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Audrey Hepburn, Ixelles, 1929-1993

Part I

Audrey Hepburn (1)

He had the same eyes as his fawn named Ip, which he kept in his home as a pet. Audrey Hepburn it was the style, the elegance, the good taste and the kindness in the ways, mixed and inserted inside a slim body but able to make any gesture elegant. Having learned the art of dance at a very young age had given her movements an aura of incomparable grace.

With her sheath dress Hubert de Givenchy ha made the history of cinema, fashion and costume. Many actresses have tried to wear those garments, none could create that visual enchantment that only the ethereal and almost spiritual figure of Audrey Hepburn could guarantee, simply because none was Audrey Hepburn.

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Almost thirty years after his death he remains an unforgettable and unforgettable icon of cinema. The younger generations, especially women, still find in her a point of reference, a North Star to follow blindly. When you want to try to understand what elegance is in absolute terms, the research must be oriented in one direction only, which inevitably leads to Audrey Hepburn.

Even in the years following her death, the figure and image of Audrey Hepburn remained alive in everyone's memory. In every corner of the world, any pretext could be valid to show the disarming smile of the actress. That face and that smile gave serenity, they conveyed a normal humanity, even though they were the face and smile of one of the greatest actresses in the history of cinema.

One of the most beautiful and famous films of the endless Disney tradition was "The beauty and the Beast”, Year 1991. When the designers began to think about what appearance the face of the protagonist should have Beautiful , in your opinion which face did they take as a model? Exactly, that of Audrey Hepburn. Another way, if needed, to make it immortal even for the younger generations.

Audrey Hepburn. Biography

He was born on May 4, 1929 in Ixelles, a suburb of Brussels as Audrey Kathleen Ruston, to an English father, Joseph Anthony Ruston and his second wife, Baroness Ella van Heemstra, belonging to the Dutch aristocracy. Only after a few years Audrey's father added the surname Hepburn, which was that of his maternal grandmother, to that of the family, transforming it into Hepburn-Ruston. In 1939, after her parents' divorce, Audrey's family moved to the Dutch city of Arnhem, hoping they had found a safer place from Nazi attacks.

During the terrible famine of the winter of 1944, the Nazis confiscated the limited reserves of food and fuel of the Dutch population. Without heating in the houses or food to eat, the population died of cold or starvation. Due to malnutrition, Hepburn began to suffer from health problems and the serious consequences of that very difficult period will be felt in the following years. When she begins her adventure as a Unicef ​​ambassador she will remind everyone of this tragic experience. After three years in Amsterdam, where she continued her dance studies, Audrey Hepburn moved to London in 1948. In the English capital she took lessons from Marie Rambert. Rambert clearly told her that due to her height, about 1 meters, and the malnutrition she suffered during the war, she had little chance of becoming a prima ballerina. It was at that moment that Hepburn decided to attempt an acting career.

Vacanze romane

It was 1952 when Hepburn underwent an audition for the new film by the American director William wyler, "Vacanze romane ". Paramount Pictures wanted British actress Elizabeth Taylor for the lead role but, after viewing Hepburn's audition, Wyler said, “At first, he acted out the scene from the script, then someone could be heard shouting "Cut!", But the shooting actually continued. She got out of bed and asked, “What was it like? Did I go well? ”. He noticed that everyone was silent and that the lights were still on. Suddenly, he realized the camera was still rolling… It had everything I was looking for, charm, innocence and talent. She was absolutely lovely, and we said to each other, “It's her!".

Filming began in the summer of 1952. Two weeks after the start of filming Gregory Peck, who played the lead male role, called her agent asking that, in the titles, Hepburn's name be as prominent as her why: "I am smart enough to understand that this girl will win an Oscar in her first movie and I will look like a fool if her name is not on top, along with mine".
Hepburn really won theOscar as best actress in 1954. On that occasion the actress wore a white flowered dress, which will later be judged as one of the most beautiful and elegant of all time.

