A Star Danced: Life of Audrey Hepburn [Paperback]

Robyn Karney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 29, 1994

A celebration of the life of Audrey Hepburn. It tells the story of her life from her childhood in Nazi-occupied Holland, through early aspirations to become a ballet dancer, to her debut on the screen to instant and universal acclaim, and her years as one of Hollywood's most sought-after stars, to her later life working among the poorest children of the Third World. After a series of minor revue and film roles in London, Hepburn was spotted by Colette, who immediately decided to cast her for the central role in the Broadway adaptation of her last novel "Gigi". Soon afterwards she was offered a role alongside Gregory Peck in "Roman Holiday", for which she collected the Best Actress Oscar. More successful parts followed: she won the Tony Award for Best Actress for "Ondine", captivated audiences as Natasha in "War and Peace" and was highly praised for her serious role in "The Nun's Story". Robyn Karney's work in film includes writing and editing, film criticism and film story consultancy. She is the author of "Who's Who in Hollywood" and co-author with Ronald Bergan of Bloomsbury's "Foreign Film Guide".

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (September 29, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0747518521
• ISBN-13: 978-0747518525
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,907,990 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #58 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( H ) > Hepburn, Audrey

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A star danced, and under that was I born, April 11, 2004

By 

Daniel J. Hamlow (Narita, Japan) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Star Danced: Life of Audrey Hepburn (Paperback)

As revealed before the title page, the book's title was taken from Act II, scene I of Much Ado About Nothing: "...but then there was a star danced, and under that was I born." Definitely apropos for Audrey Hepburn.

Robyn Karne's biography on Hepburn is a combination truncated but effective text that emphasizes the highlights of her life with a series of photos accompanying each movie or phase of her life. They are either in colour or B&W, and she sizzles in costume or relaxing in ordinary clothes. One set of photos that were cute was her and Ip, the tame fawn that became a temporary pet during her work on Green Mansions, and with she is photo'd taking a nap with, her terrier Famous also resting at the further end of the sofa. The beginning of each chapter is prefaced by two quotes, one from Audrey, the other from a third party, be it Billy Wilder, Henry Mancini, or Alfred Lunt on what characteristics the star had, and a pretty clear picture is formed from them.

A need for stability and comfort as opposed to luxury is also shown the way up to fifty-five pieces of luggage accompanied her wherever she was making movies. The result was that she dispensed the hotel's finery and replaced them with her own, thus making the illusion of a home away from home.

Like Harris's book, Karne lists two big names who actually hated her. One was Humphrey Bogart, who was purposefully excluded because he was not fun to be with, due to racist things he said about Jewish Billy Wilder, and how he saw Audrey as "an inexperienced upstart." The other was Alfred Hitchcock, who never spoke to her after she refused a role that exceeded her line of taste. The movie he intended was never made.
She was a great actress, that much can be established without debate, but one thing made clear is that she mostly wanted to settle down and cook and spend quality time with her family and enjoy nature's tranquil scenes. Who knows what would have happened had she been a cinematic one-hit wonder, but the hits kept coming with Roman Holiday, Sabrina, Charade, and My Fair Lady, to name some. But it is clear that despite her career, she tried hard to maintain her first marriage by giving it her full attention, but in vain. Like her character Sabrina, Audrey was clearly an idealist.

The one thing I observed in this bio as opposed to the other one I have was how Audrey's legendary charm and status even moved Sidney Sheldon to rewrite ten pages of his novel Bloodline so that the main character was 35 and not younger, for Ms. Hepburn.
Karne is supportive and positive on the star, not emphasizing anything bad about her. Come to think of it, there didn't seem to be.

The photos are wonderful and succeed in illuminating Hepburn's best traits: "Grace, dignity, charm, and compassion". Of the reviews included in the biography, they all single out Audrey as the dazzling star of the show, or the only good thing about the movie (e.g. The Children's Hour, Paris When It Sizzles, They All Laughed). Nothing wrong with Karne's praiseworthy bias of Audrey

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic Look at the Life of a Star, March 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Star Danced: Life of Audrey Hepburn (Paperback)

This book was an incredible find and gives the reader a personal look into the life of Audrey Hepburn. A Star Danced goes behind the scenes to show her real, not always so perfect life. Through this gook I realize that Audrey was more then a movie star, she was a real person with strugles and triumphs. This book would be a great read for any Audrey Hepburn fan.