Audrey Hepburn Net Worth
Publish date: 2024-07-28
| # | Fact |
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| 1 | Played by Caroline J. Smith in Hollywood Mouth 3 (2017). |
| 2 | Increased her smoking habit to 60 cigarettes a day while filming The Unforgiven (1960). |
| 3 | Spoke 5 languages: English, French, Spanish, Italian and Dutch. |
| 4 | Was to play the lead in a screen version of the Henry Cecil novel "No Bail for the Judge," which was to be Alfred Hitchcock's followup to North by Northwest. Hepburn was to play the daughter of an English judge who enlists the aid of a thief ( Laurence Harvey ) to exonerate her father, a High Court Judge who has been arrested for the murder of a prostitute. Hepburn dropped out of the project when she became pregnant, and that, along with subsequent changes in British law regarding prostitution, caused Hitchcock to lose interest in the project, and it was never made. A few years later Hepburn starred with Cary Grant in Charade (1963) , which is sometimes referred to as "the best Hitchcock film that Hitchcock never made.". |
| 5 | She accepted her final role as "Hap" in Always (1989) simply for the opportunity to work with Director Steven Spielberg. Hepburn was moved by Spielberg's film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) after taking her youngest son to see it in Rome, and remarked: "The man is a genius!" She vowed to work with him, ever since. |
| 6 | Hepburn is mentioned by name in the Frank Sinatra standard "Nancy with the Laughing Face.". |
| 7 | Is one of 26 actresses to have won an Academy Award for their performance in a comedy; hers being for Roman Holiday (1953). The others, in chronological order, are: Claudette Colbert (It Happened One Night (1934)), Loretta Young (The Farmer's Daughter (1947)), Josephine Hull (Harvey (1950)), Judy Holliday (Born Yesterday (1950)), Goldie Hawn (Cactus Flower (1969)), Glenda Jackson (A Touch of Class (1973)), Lee Grant (Shampoo (1975)), Diane Keaton (Annie Hall (1977)), Maggie Smith (California Suite (1978)), Mary Steenburgen (Melvin and Howard (1980)), Jessica Lange (Tootsie (1982)), Anjelica Huston (Prizzi's Honor (1985)), Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck (1987)), Cher (Moonstruck (1987)), Jessica Tandy (Driving Miss Daisy (1989)), Mercedes Ruehl (The Fisher King (1991)), Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny (1992)), Dianne Wiest (Bullets Over Broadway (1994)) Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite (1995)), Frances McDormand (Fargo (1996)), Helen Hunt (As Good as It Gets (1997)), Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love (1998)), Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love (1998)), Penélope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)), and Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook (2012)). |
| 8 | Was the 40th actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Actress Oscar for Roman Holiday (1953) at The 26th Annual Academy Awards (1954) on March 25, 1954. |
| 9 | Release of the biography, "Audrey Hepburn: An Elegant Spirit" by her son, Sean H. Ferrer. [2003] |
| 10 | Release of the biography, "Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn" by Donald Spoto. [2006] |
| 11 | Studied Ballet in London under Madame Rambert. |
| 12 | She never singled out any of her films as a favorite, but often spoke fondly of Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Roman Holiday (1953), Funny Face (1957), The Nun's Story (1959), and Charade (1963) in interviews. She reportedly did not enjoy working on The Unforgiven (1960) due to injuries sustained while shooting, and Wait Until Dark (1967) from the stress of her failing marriage. She was said to have also disappointed with the results of Paris When It Sizzles (1964) and Bloodline (1979). Nonetheless, she had a great reputation for her professionalism and almost always got along well with her co-stars and directors. |
| 13 | While working in a minor movie, We Go to Monte Carlo (1951), in Monaco in 1951, Hepburn was spotted by novelist Colette, who deemed her the ideal choice to play the title role in the upcoming Broadway version of her play "Gigi." Although she lacked experience and confidence, she ultimately got the part. |
| 14 | When Hepburn was in the final stages of her illness, the press took pictures of her while she was at home, and published the photos, much to the disapproval of everyone who knew her. |
| 15 | She auditioned for, and did a costume test for, the role of Lygia in Quo Vadis (1951), but M-G-M turned her down because she was too unknown at the time and went with Deborah Kerr. |
| 16 | Ranked #82 in Men's Health 100 Hottest Women of All Time (2011). |
| 17 | Is one of 15 actresses to have won the Triple Crown of Acting (an Oscar, Emmy and Tony); the others in chronological order are Helen Hayes, Ingrid Bergman, Shirley Booth, Liza Minnelli, Rita Moreno, Maureen Stapleton, Jessica Tandy, Anne Bancroft, Vanessa Redgrave, Maggie Smith, Ellen Burstyn, Helen Mirren, Frances McDormand and Jessica Lange. |
