Letters to the Dead: Things I Wish I'd Said. Ann Palmer
you. It is true that I never met you or worked with you but knew friends in the film industry who did. We were in the same era when I was a fashion model and I felt I knew you well. Even though fashion models make astronomical salaries today, in our day there was so much more style and grace. You exemplify the epitome of both. You exuded an exotic beauty and charm with innocent childlike enthusiasm that doe not exist in today’s fashion world or among today’s actresses. Those extraordinary qualities shown through in each and every role you played. It is difficult to think of you without thinking of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” or “My Fair Lady.” No one could have uniquely portrayed the role of Holly Golightly or Liza Dolittle as you did.
On my first trip to Paris I contacted modeling agencies seeking fashion or photography work before I left Paris for Rome and to work in the film, “Cleopatra.” As I walked down the streets, passed shop windows, something of Paris just had you in it.
My generation truly appreciated the example you set forth in womanhood. You could be kittenish and cute, alluring and sexy. Your wonderful voice has a permanent place in my memory. So many ladies with style and grace have left us, you, Grace Kelly, Jacqueline Kennedy, Joan Crawford and others.
In your mature years you did so much for the less fortunate children of the world. I thought your death might have been caused by some kind of bug picked up in your travels for UNICEF. For all of our scientific advancements, we seem to know so little about chemicals, foods, medications’ reactions on our physical bodies. Later, I found out we shared the same ailment – colon cancer. I was far luckier than you – I am still here ten years later. When destiny calls, we each must answer that call. Your time on Earth was completed but you did leave a large void with your departure. We are so limited in our physical bodies; I hope that you now find a far more extensive way to involve yourself in helping the world of children. In the era of Marilyn Monroe’s truck driver appeal, you were such a true original. Thank you for setting a standard of a totally charming, beautiful and very stylish woman! Your unique manner, tomboyish charm, somewhat fragile, delicate, winsome freshness almost ethereal panache will remain forever young! When I think about it, I can still hear the extraordinary quality in your voice. There will never be another likeness of Audrey Hepburn!
AUDREY HEPBURN’s HUSBANDS:
Andrea Dotti January 18th, 1969 - 1982) (divorced)
Mel Ferrer September 25th, 1954 - 5 December 1968) (divorced)
One son Sean H. Ferrer
Son, Luca Dotti February 8th, 1970
GENERAL INFORMATION:
Audrey Hepburn was born to a wealthy English banker; her mother was a Dutch baroness. She went to London with her mother after her parents divorced, where she went to a private girls school. Her mother returned to the Netherlands where she continued to attend private schools. Hitler’s army took over Arnhem, Holland when she and her mother were vacationing. During the Nazi occupation, Audrey suffered from depression and malnutrition. After the liberation, she returned to London where she entered ballet school a scholarship, later began a modeling career. As a model it seemed she had found her perfect career until a film producer discovered her. In her screen test, she is shown walking around a room and then reacting to the director had not said cut, so she was interviewed about her life during the Second World War. She was signed to a bit part in 1948 in the European film Nederland in 7 lessons 1948. In 1951 she had her first speaking role in Young Wives’ Tale. In America, Audrey gained immediate prominence in her role in Roman Holiday in 1953. It was a tremendous success and brought her an Oscar as Best Actress. Unlike any sex-goddess of the era, she had class, poise and an elfish quality with her captivating smile and almost luminously expressive eyes and distinctive voice. She received another Academy nomination for Sabrina in 1954, still another nomination for her role in Nun’s Story in 1959. In 1961 she played Holly Golightly in the charming Breakfast as Tiffany’s that was here defining role and another Oscar nomination. Even better was her totally lovable Eliza Doolittle role in 1964’s My Fair Lady. When Rex Harrison was asked to identify his favorite leading lady, without hesitation, he replied, “Audrey Hepburn in MY FAIR LADY”. She had another success and another nomination in 1967’s Wait Until Dark. After her divorce from actor Mel Ferrer in the late 60s, Audrey retired while she was on top. In Italy she met and married Dr. Andrea Dotti. Rarely did she appear in films, except for Robin and Marian with Sean Connery in 1976. Audrey became a special ambassador to the United Nations UNICEF fund in 1988 until 1993. People’s magazine named Audrey as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. Empire magazine ranked her 50th in “The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time”. Empire magazine also rater her as number 8 as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history in 1995. She appeared with her son Sean Ferrer in Peter Bogdanovich’s They All Laughed in 1981. Just months after her death, he appeared on stage to accept her posthumous Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 1993 Oscar ceremony. In her last film, Always in 1989, directed by Steven Spielberg she ironically appeared as an angel. Audrey Hepburn died on January 20, 1993 in Tolochnaz, Switzerland, from colon cancer, and is interred in Tolochenaz, Vaud, Switzerland. She had made a total of 31 high quality movies. Her elegance and style will always be remembered in film history as evidenced by her being a delicate adolescent, a look which remained after having been selected for the Broadway musical “Gigi” she debuted in Hollywood in 1953.
TRIVIA:
Christened simply Audrey Kathleen Ruston, the actress was later known briefly as Edda van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston by her society conscious and aspiring mother. In 1990, she had a breed of tulip named after her. In 1953 after accepting her Oscar, Audrey misplaced it she suddenly raced back to the ladies’ room, retrieved it at the Center Theater in New York and then posed for photographers. She could speak six languages: English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Italian, and Flemish. She confessed to eating tulip bulbs and tried to bake grass into bread during the hard days of World War II. Audrey fell in love with William Holden, her co-star in Sabrina (1954) but broke off the relationship on learning that Holden could not have children. Before success, she was trained as a dental assistant. During filming of a horse-riding scene in Unforgiven, she broke her back. Henry Mancini said that “‘Moon River’ was written for her. No one else could have understood it so completely. More than a thousand versions of ‘Moon River’ have been recorded, but hers is unquestionably the greatest”. She turned down a role in the film “The Diary of Anne Frank.” In her youth during WWII, in Holland, she witnessed Nazi soldiers publicly executing people in the streets, plus herding Jews onto railroad cars to be sent to the death camps. Participating in the film would bring back too many painful memories for her. In the American Film Institute’s list of its Top 100 U.S. love stories, she starred in 1953’s Roman Holiday, (ranked #4), My Fair Lady, 1964, (#12), Sabrina in 1954, (#54), Two for the Road, 1967 (#57) and Breakfast at Tiffany’s, 1961 (#61).
PERSONAL QUOTES:
“I never thought I’d land in pictures with a face like mine.” “I was asked to act when I couldn’t act. I was asked to sing ‘Funny Face’ when I couldn’t sing and dance with Fred Astaire when I couldn’t dance - and do all kinds of things I wasn’t prepared for. Then I tried like mad to cope with it.” “Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, it is at the end of your arm, as you get older, remember you have another hand: The first is to help yourself, the second is to help others.” “In a cruel and imperfect world, she was living proof that God could still create perfection.” - Rex Reed “I was born with an enormous need for affection, and a terrible need to give it.” “My own life has been much more than a fairy tale. I’ve had my share of difficult moments, but whatever difficulties I’ve gone through, I’ve always gotten a prize at the end.” “For me, the only things of interest are those linked to the heart.” “I never think of myself as an icon. What is in other people’s minds is not in my mind. I just do my thing.” “I probably hold the distinction of being one movie star who, by all laws of logic, should never have made it. At each stage of my career, I lacked the experience.” “My look is attainable. Women can look like Audrey Hepburn by flipping out their hair, buying the large sunglasses, and the little sleeveless