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A Star Danced: Life of Audrey Hepburn

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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

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.