This year’s financial statement – covering the 2023 financial year – contains a substantial monograph on Audrey Hepburn.
On the thirtieth anniversary of Audrey Hepburn’s death (2023), BPS°(SUISSE) remembers and celebrates a timeless icon of cinema and elegance, who continues to captivate the public with her grace, style and commitment to humanitarianism.
She was one of the most loved actresses of Hollywood’s golden age and won an Oscar in 1954 for her portrayal of Princess Anna in the film Roman°Holiday (1953). Her career spanned the theatre, classical cinema and contemporary productions, earning her unanimous praise for her extraordinary versatility and exceptional talent.
However, Audrey Hepburn’s legacy extends beyond her cinematic success. She dedicated much of her life to humanitarian missions that took her to Ethiopia, Sudan, Bangladesh, Vietnam and some of the poorest places on the planet. The actress was a UNICEF ambassador from 1988 until her death and helped to raise awareness on issues related to children’s rights and global hunger.
Audrey was also the muse of many fashion designers, in particular Hubert de Givenchy with whom, while filming Sabrina in 1954, she began “a chaste love story” that lasted a lifetime. Her style, defined by elegant clothing and refined simplicity, remains a source of inspiration on catwalks around the world.
In 1954, she won over theatre-goers with Ondine by Jean Giraudoux (which earned her a Tony Award) alongside Mel Ferrer who, in the same year, became her husband and with whom she welcomed her first son Sean in 1960. King Vidor then suggested she play the anxious Natasha in War and Peace (1955), while director Stanley Donen had her dance with Fred Astaire in Funny Face (1957). In 1960, she starred in The°Unforgiven.
Her iconic performance in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) set a bar for elegance that influences generations of artists and designers to this day. Her collaboration with director Blake Edwards and composer Henry Mancini on Breakfast at Tiffany’s produced one of the most unforgettable soundtracks in film history.
In 1963, she starred in Charade, followed by major releases such as My Fair Lady (1964), How to Steal a Million (1966), Two for the Road (1966) and Wait until Dark (1967).
In 1969, she married psychiatrist Andrea Dotti, and together they welcomed her second son Luca in 1970. Her love for her family and children led her to take a step back from the stage, accepting parts only sporadically, and to move to the beautiful “La Paisible”, a house in Tolochenaz in the Swiss canton of Vaud, where she spent the remainder of her life with her final partner Robert Wolders.
In 1989, she accepted a part in Always by Steven Spielberg, the film that marked her definitive farewell to the cinema in which she appears as an angel.
Hepburn’s death in 1993 aroused heartfelt emotion, ensuring her legend would last for eternity.
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