AUDREY HEPBURN

Most successful films

Her first role was in the film «One Wild Oat», in which she played a hotel receptionist. Thereafter came other small parts of little significance, until Audrey Hepburn landed the role of a lifetime that would catapult her to fame: «Roman Holiday», a film by William Wyler, in which she would star with the already acclaimed Gregory Peck.

Initially, the producers had thought of Elizabeth Taylor for the leading role, but the director was captivated by Audrey as soon as he saw her. Her combination of charm, innocence and talent were perfect for the film. When the filming was over, her co-star predicted that she would get an Oscar for her role, and he was not mistaken. Film critics, audiences and all of Hollywood were won over by the naturalness of the actress, who became an instant star.

In the following years there would be more successful films, such as the iconic «Breakfast at Tiffany’s», «My Fair Lady», “The Nun’s Story», or «Sabrina». It was in this last feature film that Audrey Hepburn first met the designer, Hubert de Givenchy, responsible for the costumes of the film, and established a friendship that would last a lifetime. When one thinks of Audrey Hepburn nowadays, the image would undoubtedly be of her wearing one of his beautiful dresses.

Three awards

In 1954, Hepburn played one of the leading roles in «Ondine» alongside the man she would later marry, Mel Ferrer, and with whom the actress had her first child, Sean. That same year she was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Actress, the Oscar for «Roman Holiday», and six weeks later, the Tony Award, again for “Ondine”, thus becoming one of the few actresses holding the three most important awards of the film world.

If «Roman Holiday» launched Audrey Hepburn to stardom, «Breakfast at Tiffany’s» made her a film icon. Despite this, the actress was still a very shy person. «I’m an introvert. Playing the extroverted girl was the hardest thing I ever did,” she told the press. The elegant costumes of this film were also designed by Givenchy. Her magnificent performance earned her another Oscar nomination, which, on that occasion, was awarded to Sophia Loren.

Apart from being shy, Audrey Hepburn, now a Hollywood star, was also a frugal person. While the other actors and actresses of her magnitude lived in large, luxurious mansions, she preferred to live in a very conventional house, cultivating her own vegetable garden. A glamourous actress who, nonetheless, never stopped helping the needy, in remembrance of the particularly hard childhood she had to live.

After the failure of her first marriage due to the emotional impact of five miscarriages, Hepburn married Andrea Dotti, an Italian psychiatrist with whom she had her second son, Luca. However, his constant infidelities ended up leading Hepburn to an inevitable divorce.