Customer Reviews

Audrey: Her Real Story

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
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I saw this book at my aunt's house, and spent the rest of my visit pouring over the beautiful pictures of Audrey Hepburn. She gave me the book and I then read about Ms. Hepburn, and learned about this wonderful woman, who not only starred in over 20 films, but also was a representative for UNICEF in her later years. This book is a MUST for anyone the least bit interested in Audrey Hepburn, and it's definetely one to add to your collection.

Another well written biography by Alexander Walker. Not only handles the mechanics of her films, but also gets into her personal life the ups and downs (mostly downs). This is not a coffee table - pretty picture book (Although there are gorgeous pictures of her, as any and all pictures of Audrey are). This book is a serious read. If you are a new found fan of Audrey Hepburn, this may not be the best book for you to start with, she was a very wonderful - but lonely lady. It is a sad story, a complete chronicle of her very private life including her work with UNICEF. A life very much meant to be cherished and remembered. This is my 3rd biography by Alexander Walker - I also recommend Vivien Leigh and Bette Davis. Vivien Leigh was the first A.W. biography I read and I have been hooked ever since.

If you want to find a book about the happy life of Audrey Hepburn and wanna see pictures of all the styles she wore then don't buy this book. This book by Alexendar Walker is the real truth, the author goes from Califronia to New York to Europe to research books, articles, and people who knew Audrey Hepburn and her parents and husbands. This book tells about her miscarrgies, divorces, lonely and hard times for her. This book gave me a better understanding of how she felt, and now I have a deeper love and respect for her.

This was a wonderful book. I have always been a great fan of her but had no idea that behind that sunny smile and realistic portrait of Holly Golightly, Eliza Doolittle, and many others, hid a lifetime of pain, sorrow, love,sickness, triumph and letdowns, a life far more realistic than any movie.

From Audrey's facinating childhood and tragic war experience and her sad rejection in dance, to her fabulous movie career and multiple marriages, we find that stars always confuse us with the images that they portray on the screen. Not that Audrey was a bad person, just different from what you would think her as. Whatever she may have been, she had a wonderful and strong personality and a dear, giving heart. A wonderful telling of her life which I recommend for biography readers everywhere.

Mr. Walker has done a wonderful job, showing us the true side of Miss Hepburn. A fan myself, I only grew to love her more as I read "Audrey : Her Real Story". Her kindess, elegance, and strength are excellent role models for anyone to follow. Her high standard of morals was evident, and she was loved for it.

Yes, Mr. Walker has indeed shared with us the joy of learning about one of the most beautiful and wonderful people that has ever lived.

The author seems to have done scrupulous research, particularly with regard to Hepburn's early years. However, this bio contains more conjecture and fewer direct quotes from Hepburn "insiders" than the Barry Paris book. It also goes into more detail about her early career, her parent's fascist connections, and her relationships with her costars and husbands. Curiously, her adult relationship with her mother is largely ignored by the author.

It's entirely possible that Walker had less cooperation from Hepburn's friends, family and associates, because this book is somewhat less flattering than the Barry Paris bio. For example, Walker makes no bones (bad pun) about her alleged off and on battle with anorexia, while Paris blows the rumors off.

The author makes one egregious ommission; he fails to note Hepburn's last work, the superb Gardens of the World series for PBS. He notes only a "coffee table book" by that title for which he says Hepburn wrote the text. As she did not write the script for the series, it's unlikely that she would have written the text for any companion book. Gardens of the World does not even appear in the book's index! For credibility's sake, Walker really should correct this error in any future editions.
Nevertheless, all in all this is a satisfying read for any fan of Audrey Hepburn.

I'd recommend reading both books to get a more balanced view of this great lady.

This book is tedious. I wanted a book that told about Audrey Hepburn's personal life; instead I got a very mechanical description of the productions she was involved in. On top of that, the author's language is extremely contorted and not easy to read at all. If you're interested in learning about Audrey's movies and you're a film producer, you would probably like this book. However, if you wanted a personal story about Audrey Hepburn the person, you may well be disappointed.

