Straightforward, informative biography of the silver screen's
fairest lady by veteran celebrity chronicler Spoto (Marilyn Monroe,
2001, etc.).Hepburn's role as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at
Tiffany's (1961) made the elegant waif one of the century's style
icons. Born to an unaffectionate Dutch baroness and an emotionally
distant British layabout (who abandoned the family in her youth),
Audrey Kathleen Hepburn-Ruston was raised in Belgium and Arnhem,
Holland. There, in her grandparents' house, Hepburn spent the
harrowing years of World War II, nearly dying of starvation during
the German occupation. Mother and daughter became involved in the
Resistance, a move that would inform Hepburn's later humanitarian
acts. Postwar, they moved to England, where Hepburn's budding dance
career quickly led to theater and film work. While she was filming
a silly musical on the French Riviera, author Colette hand-picked
her to star as Gigi on Broadway, a stunning performance that
propelled her instantaneously to It Girl status. Her first starring
cinema role, in Roman Holiday (1952), garnered her an Academy
Award, and Sabrina (1954) brought her another Oscar nomination, and
love with co-star William Holden. Meanwhile, a tumultuous
relationship with Mel Ferrar, whom she eventually wed, raged on.
Following several more award-winning turns (War and Peace, Funny
Face, The Nun's Story, etc.), Hepburn became a mother in 1960 (she
had given birth to a stillborn years before). In 1967, about to
divorce Ferrar, she took an indefinite hiatus from celluloid to
raise her son, delighting in the daily chores of cooking and
gardening. Two marriages, another son and work in developing
nations for UNICEF followed. Hepburn died from colon cancer in
1993.For fans and movie buffs. The bouts of depression and the
chain-smoking are covered, but Spoto clearly reveres Hepburn,
ultimately rendering her a symbol of superhuman goodness. (Kirkus
Reviews)
Born in Brussels in 1929, Audrey Hepburn was the daughter of a
British father and a Dutch Baroness. But when she was five, her
father deserted the family. With the outbreak of war in 1939, her
mother thought they would be safer in Holland than Holland Park,
but although they survived the German Occupation, the experience
left its physical and emotional scars. Back in England again,
Audrey studied ballet with Marie Rambert. After a few West End
musicals and minor film parts, she was spotted by the author,
Colette, to star in a stage version of her novel, Gigi. And then
Audrey's career took off. Her debut screen role was the Princess in
the enchanting Roman Holiday. It won her an Oscar. She went on to
bring her unique grace and high spirits to a number of highly
acclaimed films - from Funny Face and The Nun's Story to My Fair
Lady, Breakfast at Tiffany's and Robin and Marian. For a while it
looked as though her personal life would follow the Hollywood
dream. But her marriage to Mel Ferrer was not to last. She married
and divorced a second time, and there were other passionate but
short-lived affairs, some revealed for the first time in this book,
but her relationships were never entirely successful. With all the
insight, background knowledge and innate sympathy for his subject,
qualities that have made his biographies of Hitchcock, Dietrich,
Monroe and Bergman such international successes, Donald Spoto truly
captures the spirit of an elusive, beautiful, talented and
vulnerable woman.
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