Only two years after her death, the exquisite Audrey Hepburn has
already been the subject of several biographies (see Warren G.
Harris's Audrey Hepburn, p. 753); the latest claims, not wholly
convincingly, to be definitive. Certainly, no book on her life
better expresses the nature of her grace and attraction than this
one, by London Evening Standard film critic Walker (Fatal Charm,
1993, etc.), an astute judge of acting talent. Afflicted with a
problematic childhood, Hepburn was traumatized by her parent's
divorce when she was six. By managing to conceal much of her family
history later, she avoided also being stigmatized by her father's
work as a Nazi propagandist in England during the late 1930s and by
her Dutch baroness mother's brief flirtation with fascism. Her
father was something of a mystery man, and Walker adds to this
sinister aura with some wildly unconvincing speculation on his
possible Eurasian mixed-blood heritage. Walker is on firmer ground
when he presents an admirably balanced picture of Audrey's painful
experiences during the WW II occupation of the Netherlands and her
minor efforts on behalf of the Resistance. In a dispassionate
narrative, he traces her subsequent dance and film career, her
sudden rise to stardom in Hollywood, her lengthy and troubled
marriage to Mel Ferrer and briefer one to Dr. Andrea Dotti, her
graceful withdrawal from film work, and her heroic efforts as a
goodwill ambassador for UNICEF. Walker's sympathy for his subject
is manifest, but there is something vaguely superficial about his
approach to her life, as evidenced by the type of canned social and
artistic history that places the 1967 Bonnie and Clyde alongside
the 1962 Children's Hour as examples of the new permissiveness in
Hollywood. This intelligent but surprisingly bland recounting of
Hepburn's life and career leaves readers wanting someone to delve a
bit more deeply. (Kirkus Reviews)
The definitive guide to a Hollywood legend. Few stars are as loved
as Audrey Hepburn, today as much as ever. Beautiful, delicate,
graceful - but always warm and natural - she stole our hearts. She
was also brave, working tirelessly for UNICEF in the face of her
own failing health. in this moving and heartwarming biography
Alexander Walker traces the extraordinary combination of luck and
talent that allowed a fragile little girl,who nearly died in
Hitler's occupied Europe, to conquer, in just one year, the New
York stage and the Hollywood screen. Walker analyses her ascent to
power and world fame and reveals the sadness of her life: two
failed marriages, a broken engagement, and the crushing
disappointment that occupied her triumph in My Fair Lady. Most
importantly of all, this biography reveals what no one has known
until now: the truly terrifying family secret that tore Audrey's
childhood apart and kept her forever silent about her parents.
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