Amazon.com Review
Barry Paris loves Audrey Hepburn, and who can blame him? His exuberant profile of the movie star traces Hepburn's life from her childhood in the Netherlands (where she aided the Dutch resistence) through her Hollywood career (from her Oscar-winning performance in
Roman Holiday to Steven Spielberg's
Always). Paris, a veteran of Hollywood biography books, wants to free his readers of any false impressions that might sully the late star's reputation. The impression that Hepburn was a snob, he persuades us, was the result of an introverted character formed by her experiences during the war. This wartime experience both fed Hepburn's love of the spotlight and inspired a concern for the poor and powerless that compelled her to campaign for UNICEF from 1988 until her death in 1993. Some of the most fascinating material in this delightfully readable volume concerns the impact the ever-elegant Audrey Hepburn had on women's style and self-conception. If you don't already love her, Paris's book will at the least evoke admiration of her, if not enlist you in a movement for her beatification.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
The life of beloved actress Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993) is stylishly explored in this lively, at times even frothy, biography from Paris (Louise Brooks; Garbo). Paris goes a long way toward explaining Hepburn's gamine appeal with his account of her hardscrabble, often terrifying childhood during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. For the rest of her life, he shows, Hepburn had a former refugee's infectious love of the limelight and the good life but also a charmingly modest understanding that most people suffer more than movie stars do. Hepburn's personal and professional relationships with her leading men?William Holden, Gregory Peck, Fred Astaire, Cary Grant?are presented in gossipy detail, as is her often difficult marriage with actor Mel Ferrer. There are also informative accounts of the making of her films, with special emphasis on the controversy surrounding the casting of Hepburn rather than Julie Andrews as Eliza in the film version of My Fair Lady. Paris presents some new material from Ferrer, and some very witty new remarks by composer Andre Previn about the struggle over whether to dub Hepburn's singing voice in My Fair Lady, but for the most part this biography is a pastiche of earlier articles, interviews and biographies. Even so, it's the very model of a celebrity biography?a little breathless, a little prurient, with just enough fiber in the way of psychological insight to make reading it a slightly more substantial experience than gobbling chocolates. Photos and filmography not seen by PW. BOMC selection; first serial rights to Vanity Fair.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