| 18 | In addition to her first son Sean H. Ferrer, Hepburn became pregnant another four times by her husband Mel Ferrer (in 1954, 1958, 1965, and 1967). However, she suffered miscarriages on all of those occasions. She fell pregnant twice with Dr. Andrea Dotti; giving birth in 1970 to her second son, Luca, but miscarried in 1974. |
| 19 | Art was one of her longtime hobbies, she drew pictures of stories when she was a child to distract herself from chronic hunger pains during WWII. As an adult, she took up painting to pass time while pregnant with her son, Luca. Samples of her work can be seen in the book "Audrey Hepburn: An Elegant Spirit". |
| 20 | She donated all the salaries she earned for her final projects to UNICEF (Love Among Thieves (1987), Always (1989), and Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn (1993)). |
| 21 | Is one of the only 12 people who are an EGOT, which means that she won at least one of all of the four major American entertainment awards: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. The other ones in chronological order are Richard Rodgers, Barbra Streisand, Helen Hayes, Rita Moreno, Liza Minnelli, John Gielgud, Marvin Hamlisch, Jonathan Tunick, Mel Brooks, Mike Nichols and Whoopi Goldberg. Streisand, however, won a Special Tony Award, not a competitive one, and Minnelli won a Special Grammy. |
| 22 | During his acceptance speech honoring her work for UNICEF, Sean H. Ferrer dedicated his mother's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to "the children of the world". |
| 23 | Suffered from hydrophobia, a condition that severely hampered some of her scenes in Two for the Road (1967). When a shot called for co-star Albert Finney to throw Hepburn into a swimming pool, divers were placed on standby (off-camera) just to placate the actress after it was learned that she had a morbid fear of water. |
| 24 | Returned to work nine months after giving birth to her son Sean H. Ferrer in order to begin filming Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). |
| 25 | Her last humanitarian mission for UNICEF was to Somalia in September 1992. She was reported to have begun experiencing stomach pains towards the end of the trip, leading to her cancer diagnosis, two months later. |
| 26 | Nearly married James (later Lord) Hanson, a businessman, after filming Roman Holiday (1953). An ivory satin wedding gown was designed by the Fontana sisters, but Hepburn called off the wedding at the last minute. |
| 27 | In December 1992, President George Bush presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work for UNICEF. She did not attend the ceremony, due to being ill with cancer. |
| 28 | Was a three-pack-a-day smoker. |
| 29 | Was a close friend of Gregory Peck, Ben Gazzara and French actress Capucine. |
| 30 | Was considered for the part of Tony Gromeko in Doctor Zhivago (1965), but Geraldine Chaplin was cast instead. |
| 31 | Won a 1968 Special Tony Award (New York City). |
| 32 | Broke her back during filming of a horse-riding scene in The Unforgiven (1960). |
| 33 | Hepburn was offered the role of a Japanese bride opposite Marlon Brando in Sayonara (1957) but turned it down. She later explained that she "couldn't possibly play an Oriental. No one would believe me; they'd laugh. It's a lovely script, however, I know what I can and can't do. And if you did persuade me, you would regret it, because I would be terrible". |
| 34 | Once admitted that she would not have accepted the role of Eliza Dolittle in My Fair Lady (1964) if she had known that producer Jack L. Warner planned to have all of her singing dubbed. |
| 35 | Was friends with Eva Gabor. |
| 36 | Scottish writer A.J. Cronin was godfather of Sean H. Ferrer, her first child. |
| 37 | Met future husband Mel Ferrer at a party hosted by Gregory Peck. It was Ferrer who sent Hepburn the script for "Ondine", which Hepburn agreed to play on Broadway, in which the couple co-starred. |
| 38 | As of 2007, she and Katharine Hepburn are the only "Best Actress" Oscar-winners to share a last name. Of course, they are not related. |
| 39 | She was presented with her 1953 Best Actress Oscar for "Roman Holiday" by actor and humanitarian Jean Hersholt. Forty years later she would posthumously receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for her work with UNICEF. |
| 40 | In Italy she was almost exclusively dubbed by Maria Pia Di Meo, except in her first two films (Roman Holiday (1953) (Vacanze Romane) and Sabrina (1954)) and in Green Mansions (1959) (Verdi dimore), where she was dubbed by Fiorella Betti. |
| 41 | Saved the life of her friend Capucine, who attempted suicide on several occasions. |
| 42 | Godmother of Victoria Brynner, the daughter of Doris Kleiner and Yul Brynner. |