Audrey Hepburn is my idol.When I grow up I'd love to be like her.When i saw this book,I didn't know wheter to buy it until I read some of the reviews.After I read a few of the reviews I placed an order and I received this book a few weeks later!It is a great book and an ideal present for someone who is a fan of Audrey Hepburn..(like me)...,because I know I would have loved it if I got it as a present."Audrey:Her Real Story"by Alexander Walker is one of the best of all my collecter's items!It tells you a lot about Audrey Hepburn...things like,how she felt when her mother and father divorced and when she went through malnutrition in the early stages of her life.Audrey starred in 27 films.She won an academy award for best actress in 1953 in the film "Roman Holiday"..(which is a great film too)The book also tells you about her miscarriage and her two sons Sean and Lucas,and her two husbands Mel Ferrer and Dr.Andrea.Dotti,and it tells you a lot more.IF I LOVE THIS BOOK,I KNOW YOU WOULD TOO! Love Danielle..Age:14..

`Audrey: Her Real Story' was an unexpected Christmas gift in 2006. I had wanted a biography on Audrey Hepburn, but I hadn't expected this one. It is an expanded and revised edition. It contains new information not known when the previous edition of this book went to print, about Fidelma, Audrey's Irish stepmother, and more information on Audrey's father. I originally had my eye on `Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn' by Donald Spoto. What I found however after reading 'Audrey: Her Real Story' first, is I really couldn't do any better then this book. `Audrey: Her Real Story' is an exceptional book that wonderfully recounts her film career and humanitarian efforts. It also has marvellous quotes from Audrey Hepburn herself and is approved by her and those who know her. I really believe this is one of the absolute best books on her life. I also watched a lot of her films thanks to this book and really enjoyed most of them. There really aren't many poor film choices for Audrey. A great deal of effort and care had been taken to keep Audrey's image pure, like a princess. You'll find if you study her films she stays in a close group of friends, Billy Wilder and William Wyler are two great talents. Audrey also stays usually in Paris, and wears some of the most beautiful clothes designed by friend and life-long confidant Hubert de Givenchy. I do love the fact that Audrey started off as a dancer, and her time during the war was very brave. Due to work around the time of her first film, and Award-winning role in `Roman Holiday', Audrey could not commit to first prospective husband James (later Lord) Hanson. It is however during her film `Sabrina' she meets Mel Ferrer, twelve years her senior. Together they decide only to appear on stage and screen together. `War and Peace' is one of their films together, but really wasn't praised by film critics. Neither was 'Wait Until Dark' that Mel produced or 'Green Mansions', Mel took a directing credit. Audrey had one son with Mel Ferrer called Sean Ferrer and appears with Audrey in Peter Bogdanovich's `They All Laughed', a film I thought would have been better. I usually enjoy director John Huston films but I hated `The Unforgiven.' John Huston hated it too. I also didn't think much of `Robin and Marian'. Audrey's second husband was an Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti, who wanted to marry a movie star, and not let her be a mother and a wife. Audrey unfortunately, had a lot of miscarriages. I really love Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall films and her three autobiographies. When I read about Humphrey's behaviour during 'Sabrina' I was shocked. I believed Lauren Bacall when she said of Humphrey that he had a lot of time for actors but had very little time for stars. I would have thought Humphrey would have got on better with Audrey then he did. The films of Audrey Hepburn I really enjoyed are `Breakfast At Tiffany's', a role perfect for Audrey Hepburn, however Truman Capote would have preferred and wrote it for Marilyn Monroe. I love Marilyn's films too but she would have been so wrong for this film. I also loved Audrey in `How To Steal A Million.' I also love Stanley Donen's films `Funny Face' (I wrote a poem about it), `Charade', and `Two for the Road'. I loved 'Sabrina' as well, the remake with Harrison Ford isn't really worth mentioning, neither is 'The Audrey Hepburn Story' with Jennifer Love Hewitt, which could have been much better, but it's nice of her to be a fan. Audrey was closest to her father who loved her in 'My Fair Lady' best but was almost non-existent in her life. I truly believe Audrey Hepburn would have loved me had she known me. Audrey Hepburn had a remarkable life. I absolutely love this book. I would love to be recognised as one of Audrey Hepburn's best and devoted fans and hope to hear from other fans of her. I am thrilled she lived during some of my time on this earth. I love reading about actors lives. The next exceptional biography I would read by Alexander Walker is 'Vivian: The Life of Vivien Leigh'.