Audrey Hepburn: An Intimate Portrait [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Diana Maychick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1994

A biography of the screen legend, based on more than one hundred interviews with friends and family, discusses her early years, her personal life, her work opposite Hollywood's greatest leading men, and her tireless work for UNICEF.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Drawing heavily on interviews with the actress at her home in Switzerland during the last year of her life, Maychick's biography focuses on the film actress's life off-screen. Born to a family of Dutch nobility, Hepburn endured serious privation during WW II, performed courier duties for a Resistance organization headed by her mother, struggled against anorexic tendencies throughout her life and hated being the center of attention even as an international star. Maychick ( Meryl Streep ) examines Hepburn's marriages to actor Mel Ferrer and Italian psychiatrist Andreas Dotti and her affairs with such leading men as William Holden, Ben Gazzara and Albert Finney. The account of her career is a bland, uncritical chronicle of one dazzling performance after another. On the whole, however, this is a chatty, sympathetic portrait. Hepburn (1929-1993) found a measure of peace toward the end of her life through her relationship with Dutch actor Robert Wolders and her work for UNICEF as ambassador-at-large. Photos. First serial to Cosmopolitan.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

One of this book's most touching revelations regards the role of Hepburn and her family in the Dutch resistance during World War II. In these chapters, Maychick writes with depth and passion about Hepburn's youthful deprivation, dangerous encounters, and heroic contributions. What follows, however, is a sincere but one-dimensional account of Hepburn's rise to stardom despite battles with self-esteem and recurring anorexia; her often unhappy personal life, hallmarked by tragic miscarriages and problem marriages; and her tireless work on behalf of UNICEF. The latter portion of the book reads more like a tribute than an in-depth biography, chronologizing Hepburn's life through a mixture of details and quotes. Yet fans and movie buffs will find this of definite interest, for large entertainment collections.
- Carol J. Binkowski, Bloomfield, N.J.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Pr; Lrg edition (February 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786201037
• ISBN-13: 978-0786201037
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,986,740 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #82 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( H ) > Hepburn, Audrey

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Dont Read it!, September 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Audrey Hepburn: An Intimate Portrait (Paperback)

This is a really bad book with full of lies. Diana Maychick says that Audrey Hepburn asked her to interview during the last few months of her life. Well, Audrey was too busy: She worked with UNICEF, and when she learned she had cancer, she flew to Switzerland and stayed there till her death. Its not a book with truth in it. Read either Barry Paris' bio of Audrey or Warren Harris' bio of Audrey

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars If you love Audrey - don't read this book, March 3, 2001

By 

Katie (Oxfordshire, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Audrey Hepburn: An Intimate Portrait (Paperback)

This book has so many errors and untruths that it really should be classed as fiction. As has already been mentioned, Audreys family are taking legal action against this author - she claims to have spoken to Audrey at a time when Audrey was infact dying! I read this book before I was aware of the above and was struck by the inaccuracy of some of it's contents - in particular her plot synopsis for the film Roman Holiday was inaccurate - did she actually watch the film!! Also she had some pretty nasty things to say about Audrey which seemed strange coming from someone who claimed to love and miss her. I have ripped the book into shreds, keeping only the photographs of Audrey which are the only part of this book worth keeping. There are, of course, plenty of facts that are correctly stated which the author probably gleaned from other biographers - and anything that was not already known has probably been invented, the problem being that once you know a book to contain some falsehoods it's hard to believe any of it. If you love Audrey, don't read this book, choose another that is more credible, if you can possibly wait then buy her son, Sean Ferrer's book when it is published, hopefully later this year. I am only sorry that the author of this piece of fiction has already benefited from my, and a lot of other people's money.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Diana Makesick might be more accurate., February 17, 2003

By 

Straight Shaun (the poorhouse) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Audrey Hepburn: An Intimate Portrait (Hardcover)

What's to say that hasn't been said already, and in a way, there's little point since this piece of garbage has thankfully all but disappeared from the market (and one can hope, circulation in general). However, it got me so infuriated in reading it that I have to add my two cents, for others who come across this book or these reviews.

Until now, I've known little of Audrey aside from that she was my favorite actress, and probably one of the classiest, most beautiful human beings to have graced this planet. As it happens, I stumbled across a copy of this book in the library, entirely by chance, so I decided to check it out and see if I could learn more about this wonderful woman. Well, before I was halfway through, even with my limited knowledge, I was disappointed and angry at what I was reading, though I couldn't entirely put my finger on it. Yes, there were the mistakes with describing the movies. There was a lot that was not only unflattering but didn't ring true, not only about Audrey but those in her life as well. There was the ongoing "posing" tone in it, where the author tries to come across as Audrey's confidant and close friend. The whole thing smelled somehow, and left me with an uneasy, angry feeling, and I didn't quite know why.

It was at that point that I decided to look into information and reviews of the book on the Internet, only to discover that it was even worse than I suspected. As it is, this book is full of mistakes, full of what is likely complete fabrication, and full of something else that shall go unmentioned (with which I'd say Diana Maychick is similarly afflicted). It is a slap in the face to the intelligent reader, an affront to anyone who loves Audrey Hepburn, an insult to her, and a disgusting testament to what some people will sink to in chasing a dollar.

In any case, if you do run across a copy of this tripe, don't waste your time and stress level with it...from what I understand, there are several other good sources of information on Audrey, any of which would be better. If there's one good thing that's come out of my encounter with this book, it's that it's at least given me the impetus (out of anger if nothing else) to dig up quality information on this marvelous woman. This "book" isn't even worth using as a Bathroom Reader replacement.