Deborah Kerr, 1921-2007

Actress Deborah Kerr died Tuesday at the age of 86, according to her agent. I know she never directly worked with Audrey Hepburn, but I feel that she is definitely worth remembering because she was in the same class of actors as Audrey and they did end up having quite a lot in common, actually. Deborah was a refined European woman known for her poise and modesty, like Audrey. They were both dubbed by Marni Nixon, Deborah in The King and I, and Audrey in My Fair Lady. Both women dreamed of being ballerinas and looked up to dancer Margot Fonteyn as their idol as children, and both grew too tall to ever become prima ballerinas. The two were even pitted against each other at the Oscars in 1954, Deborah being nominated for her career-altering performance in From Here to Eternity, and Audrey for her breakthrough performance in Roman Holiday. Audrey won, as we all know, but there were obviously no hard feelings when Deborah went to meet Audrey backstage during the run of Ondine (above left). If you would like to learn more about Deborah Kerr, the L.A. Times wrote a beautiful three-page memorial to her, which you can read here.

more Audrey Hepburn videos

I've uploaded some more Audrey Hepburn clips to You Tube, though you can just watch them here if you'd like:


Audrey Hepburn at premieres was originally compiled by MrNatashaRostov, and is made of various newsreel clips. It shows Audrey at film premieres for The Nun's Story, My Fair Lady, and War and Peace, to name a few. If you like it, let him know!


A newsreel about the 26th annual Academy Awards, 1954. This was the year Audrey won the Oscar for Best Actress for Roman Holiday, and the clip also plays her entire thank you speech. If you have never seen that footage before, please do! It's absolutely charming.


This clip and the next are both mute, but don't let that fact keep you from watching these. Both clips are raw footage taken at the UK premiere of My Fair Lady, and while it may be a little strange or dull at first, keep watching. The behind the scenes bits later on are really worth it, and it's like seeing another side of Audrey. Definitely worth the wait.



Enjoy!

Audrey Hepburn cancer awareness

A couple of days ago, I received a letter from a doctor in India about Audrey. An introduction isn't really necessary, so here is the letter in full:

Hello,

There is something common in our interest..like Audrey Hepburn. I am always the Fan of Lady Audrey Hepburn. Great charity is done by Hepburn team.

I stumbled on your site while I was surfing the net. .

It is a meticulously prepared site.Congratulations.

Audrey died of advanced colon cancer. It made me think a lot. Colon cancer is one of the cancers which has best prognosis if treated early. Still many patients reach the expert medical aid at little later stage. I felt this is happening because of less awareness.

It is always admirable if intelligent proactive persons from community get organised for noble cause. Nothing is more precious than life. Every saved life is an achievement. We can educate masses regarding early diagnosis of cancer. Info should make people aware of the apparent low profile presentation of the disease. If the rational decisions are taken quickly, the results are quite good.
Knowledge Helps. .
Let us join hands to fight cancer.

We must thank film industry and Audrey Hepburn for providing us beautiful moments with so many films like Roman Holiday, Sabrina and many others.

Regards

Dr. Shriniwas Deshpande

Surgeon, Samarth Gastroenterology

Pune

India

The letter is deeply touching and, I feel, very important. Most types of cancer can be easily treated and possibly cured completely if caught early enough, and all it takes is a little extra awareness. We lost a beautiful person to this affliction, but maybe with a little effort we can keep others from succumbing to this disease.

Interestingly enough, another Audrey Hepburn tie-in with cancer awareness came to me today. The Smoking Gun has recently added a film clip archive section to their site and there are a couple of Audrey clips worth noting. The first is a public service announcement she and Mel Ferrer did backstage during the run of Ondine, and is for cancer research. You can view the whole film here. I'm not sure if the full announcement has ever been widely available before -- I've only ever seen the first 30 seconds or so myself.

The other clip worth mentioning is a film reel about the 1965 Oscar ceremonies, when Audrey presented My Fair Lady co-star Rex Harrison with the Best Actor statue, which you can see here.


Last for today, there's a new shoe shop in Ireland that is very Audrey inspired. Called The Shoe Gallery, its walls are covered in pictures of Audrey Hepburn and even the merchandise itself is inspired by her taste in clothing, according to The Athlone Advertiser. It sounds like it would be great fun to shop there!

