Rare Audrey Hepburn

Rare Audrey Hepburn is a website devoted to the actress and humanitarian, Audrey Hepburn. Author of "Audrey Hepburn in Paris" by Meghan Friedlander. No copyright infringement intended.

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“Audrey and I met in a seductive ambience in ... a very sensual time in the Mediterranean. We got on immediately. After the first day’s rehearsals, I could tell that the relationship would work out wonderfully. Either the chemistry is there, or it isn’t. I find I can have very good rapport with an actress I am working with, but occasionally there’s an absolute attraction. That happened with Audrey. Doing a scene with her, my mind knew I was acting but my heart didn’t, and my body certainly didn’t! Performing with Audrey was quite disturbing, actually. Playing a love scene with a woman as sexy as Audrey, you sometimes get to the edge where make-believe and reality are blurred. All that staring into each other’s eyes— you pick up vibes that are decidedly not fantasy. The subject and the situation [of Audrey] are very tender... Working together was like a well-organized tennis game. I’d throw up a ball and she’d throw up a ball to match. People are always asking me when I’m going to marry her. Well, you tell me ... I won’t discuss it more because of the degree of intimacy involved. The time spent with Audrey is one of the closest I’ve ever had.” 

Albert Finney discussing his relationship with Audrey Hepburn. The actors starred in the 1967 film Two for the Road. During their four-month shoot in the south of France, the two grew close and developed a short-lived romance.

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Audrey Hepburn, Doris Brynner, and Andrea Dotti photographed by Andy Warhol at the wedding reception of Pilar Crespi and Gabriel Echavarria Obregon at the Casina Valadier, Rome, August 24, 1973.

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Audrey Hepburn modeling the Givenchy gown she wore to the British premiere of The Nun’s Story, Rome, 1958.

“The Marquis de Givenchy recently visited Rome, where Audrey Hepburn was busy finishing her film, The Nun’s Story, to try on a series of new dresses for his favorite client.“ Italian to English translation. Full article with photos available on my Patreon.

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In 1954, Audrey Hepburn took the stage in Ondine, a Broadway production by Jean Giraudoux. Ondine is a naïve, free-spirited water nymph who lives by a lake. She falls deeply in love with a human knight named Hans. Despite warnings from her supernatural kin, especially the King of the Waters, she chooses to marry him, knowing the risk: if he ever betrays her, he will die, and she will lose him forever.

At the time, Audrey’s star was rapidly ascending. Fresh off the success of Roman Holiday, she had just completed filming Sabrina, wrapping production only two weeks before heading to New York for Ondine rehearsals. Despite the demanding schedule and long hours that often left her exhausted, she threw herself into the role with remarkable dedication.

A review of Audrey’s performance by critic Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times, February 28, 1954:

“Miss Hepburn gives a magical performance as Ondine.  She is a rapturously beautiful young woman, but there is no self-consciousness or vanity in her acting. Sprite-like in the spontaneity of her movement, quick, agile and bubbling, she describes Ondine’s ordeal in the human world with candor and grace.  Under the enchantment, a keen mind is at work. Ondine is not merely an entrancing creature but a vivid idea, and the acting could hardly be more lucid or admirable.

Giraudoux would have been especially proud of her last scenes when Ondine’s ecstasy turns to grief because she has lost her lover. Miss Hepburn does not drench the character in tears.  She preserves the integrity of a spirit that is vanquished, but knows that the dream, however impossible, is still exalted and sublime.”

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12 Audrey Hepburn Fashion Moments That Remain Iconic

The Audrey Hepburn fashion aesthetic endures for a reason: it's classic, timeless, and effortless. Here, find a deep dive into Hepburn's bes

An interview I did with InStyle Magazine.

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“She deliberately looked different from other women and dramatized her own slenderness into her chief asset” - Edith Head (Chief costume designer at Paramount)

Since her debut in Roman Holiday, Audrey rejected Hollywood’s standards of beauty. At a time when Marilyn Monroe was considered the ultimate sex symbol: blonde hair, hourglass figure, and exuding sex appeal, Audrey, unwittingly, ushered in a new era femininity. Despite her own personal insecurities, which she had been more than candid about—her thinness, her small chest, the size of her nose, her crooked teeth, and large feet—Audrey learned to embrace her limitations and emphasize her flaws. With the help of her friend and French couturier, Hubert de Givenchy, together the two created “The Audrey Hepburn Look.” Instead of hiding or minimizing her small waist, long neck, and ballerina posture, they dramatized it with the help of his designs and Audrey’s model figure. Her makeup artists would overdraw her eyebrows to exaggerate their fullness and emphasize her famous doe eyes. The idea was to learn to accept your imperfections as oppose to camouflaging them.

In her later years, she embraced aging with the same principles. Having survived WWII, Audrey knew that getting older was a privilege, “I decided ages ago to like life unconditionally. I’ve never expected life to do anything special for me, yet I’ve accomplished more than I ever hoped for.” When she was asked to do interviews or engagements in her 50s and 60s she would do her own hair and makeup, “for myself, I never put on makeup base, never powder. I just make up my eyes, and then in the winter, if I’m feeling a bit green, I’ll use a little rouge. That’s it.” Although, we may remember Audrey as the epitome of beauty and a fashion icon, for Audrey, attractiveness was about one’s character. It was an extension of one’s individuality and an expression of creativity. True beauty wasn’t defined by one’s outer appearance but by one’s humility, grace, and kindness. In her final years, she divided her time between her family and her philanthropy. As her son Luca Dotti noted, “She was actually very happy about growing older because it meant more time for herself, more time for her family, and separation from the frenzy of youth and beauty that is Hollywood.”

