young for the film “Blood”, but it was  a critical and box office failure.   After the final divorce, Audrey returned to “La  Paisible”, where now, besides her and her sons,   lived her mother.

 Sean was already working  as an assistant director, and Luca was still   studying. And it was then that the one she  had been waiting for all her life appeared   in Hepburn’s life – Robert Wolders [ʋɔldərs]. By the time of the meeting with Robert after   Christmas 1979, Audrey was somewhat ill with  star sickness, which she later admitted. She   demanded only the best for herself on the  set, walked with a bodyguard, treated the   members of the film crew politely, but aloof.

 At one of the events, the actress was seated   next to a tall and handsome man. He turned out  to be Robert Wolders, an actor and widower,   7 years younger than Hepburn. He was  Dutch and filmed in America, like Audrey,   which also became one of the factors that  pushed her to this man. They talked for a   l

ong time that evening and later became friends. Inset quote: “…next to Rob, I felt calm and   even comfortable, I didn’t need to remember  that I was a star, I didn’t need to follow   every word, every look.” (Audrey Hepburn) A trusting relationship turned into love. The   couple never got married, but lived together.  However, Audrey felt the happiest with Robert.   They lived calmly and measuredly in La Paisible,  walked their dogs in the morning, read, listened   to music, sometimes attended social events,  made sure that they had nothing more to do in   the movies, raised Hepburn’s sons and were happy. Hepburn’s last major role in a feature film was  

in 1981 in the Peter Bogdanovich’s comedy  “They All Laughed”. The film however was   overshadowed by the murder of one of its stars,  Dorothy Stratten [strætᵊn], and received only a   limited release. And six years later, Hepburn  starred with Robert Wagner [ˈwægnər] in the   made-for-TV movie “Love Among Thieves.

” In 1988, Hepburn became a goodwill ambassador   and in the same year, together with her husband,  she first went with the UNICEF mission to   Ethiopia. The star said: “For the next five years,  Robert was by my side not only at social events,   but also in military helicopters, in the backs of  cars, among adults and children who needed help,   in front of militants who needed to be persuaded  to pass this help, in airports, trains,   organizations, at meetings and charity events,  at food distribution centers and at receptions   for the President of the United States.” In recognition of the star’s work with UNICEF,  

then-President of the United States  George H. W. Bush presented Hepburn   with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Before moving on to the last chapter, we   would be grateful if you subscribe to our channel  and click on the notification bell to never miss   our new videos! We’d be very grateful! “Angels are waiting for me”   Since her last film work, a cameo as an angel  in Steven Spielberg’s “Always” in 1989, Hepburn   has completed only two projects, both critically  acclaimed. The first one, “Gardens of the World  

with Audrey Hepburn”, is a PBS documentary series  filmed in seven countries during the spring and   summer of 1990. It was preceded by a one-hour  special in March 1991, and the series itself   premiered nationally on PBS on January 24, 1993,  the day of the actress’s funeral. Another project   was the spoken word album “Audrey Hepburn’s  Enchanted Tales”, which featured readings of   classic children’s stories and was recorded  in 1992.

 It earned her a posthumous Grammy   Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children. The star died of colon cancer on January 20,   1993 at her home in Tolochenaz. Audrey’s  last words were: “They are waiting for   me…angels…to work on earth…” Hepburn was posthumously awarded the   1993 Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual  Achievement for an episode of “The Gardens”.  

The star was also posthumously awarded  the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award   for contributions to the development of  humanity by the Academy of Motion Picture   Arts and Sciences. Her eldest son Sean came  to receive the award on behalf of his mother.   And in 2002, at the UN Special Session on  Children, UNICEF honored Hepburn’s humanitarian   legacy by unveiling a statue of “Audrey’s  Spirit” at the UNICEF headquarters in New York.   

Hepburn’s legacy has survived even after her  death. The American Film Institute named Hepburn   the third greatest female star of all time. Many  biographies have been written since her death,   including a 2000 dramatization of her life called  “The Audrey Hepburn Story”, in which Jennifer Love   Hewitt and Emmy Rossum [rɔsɑm] played the  younger and older Hepburn, respectively.  

Her son and granddaughter, Sean and Emma  Ferrer, helped create a biographical   documentary by Helena Coan called “Audrey”. Sean Ferrer also founded the Audrey Hepburn   Children’s Fund in memory of his mother shortly  after her death, with the aim of continuing her   humanitarian work.

 He ran the organization in  collaboration with his half-brother Luca Dotti   and Robert Wolders, his mother’s partner.  Andrea Dotti also became patron of the   Pseudomyxoma Survivor charity, dedicated to  providing support to patients with the rare   cancer that was fatal to his ex-wife, pseudomyxoma  peritonei, and Sean Ferrer became a rare disease   ambassador from 2014 and throughout 2015 on  behalf of the European Rare Disease Organization.  

Audrey Hepburn was an incredible woman. She  experienced a difficult childhood, there was   a lot of pain, envy and suffering on her way. She  knew how to live the emotions of her characters   in the frame, but she did not always easily  get out of difficult situations in real life.   She was remembered by the audience  as the frivolous Princess Ann,   the seductive Holly Golightly and the cunning  Nicole Bonnet.

 Still, the actress considered   the role of a mother and the role of a goodwill  ambassador to be the main roles in her life.   Audrey Hepburn coped with both perfectly. After  all, the sons grew up to be wonderful people,   for whom their mother would not be ashamed,  and charity became a much more common thing   than during the years of her work at UNICEF.

 We hope we’ve answered all the questions you   might have about our star today! So we  will be grateful for liking this video!   And don’t forget that our channel has a lot  of fascinating stories about famous figures   in the film industry. You can find little-known  facts from their lives, interesting incidents   from the film sets and much more by clicking  on the video that appeared on the screen.   

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