Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley
Like a lot of shoppers at supermarkets, I look at the
magazine displays while waiting in line to check out.
Recently I was thrilled to see a recent edition to LIFE's
Great Photographers Series: "Remembering Audrey 15 Years
Later" with photographs by Bob Willoughby.
In my review of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" I posed this
question: Was there ever an actress who combined these four
timeless qualities—beauty, fashion, grace and
humility—better than Audrey Hepburn? My answer was
simply, I think not.
You better believe I bought a copy of Remembering Audrey
faster than a single heartbeat, and remain a better person
for having done so.
Willoughby was born in Los Angeles—the city of the
stars—and began taking pictures when he was 12. He
was good, very good, and best described as a prodigy. In
1953, when he was 26, he would be assigned to photograph an
upcoming soon to be actress, Audrey Hepburn. The result of
their meeting would produce one of his most positive
relationships, both as a photographer and a friend.
Willoughby pioneered the role of the "special" photographer
to take formal publicity shots and candids of the stars
Hollywood's publicity departments wanted to promote. He was
credited by Popular Photography magazine as the man "who
virtually invented the photojournalistic motion-picture
still."
The images that you remember of James Dean, Frank Sinatra,
Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole and Audrey Hepburn among
dozens of others were mostly the work of Bob Willoughby.
All of the major magazines of the day—LIFE, Look,
Saturday Evening Post and Harper's Bazaar—published
his work.
Willoughby's creations grace the exhibits in more than 500
museums in more than 50 countries around the world.
When first meeting Audrey, Willoughby said, "She took my
hand and dazzled me with a smile that God designed to melt
mortal men's hearts.
"The amazing instant contact she always made was a
remarkable gift, and I know from talking to others that it
was felt by all who met her."
Audrey had made a big impression with the studio brass in
the 1953 William Wyler film "Roman Holiday". She won an
Oscar for Best Actress as Princess Ann in her film debut
playing opposite Gregory Peck.
In the next 15 years, she would be nominated for 4 Best
Actress Oscars for her work as Sabrina Fairchild in
"Sabrina" (1954), Sister Luke in "The Nun's Story" (1959),
Holly Golightly in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961), and
Susy Hendrix in "Wait Until Dark" (1967).
She also won a Golden Globe for Best Drama Actress in Roman
Holiday and had an additional 6 Golden Globe nominations as
Best Actress. Lesser known is the fact that Audrey was one
of the few entertainers to have won an Emmy, a Grammy and a
Tony Award as well as an Oscar.
Bob Willoughby's formal and candid photographs of Audrey
Hepburn will stand the test of time as some of the greatest
ever taken of a woman and an actress. He said that Audrey
never took a bad photograph, or even a mediocre one.
"She could sit next to an old ladder on the set and look
terrific," said Willoughby. With designs by Hubert de
Givenchy, the world's most smashing woman wore the world's
most smashing fashions.
She became the most charming, disarming, altogether
friendly and charismatic superstar ever to grace a
Hollywood production. According to Willoughby, everyone
liked Audrey and remained loyal to her. The best directors
and the world's greatest designers sought to work with her.
It was said that all of her leading men fell in love with
her, including Gregory Peck, William Holden, Anthony
Perkins, Rex Harrison and Albert Finney.
When making "My Fair Lady" Audrey would not be recognized
for her role as Eliza Doolittle. She had been promised that
she could sing her songs in the film, but Marni Nixon was
ultimately contracted to perform Eliza's vocals.
Julie Andrews had played the role of Eliza in the stage
production of the Lerner and Loewe musical, but she lost
the role to Audrey in the film. It was perhaps no accident
that the Best Actress Oscar that year went to Julie Andrews
for her role as Mary Poppins.
My Fair Lady cost $17 million to make in 1964, an
astounding investment in its day. It became Warner Brothers
highest-grossing film at the time, and would go on to earn
12 Oscar nominations and win 8 Oscars. Many film historians
consider My Fair Lady to be the last great musical of
Hollywood's studio era.
Audrey would marry twice and have a son by both Mel Ferrer,
the actor/director, and Andrea Dotti, an Italian
psychiatrist. She suffered 4 miscarriages during her
13-year marriage to Mel Ferrer.
In her early life, Audrey's parents would divorce and her
mother took her and her two stepbrothers to London and then
to the Netherlands, where her mother was a bona fide Dutch
baroness. In 1940, Germany invaded the Netherlands and the
horror of war would surround her.
She danced in clandestine locations to raise money for the
Dutch Resistance. One of her stepbrothers was sent to a
German labor camp, and her uncle and one of her mother's
cousins were shot and killed for participating in the
Resistance.
The Germans seized food and fuel when the Netherlands was
already suffering a winter famine. Audrey would suffer
malnutrition, anemia and frequent bouts of depression. She
was 10 years old when World War II started and remained
fragile her entire life as a result of her wartime
experience.
Some believe her final act in life was her best when she
was named UNICEF's International Goodwill Ambassador in
1988. Audrey would travel around the world on 50+ missions
to bring attention to the world's suffering children. The
sight of children dying from hunger in distant lands was
devastating; she had once been one of those children and
survived.
"I want people to know that the largest part of humanity is
suffering," said Audrey. Despite being terribly ill
herself, she continued to go on missions. She would die of
colon cancer in 1993, four months before her 64th birthday.
When she died, the world lost a great human being.
Bob Willoughby said it best: "She left those who came into
contact with her better for having known her. I miss her to
this day." Amen, Bob, amen.
----------------------------------------------------
Read my movie reviews on families, including "My Big Fat
Greek Wedding", "Secondhand Lions", "The Chorus (Les
Choristes in French)" and "Waking Ned Devine". You will
smile, laugh, cry and feel better for the experience. Don't
just experience life, live life!
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http://www.edbagleyblog.com
http://www.edbagleyblog.MovieReviews.html