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“Audrey would model before Avedon’s cameras countless times over the years; she made history when she was the first movie star featured on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar magazine in April 1956. On the vibrant cover, shot in Paris, Avedon took an artistic approach with his model. Only showing her face, Audrey is fully wrapped in a colorful floral-print scarf. Placed on top, she balances a wide-brimmed straw hat that dramatically frames her exquisitely painted face."

Excerpt From the book "Audrey Hepburn in Paris" by Meghan Friedlander

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Behind the scenes photos from the set of Sabrina, 1953.

Movie: Sabrina (1954) Director: Billy Wilder Case: Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, William Holden

Filming locations: New York, Los Angeles

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I was devastated by the news of Diane Keaton’s passing. Like Audrey, Diane has been a constant in my life since childhood. One characteristic I deeply admired in Diane was her ability to always unapologetically be herself. The combination of her quirky sense of humor, her innate charm, and her unique fashion choices made her a cultural icon and my second biggest influence. I saw a lot of myself in Diane and, just by being her authentic self, she taught me it was okay to be me as long as you’re kind and genuine. I read her biography, ‘Then Again,’ back in 2011 when it was first released. I knew she was an Audrey Hepburn fan but I was beyond pleased to see her mention Audrey in her memoir. I found her thoughts on Audrey to be relatable and I believe many fans will agree. It’s nearly impossible to not compare yourself to others— it’s a part of life. I appreciate Diane’s candidness and, perhaps, you will too.

“Life magazine was neat too, because it told stories with photographers, but what really knocked my socks off was the first time I saw Miss Audrey Hepburn on the cover. She wasn’t pretty. She was beautiful. In fact, she was perfect. […] When I compared myself to Audrey Hepburn, something was off. My features were not symmetrical. I wasn’t pretty. At best, I was an affable-looking thing. Yuck. As I got older, it became painfully clear my appearance would always be a work in progress.” -Diane Keaton, Then Again, 2011.

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Audrey Hepburn + Cats

"The most beautiful women in the world always have a cat by their side." -Coco Chanel 

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Audrey Hepburn during a wardrobe fitting in Rome, Italy for the Paramount production of War and Peace, 1955.

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A comprehensive examination of Audrey Hepburn’s experiences during WWII and her humanitarian work with UNICEF.

Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993)

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A selection of portraits of Audrey Hepburn photographed by Cecil Beaton for Vogue magazine ranging from 1954 to 1971. The middle image is of Cecil Beaton and Audrey Hepburn, who is wearing one of the many My Fair Lady costumes designed by Beaton for the film.

“Her stance is a combination of an ultra-fashion plate and a ballet dancer. Her features show character rather than prettiness.

Her voice is peculiarly personal, with its unaccustomed rhythm and sing-song cadence that develops into a flat drawl that ends in a childlike query. It has a quality of heartbreak.

Intelligent and alert, wistful but enthusiastic, frank yet tactful, assured without conceit and tender without sentimentality.” (An excerpt from Cecil Beaton’s diary entry about Audrey Hepburn)

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“In the past, Audrey [Hepburn] had been paired with leading men twice her age, but for the first time, she was coupled with a man three years her junior. Wyler found the two to be effervescent together. Peter [O’Toole] was charming, handsome, and a bit of a lush; but his on-set antics provided a sense of levity that Audrey soaked up. Peter had a mischievous sense of humor and loved a good teasing. On days when Audrey’s energy started to slip, he would break out his imitations, causing her to ‘hold in my giggles until my stomach hurt.’ ‘I thought [the] two would make an explosive team,’ Wyler professed, ‘but I never expected [them] to react to each other like laughing gas!’ There was an obvious ease between the two, which made for an enjoyable ride.”

Excerpt from the book Audrey Hepburn in Paris by Meghan Friedlander 

Photos: Audrey Hepburn and Peter O’Toole during the production of How to Steal a Million, Paris, 1965.

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Audrey Hepburn photographed by Elisabetta Catalano at her apartment in Rome, Italy, March 1976. Audrey was wearing a light pink chiffon dress with ivory polka dots from Valentino’s 1973 Spring/Summer collection.

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Audrey Hepburn (and Mel Ferrer) on the set of King Vidor’s War and Peace in Rome, Italy, August 26, 1955.

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“Instead of there being a politicization of humanitarian aid, there will be a humanization of politics.” - Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn cared about the welfare of people. She was more than a pretty face in a little black dress. She saw the worst of humanity during WWII and vowed to help others no matter the cost. Her biggest fear was watching history repeat itself. She began working with the United Nations in the 1950s and devoted her remaining years to traveling the world on behalf of UNICEF. She was a woman of depth, integrity, and compassion. Audrey was the real deal.

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Audrey Hepburn photographed during a field mission in Vietnam in October 1990.