Audrey Hepburn
How kind of you to write her an article.
Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993) was one of the most elegant actresses in all of cinema. She never seemed to try to be iconic, it just came naturally. From wearing scarves, to nun's habits, to The Little Black Dress, she was an unforgettable image.
Look up the word "classy" in the dictionary, and a picture of her will be staring back at you.
Even in her later years, she was still a looker, appearing in Blackglama's "What Becomes A Legend Most?" ad campaign, although she spent most of her later years doing philanthropic work with UNICEF.
A British citizen, she was born in Brussels, Belgium to a Dutch Baroness and an Anglo-Irish ne'er-do-well. Her father walking out on the family when she was young and her subsequent adolescence in German-occupied Holland made her something of a woobie in her childhood.
No, she's not related to Katharine Hepburn.
Audrey Hepburn has performed in the following roles:
- Roman Holiday (1953) - She was a Rebellious Princess who met an Intrepid Reporter. This role is her Academy Award winning one, and her personal favourite. Gregory Peck insisted she be given equal billing with him, and predicted she would win the Oscar.
- Sabrina (1954)
- War and Peace (1956)
- Funny Face (1957) - Her first musical, co-starring Fred Astaire. The definitive "Audrey Hepburn looking awesome in all sorts of costumes" film.
- Love in The Afternoon (1957)
- The Nun's Story (1959) - Some of Hepburn's best acting work.
- Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) - Her most iconic role.
- The Children's Hour (1961)
- Charade (1963)
- My Fair Lady (1964)
- How to Steal a Million (1966)
- Two for the Road (1967) - Playing Against Type as a bitchy housewife.
- Wait Until Dark - (1967) - One of the first modern thrillers. The studio had a lot of trouble casting the main villain, as few actors wanted to be seen tormenting a blind Audrey.
- Robin and Marian (1976) - Playing an aging Maid Marian opposite Sean Connery.
Audrey Hepburn provides examples of the following tropes:
- Big Ol' Eyebrows: Especially early in her career.
- Blue Blood: Her Dutch mother's family was filled with Barons and Baronesses.
- Brainy Brunette: Despite having little in the way of formal schooling, she was extremely well-read, fluent in at least seven languages, and a talented piano player.
- Disappeared Dad: Her fascist pappy walked out on the family when she was six, and Hepburn considered it the most traumatic event in her life.
- Expy: See the homages section.
- Fake Nationality: Half British, half Dutch, she played American (Sabrina, Breakfast at Tiffany's and others), Russian (War and Peace), French (Love in the Afternoon, How to Steal a Million) and Belgian (The Nun's Story) characters.
- And since being a British citizen in Occupied Europe would have been dangerous, she passed herself off as Dutch during World War II.
- Friend to All Living Things: She adored animals, and raised a baby deer by herself, for Green Mansions.
- Impoverished Patrician: During the war, her family's property, banks accounts, and even heirlooms were confiscated by the Germans.
- La Résistance: She carried messages and packages and put on illegal performances to raise money on behalf of the Dutch Resistance during the war.
- Nom De Guerre: During World War II, she hid her British citizenship by passing herself off as Edda van Heemstra, meanwhile supporting La Résistance.
- Petite Pride
- Smoking Is Glamorous
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The girly girl to the other Hepburn's tomboy.
- What Beautiful Eyes!: Of the huge, deer in the wood variety.
- Yamato Nadeshiko: No wonder the Japanese love her.
Homages to Audrey Hepburn include:
General homages to Audrey Hepburn
Anime and Manga
- In the manga and anime series, Rec, Aka Onda, the lead female character, idolizes Hepburn, and would quote Hepburn's lines from the movies she appeared in. In the opening, Aka is wearing some of Hepburn's famous clothing.
- Lina's character design in Slayers is supposedly based on Hepburn.
- From CLAMP School Detectives, kindergartner Utako Okawa dons an outfit identical to the Royal Ascot dress worn by Hepburn in My Fair Lady.
Comic Books
- Adam Hughes' Catwoman cover work.
Film
- In Disney's Sleeping Beauty, Aurora's design is based on Hepburn.
- In Anastasia, the title character's design is based on both Meg Ryan and Hepburn.
- Similarly, Jenna from Balto was based on Hepburn.
- You, Me and Dupree. Audrey is Dupree's ideal woman, much to Molly's surprise.
- Audrey is one of the actresses on whom S1m0ne is based.
Live-Action TV
- Wanda's wedding dress in episode one of WandaVision is a handmade homage to the dress Hepburn wore in Funny Face.
Homages to Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday
Anime and Manga
- In the Gundam metaseries, both Relena Peacecraft/Darlian and her Expy, Lacus Clyne, were modeled after Hepburn. And now Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn has Audrey Burne. Gundam really loves her.
- Both Wing and Unicorn made homages to Roman Holiday: in Wing, one of Relena's dresses was designed after Princess Ann's dress, and in Unicorn, the "Runaway Princess" movie poster is a copy of the movie poster for "Roman Holiday".
- Azalyn in Irresponsible Captain Tylor talks about being a fan of Roman Holiday. Considering that Azalyn is an empress and she was talking about the burdens of command at the time, it's likely that she was comparing herself to Ann.
- Episode 146 of Sailor Moon is a homage to Roman Holiday, with one-shot character Princess Rubina as a stand-in for Princess Ann.
Film
- In The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement Mia dances with a succession of royal suitors with humorous personalities and/or odd dance styles, much as Princess Ann does.
