There was more to Audrey than just a pretty face on a big screen. To start my journey into the iconic life of Audrey Hepburn I had two main question in mind. Who was she before the films? and who was she outside of the films? I, like many other people, knew her only for her fame in the movie industry, but nothing else. As an audience in a theater we tend to characterize the actress by the person she portrays, attributing only acting with their name. To begin, I delved into the unknown, and past of Audrey by reading "Audrey: The Real Story" a biographical account by Alexander Walker.
Walker starts out like any other biographer would-from the beginning. He told of Audrey's childhood and of her own memories as a baby. Audrey's childhood took place in multiple countries in Europe including Belgium and the Netherlands. But her young life was not one of smooth sailing. Walker speaks of the struggles she encountered with her parents who held Fascist sympathies in Europe, her father being a true Nazi believer. Continuing, he writes about Audrey's own wartime experiences and the impact it made on her adolescence. Audrey's parents soon separated as her father had an extra-marital affair who then abruptly left. She moved with her mother to England while the war continued but they soon returned to the Netherlands when Britain declared war on Germany, hoping that the Netherlands would remain neutral. Audrey suffered from malnutrition among other things and even had to to change her name, while still aiding the Dutch resistance. She can vividly remember trainloads of Jews being taken away, and the starvation her town encountered needless to say it was a war that would not be forgotten.
By the end of the war, Audrey was a prominent ballet dancer, with a lot of talent. Her acting work began as she was cast as a chorus girl and dancer in a theater production in London, mainly to earn as much money as she could. Soon after she signed with a British freelance acting agency and starred in a string of lesser-known films, and theater productions which toured the US, before getting her big break in "Roman Holiday."
This was the true start of her career and soon after she starred in a string of successful movies including, Sabrina, and War and Peace as well as Funny Face, and finally Breakfast at Tiffany's, where her "little black dress" changed the fashion world forever. She had become a star, her style, and acting forever leaving an imprint. By now, the late 1950s she had won multiple awards allocating to that position. A young girl in a war-torn continent had become an actress with an unforgettable face and mesmerizing smile.
Walker goes on to give detail on many of her movies, as well as her personal life-which included her marriage to Mel Ferrer and then Andrei Dotti and the births of her two children. The years go by and Audrey continues to be in movies throughout the 60s and late 70s.
A new chapter in her life began when she started her humanitarian career. She was appointed Goodwill Abassador to Unicef and made multiple trips to Africa and Turkey. An icon in both movies and humanitarianism, Audrey had a heart that would not stop giving. Walker tells about her mission to help, which she often attributed to the horrible war experiences of malnutrition she had. Ending of course with the last years of life and her death, Walker examined the life of an icon with meticulous detail and admiration.
Biographies can often be boring, filled with dates and events that all seem to slur together. However, I found Walker's take on the eventful life of Audrey to be informed and interesting. Intertwining director's and fellow actor's quotes on Audrey, Walker truly gave me an idea of who Audrey was, not just what she did. The biography could have been a simple retelling of dates and events, but Walker did justice to the incredible life of Hepburn, leaving no grimy detail out, including the ups and downs of her life. Yes, Audrey was iconic, but she was human and the author made one realize how she, just as every other human, had her own fair share of struggles. After reading this biography I felt like I saw Audrey in a new light, for she had her flaws, her mistakes, her failures, and of course her triumphs. Walker gave so much insight into the life of an actress who many people only see as that, an actress. But Audrey was so much more than that, she was a teenager with divorced parents living in a war torn world, an aspiring actress who earned her way to fame, a young woman who fell in love, a mother, a person who made mistakes and struggled, a mother and of course a giver- Audrey was all of these.
Walker starts out like any other biographer would-from the beginning. He told of Audrey's childhood and of her own memories as a baby. Audrey's childhood took place in multiple countries in Europe including Belgium and the Netherlands. But her young life was not one of smooth sailing. Walker speaks of the struggles she encountered with her parents who held Fascist sympathies in Europe, her father being a true Nazi believer. Continuing, he writes about Audrey's own wartime experiences and the impact it made on her adolescence. Audrey's parents soon separated as her father had an extra-marital affair who then abruptly left. She moved with her mother to England while the war continued but they soon returned to the Netherlands when Britain declared war on Germany, hoping that the Netherlands would remain neutral. Audrey suffered from malnutrition among other things and even had to to change her name, while still aiding the Dutch resistance. She can vividly remember trainloads of Jews being taken away, and the starvation her town encountered needless to say it was a war that would not be forgotten.
By the end of the war, Audrey was a prominent ballet dancer, with a lot of talent. Her acting work began as she was cast as a chorus girl and dancer in a theater production in London, mainly to earn as much money as she could. Soon after she signed with a British freelance acting agency and starred in a string of lesser-known films, and theater productions which toured the US, before getting her big break in "Roman Holiday."
This was the true start of her career and soon after she starred in a string of successful movies including, Sabrina, and War and Peace as well as Funny Face, and finally Breakfast at Tiffany's, where her "little black dress" changed the fashion world forever. She had become a star, her style, and acting forever leaving an imprint. By now, the late 1950s she had won multiple awards allocating to that position. A young girl in a war-torn continent had become an actress with an unforgettable face and mesmerizing smile.
Walker goes on to give detail on many of her movies, as well as her personal life-which included her marriage to Mel Ferrer and then Andrei Dotti and the births of her two children. The years go by and Audrey continues to be in movies throughout the 60s and late 70s.
A new chapter in her life began when she started her humanitarian career. She was appointed Goodwill Abassador to Unicef and made multiple trips to Africa and Turkey. An icon in both movies and humanitarianism, Audrey had a heart that would not stop giving. Walker tells about her mission to help, which she often attributed to the horrible war experiences of malnutrition she had. Ending of course with the last years of life and her death, Walker examined the life of an icon with meticulous detail and admiration.
Biographies can often be boring, filled with dates and events that all seem to slur together. However, I found Walker's take on the eventful life of Audrey to be informed and interesting. Intertwining director's and fellow actor's quotes on Audrey, Walker truly gave me an idea of who Audrey was, not just what she did. The biography could have been a simple retelling of dates and events, but Walker did justice to the incredible life of Hepburn, leaving no grimy detail out, including the ups and downs of her life. Yes, Audrey was iconic, but she was human and the author made one realize how she, just as every other human, had her own fair share of struggles. After reading this biography I felt like I saw Audrey in a new light, for she had her flaws, her mistakes, her failures, and of course her triumphs. Walker gave so much insight into the life of an actress who many people only see as that, an actress. But Audrey was so much more than that, she was a teenager with divorced parents living in a war torn world, an aspiring actress who earned her way to fame, a young woman who fell in love, a mother, a person who made mistakes and struggled, a mother and of course a giver- Audrey was all of these.