Sabrina


After the extraordinary success of "Roman Holiday", she was called upon to play the role of the female lead in Billy Wilder's film, "Sabrina", next to Humphrey Bogart e William holden. French designer Givenchy was chosen to take care of Hepburn's wardrobe. Since then, the two formed a friendship and a professional partnership that would last a lifetime. For "Sabrina “, Hepburn again received a nomination all'Best Actress Oscar, but the award went to Grace Kelly. The film received a Oscar for best costumes and launched Hepburn into the Olympus of Hollywood stars.

Cinderella in Paris

By the second half of the 1955s, Audrey Hepburn had become one of Hollywood's greatest actresses and a style icon: in XNUMX the Golden Globe jury awarded her the prestigious Henrietta Award to the best actress in world cinema. "Cinderella in Paris ", Shot in 1957, was one of Hepburn's favorite films, also because it offered her the opportunity, after so many years spent studying dance, to dance together with Fred Astaire. "The story of a nun”In 1959 saw the actress face one of her most difficult interpretations. Movies in Review wrote: "her interpretation will shut the mouth forever of those who thought of her more as a symbol of a sophisticated woman than as an actress. Her portrayal of Sister Luke is one of the best ever seen on the big screen ”.

Breakfast at Tiffany's

The character of Holly golightly, played by her in the film "Breakfast at Tiffany's “, Directed by Blake Edwards in 1961, he was considered as one of the most incisive and representative figures of XNUMXth century American cinema. The performance earned the actress another Oscar nomination, later won by Sophia Loren for the film "Two Women”And the second David di Donatello for best foreign actress. When interviewed about such an unusual character for her, Hepburn said: "I am an introvert. Playing an outgoing girl was the hardest thing I've ever done".

Charade

In 1963 Hepburn starred in "Charade “, Directed by Stanley Donen. In the film the actress supports Cary Grant who had previously refused to act in "Roman Holiday" and "Sabrina". It was the first and last time that the two worked together on a film. The following year, however, Cary Grant jokingly stated: "The only gift I want for Christmas is another Audrey Hepburn movie!".

My Fair Lady

In 1964 she was engaged in one of his most famous roles, that of Eliza Doolittle in the musical film "My Fair Lady ". It was chosen in place of the then little known Julie Andrews, who had played the role of Eliza on Broadway. Hepburn initially turned down the role and asked for it to be assigned to Andrews, but when she was told that the role would alternatively go to Elizabeth Taylor and not Andrews, she decided to accept. For the musical, the actress got a new Golden Globe nomination and won the third David di Donatello. Not having sung in the film, he was therefore unable to obtain the nomination for all'Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role, which was finally attributed to Julie Andrews for her performance in "Mary Poppins".

"How to steal a million dollars and live happily"From 1966, was one of Wyler's last films and the third and last in which the actress worked with the director who directed her in 1953 in her first leading role in"Vacanze romane ". From 1967 onwards he worked very sporadically. She divorces Ferrer and marries an Italian psychiatrist, Andrea Dotti, with whom she had her second child, Luca. Hepburn decided to further decrease her work commitments and devote herself almost full time to her family. Her last experiences as an actress were not very successful, but now Hepburn's mind was flying elsewhere, higher and higher. For her there were only her family and her other family ... Unicef.

Audrey Hepburn. The death

In 1992, after returning from a long journey in Somalia for charity, Hepburn suffered severe stomach pain. After being seen by a Swiss doctor in October, she flew to Los Angeles to see more experienced specialists. The doctors who examined her discovered the existence of a cancer that developed slowly, over the years, to the entire colon and she was operated on in November. A month later she had to be operated on a second time due to new complications and the doctors came to the conclusion that the cancer was too extensive to cure. Audrey Hepburn died in her sleep on the evening of January 20, 1993 in Tolochenaz, in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland, where she was buried. He was 63 years old. In addition to the children and Wolders, the ex-husbands Mel Ferrer and Andrea Dotti, the great friend Hubert de Givenchy, representatives of UNICEF and the actors and friends were present at the funeral Alain Delon e Roger Moore

Article by Stefano Vori

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