Audrey Hepburn at the Oscars

If you didn't end up watching the Oscars last night, Audrey Hepburn herself was featured! During a segment on writers in cinema, a clip from Paris When It Sizzles was shown. For those of you who aren't familiar with the film, Audrey plays a typist named Gabrielle Simpson who is hired to type a non-existent script for slacker screenwriter Richard Benson, played by William Holden. There was also an Audrey-inspired commercial that aired during the ceremonies.

What's also interesting to note is the fact that her sinister co-star from Wait Until Dark, Alan Arkin, won Best Supporting Actor last night! How To Steal A Million co-star Peter O'Toole did not win his Best Actor nomination, unfortunately.

It seemed to me that Anne Hathaway's Oscar dress seemed to be a bit Audrey-inspired -- inspired by Eliza Doolittle, in fact. Did anyone else notice this resemblance?



Last for today, I've put together a gallery of Audrey Hepburn at the Oscars through the years. Though most of the 44 pictures currently in the gallery are from her 1954 win for Roman Holiday, there are some appearances from the 60s and 80s thrown in and I hope to find even more to share. In the meantime, enjoy what's there!

Audrey Hepburn and Oscar Style

In honor of the Oscars tonight, I thought I'd pull up something from the old Fab Audrey archives: scans from a People magazine special called Oscar Style. For a while, it seemed that someone at People really loved Audrey, since quite a few special edition magazines came out and she was always featured prominently, if not on the cover itself. Oscar Style is no exception!














And for good measure, here is Audrey Hepburn's acceptance speech for her 1954 Oscar (Best Actress in Roman Holiday, her first feature film):

"Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's" -- a new book!

There's yet another new picture book coming out on Audrey! This one, called Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's: Photographs by Howell Conant, features pictures of Audrey onset for publicity photos and candid pictures during filming of her most iconic film, Breakfast at Tiffany's. The description on GermanArtBooks.com, which has the most information I can find yet, says that there are also fashion shoots, but it's unclear if they are Tiffany's related or not. All photos in the book were taken by Conant, who was also a good friend of Grace Kelly's, and there is some text written by actress Leslie Caron (who was often referred to as "The Other Audrey Hepburn"). And here is the release information for various countries -- at least as much as I could find at this time:
U.S. and Canada: May 2007
UK: ?
Germany: February 2007
France: ?
Japan: February 2007

The book is 80 pages long, with 40 colour and duotone plates. Ooh, I can't wait!

Next, with all the buzz around the Golden Globes and upcoming Oscar nominations, everyone is gravitating towards red carpet talk. A new list has come out naming the top 7 Icons That Have Shaped Red Carpet Jewelry, and Audrey came in #2! She was noted for her understated tastes and simple jewelry, while contemporary Elizabeth Taylor came in at #1 with her more flashy, diamond-oriented tastes. To read the full list, click here.

Last up for today, there's a few more Audrey Hepburn film screenings to mention. San Jose's California Theatre, which screened Breakfast at Tiffany's last weekend, will be showing My Fair Lady this coming weekend. You can find all screentimes and dates here, as well as ticket information. The Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, which screened Funny Face earlier this month, will be showing Charade on Sunday, January 21st. Ticket information can be found here.

Katie Couric has an Audrey Hepburn birthday; Audrey teaches a lesson

You might have heard about this already, but for news anchor Katie Couric's 50th birthday, she decided to have a Breakfast at Tiffany's themed party. Katie wore an Audrey-inspired little black dress and joined her 200 guests at Tiffany's, a rare occurance for the jewelry store. I haven't found any pictures of the event yet, but you can read more here.

Next up, a woman talks about her lifelong obsession with shiny things -- jewels, to be exact -- and how it took the loss of her life's collection and a modest woman named Audrey Hepburn to turn away from that obsession. This woman is a journalist and got to interview Audrey and couldn't help but notice Audrey's modest choice in jewelry: two small pinky rings on her fingers. Though very small and modest, Audrey glowed over them as if they were the crown jewels because one had been given to her by Robert Wolders, her companion, and the other by her two sons. An important lesson was learned that changed a woman's life, and it makes for a lovely read. To read the full article, click here. The Audrey pertinent section starts 7 paragraphs up from the end.

And lastly, if you're in the US or Canada (or have satellite cable), Turner Classic Movies is airing Paris When It Sizzles this month on the 26 at 8 pm. Keeping with their annual tradition, TCM will have their 31 Days of Oscar, which will showcase movies that have won Oscars for Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, Best Cinematographer, Best Costume Design, Best Original Song, Best Actor and Best Actress. Quite a few Audrey films will be featured, of course, and you can see exactly when they're going to be on by going here for February's schedule and here for March's schedule.