Audrey Hepburn

Table of Contents

 

 

“Talented, kind, generous, beautiful—it's hard to find anything bad to say about Audrey Hepburn, and by the end of Barry Paris's thoroughgoing biography, you are ready to take up arms against anyone who might dare.”

—
The New York Times Book Review

 

“Illuminate[s] the complex inner life of the highest paid actress of her time.”

—
San Francisco Chronicle

 

“A sensitive, thorough biography of a beloved star.”—
The Atlanta journal-Constitution

 

“Warm and comprehensive ... Accompanied by superb photographs, Paris's biography allows Hepburn's grace, goodness, humility and charm to shine forth. A fitting tribute to a talented, beautiful and compassionate woman.”

—
The Sunday Star-Times
(Auckland)

 

“[Hepburn] was an intelligent, interesting figure who always saw her profession in a clear light. That comes through here, and alone is worth the price of the book.”

—
The Providence Journal-Bulletin

 

“Splendid ... substantial.”

—
Financial Times
(London)

 

“Meticulously researched, elegantly written.”

—
The Scotsman

 

“[A] full, informative, and touching biography.”

—
The Sunday Times
(London)

 

“Paris has given [Hepburn] the wise, sympathetic biography that she deserves. It stands far above the usual ‘celebrity bio,' never indulging in gossip for its own sake. From beginning to end it is a solid, scrupulous account that allows Hepburn's charm to shine on its own.”
-The Daily Telegraph

 

“A vibrant new portrait of Hepburn ... meticulous research.”

—
The State Journal-Register
(Springfield, IL)

 

“Lively reading.”

—
The Albany Times-Union

 

“[Paris's] account seems more personal than other recent biographies of Hepburn have been. In part, this may be because Paris had better access to family and friends, but he is also a very good writer, and his mix of anecdote and observation is just right. Despite her glamour and elegance, Hepburn is one star who has always been seen to have real heart, and this essence is what Paris captures.”

—
Booklist

 

A Berkley Book

Published by The Berkley Publishing Group

A division of Penguin Putnam Inc.

375 Hudson Street

New York, New York 10014

Copyright © 1996 by Barry Paris

 

All rights reserved.

This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

BERKLEY and the “B” design are trademarks belonging to Penguin Putnam Inc.

 

PRINTING HISTORY

Berkley trade paperback edition / September 2001

 

eISBN : 978-1-101-12778-0

 

 

 

 

Paris, Barry.

Audrey Hepburn/by Barry Paris.
p. cm.

eISBN : 978-1-101-12778-0

1. Hepburn, Audrey, 1929—93. 2. Motion picture actors and actresses—

United States—Biography. I. Title.

PN2287.H43P37 1996

791.43'028'092 96-3029 CIP

[B]—DC20

 

FOR GEORGE COLEMAN

AUDREY HEPBURN is the biographer's dream and nightmare simultaneously. No other film actress was so revered—inspired and inspiring—both for her on-screen appearances and for her passionate, off-screen crusade. She remains so beloved that virtually no one has a bad word to say about her. The worst thing she ever did, it seems, was forget to mention Patricia Neal at the 1964 Oscars. She left no lurid secrets or closet cruelties to be exposed. Beneath her kind, warm surface lay more kindness and warmth to the core.

The challenge is to capture but not canonize her, to find the real woman beneath the icon. If this effort succeeds at that, it is due to all those who shared their knowledge of her with me. A full list of them is found in the Acknowledgments.

But certain contributors warrant special recognition.

I am indebted most of all to the family and Estate of Audrey Hepburn: Robert Wolders, Mel Ferrer, Sean Ferrer, Ian Quarles van Ufford, Hako and Christine Sixma van Heemstra, Yvonne Quarles van Ufford, Leopold Quarles van Ufford (former Dutch Consul General to the U.S.), Michael Quarles van Ufford, Mrs. Cemelia Wolders, Rick and Claudia Wolders de Abreu, Hans and Margaret Wolders Schouten, Dr. Ronald and Grada Wolders Glegg, Kirk Hallem and Rose Ganguzza. But I must stress that this is not an “authorized” biography; that it was not subject to the approval of the Hepburn family; that the family members who participated in this book did so in a limited way as individuals, not members of her Estate, and do not necessarily agree with any conclusions or characterizations herein. The Hepburn Estate reserves all rights to publish a book of its own in the future.

I am very grateful for unprecedented access to the close friends of Audrey Hepburn who have rarely or never spoken about her before. Chief among them were Lord James Hanson, Connie Wald, Doris and Victoria Brynner, Hubert de Givenchy, Michael Tilson Thomas, Ralph Lauren, Anna Cataldi, Arabella Ungaro, Countess Lorean Gaetani-Lovatelli, Camilla Pecci-Blunt McGrath and Alfred Heineken III.

Hepburn worked with many of the most distinguished directors in Anglo-American cinema, and I was honored to interview five of them: Fred Zinnemann, Richard Lester, Terence Young, Peter Bogdanovich and Billy Wilder. In a class by herself is Audrey Wilder, Billy's wife, whose salty remarks pepper this narrative.

Among Hepburn's colleagues, the most valuable insights were provided by André Previn, musician and observer extraordinaire, and Roddy McDowall, a human archive whose generosity knows no bounds. Other marvelous reflections came from Leslie Caron, R. J. Wagner, James Coburn, Tony Curtis, Deborah Kerr and Peter Viertel, Eli Wallach, Patricia Neal, Valentina Cortesa, Sophia Loren, Ginny Mancini, Theodore Bikel, Katharine Dunham, Marni Nixon, Leonard Gershe, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., and the late Jeremy Brett and Eva Gabor. Photographer Bob Willoughby was essential, as were Janis Blackschleger and Julie Leifermann of “Gardens of the World”—Audrey's last, beautiful film project.

My accounts of the Battle of Arnhem and Audrey's experiences during the Nazi occupation of Holland are based on previously untapped material, located and translated by the foremost Dutch military historian and author, Paul Vroemen. I am deeply grateful to him and to Wyoming B. Paris II—an excellent military historian in his own right—tor leading me to Mr. Vroemen. Another generous Dutchman, Leendert de Jong, programming director of the Hague Film Foundation, provided me with rare film footage from Hepburn's early years.

For film-historical information and advice, I relied as always on Steven Bach, Kevin Brownlow, James Card, Hugo Vickers, Lawrence Quirk, Leonard and Alice Maltin, Richard Lamparski and David Stenn. I also benefitted from the spadework of previous Hepburn biographers Charles Higham, Ian Woodward, Caroline Latham, Warren Harris, Alexander Walker, Sheridan Morley and James Robert Parish.