| 43 | Was voted "most beautiful woman of all time" by the readers of "New Woman" magazine (2006). |
| 44 | Her famous "little black dress" from Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), designed by Hubert de Givenchy, was sold at a Christie's auction for approximately $920,000 (5 December 2006). |
| 45 | The US Postal Service issued a 37 cent commemorative stamp honoring her as a Hollywood legend and humanitarian (2003). |
| 46 | From 1980 until her death, she lived together in Switzerland with her partner, Dutch actor Robert Wolders. |
| 47 | Hepburn was diagnosed with appendiceal cancer on November 1, 1992 (not colon cancer, as it is often mistakenly called). The cancer spread into the lining of her small intestine. She had one foot of intestine removed in surgery and went through chemotherapy, but in a second surgery it was decided that the cancer had spread too far and could not be treated. Her son Sean H. Ferrer believes it had probably been developing over the course of the previous five years. |
| 48 | Asked for the part of Emma Jacklin in The Turning Point (1977) but Anne Bancroft had already been cast in the role. |
| 49 | Her performance as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) is ranked #32 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006). |
| 50 | According to director William Friedkin, Audrey was Warner Bros. first choice for the role of Chris MacNeil in The Exorcist (1973) after her box-office successes with the studio's productions The Nun's Story (1959), My Fair Lady (1964) and Wait Until Dark (1967). She would only agree to star if the film were made in Rome, so that she would be able to remain home to raise her sons. Both Friedkin and writer William Peter Blatty rejected the proposal, and eventually cast Ellen Burstyn. |
| 51 | Turned down the title role in Gigi (1958) to make Funny Face (1957). Ironically, her agent initially rejected the film, but Hepburn overrode the decision after reading the script. Her mother, Baroness Ella Van Heemstra, makes a cameo appearance as a sidewalk café patron, and her Yorkshire terrier "Mr. Famous" appears as the dog in the basket during the "Anna Karenina" train shot. Hepburn did not want to be separated from husband Mel Ferrer, so filming of the Paris scenes was timed to coincide with Ferrer's filming of Elena and Her Men (1956). Paris' unseasonably rainy weather had to be worked into the script, particularly during the balloons photo shoot scene. During filming of the Paris scenes, much of the crew and cast were on edge because of riots and political violence that were gripping the city. The soggy weather played havoc with the shooting of the wedding dress dance scene. Both Fred Astaire and Hepburn were continually slipping in the muddy and slippery grass. In "Funny Face" she was lucky enough to sing several songs. Her next full musical, My Fair Lady (1964), had her singing voice dubbed by Marni Nixon, much to Hepburn's disappointment. The face portrait unveiled in the darkroom scene was photographed by Richard Avedon. The film was shot back-to-back with Love in the Afternoon (1957). |
| 52 | According to her biography, "Audrey Hepburn: An Intimate Portrait", she made a vow to herself never to exceed 103 pounds. With the exception of her pregnancies, she succeeded. |
| 53 | Her character in Funny Face (1957) was inspired by Suzy Parker, who made a fashionable cameo appearance in the film (her first film) in the "Think Pink" sequence. |
| 54 | When she failed to receive an Academy Award nomination for her role as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady (1964), Katharine Hepburn wired her with a message of encouragement: "Don't worry about it. You'll get it one day for a part that doesn't rate it." Ironically, when Audrey's next (and last) nomination came for Wait Until Dark (1967) in 1967, Hepburn beat her in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) - in a part that arguably didn't rate it. |
| 55 | Is portrayed by Jennifer Love Hewitt in The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000) |
| 56 | Her biggest film regret was not getting the Anne Bancroft role in The Turning Point (1977). "That was the one film", she later admitted, "that got away from me." |
| 57 | Was named #3 on The American Film Institute's 50 Greatest Screen Legends |
| 58 | She was voted the 18th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Premiere Magazine. |
| 59 | She owned a Yorkshire Terrier called "Mr. Famous". |
| 60 | Voted #1 in TheAge.com's Top 100: Natural Beauties of all time. |
| 61 | Followed winning the Academy Award for Roman Holiday (1953) with winning Broadway's 1954 Tony Award as Best Actress (Dramatic) for "Ondine." |
| 62 | Her father was of approximately one quarter English and three quarters Austrian descent. Her mother was Dutch, with remote French and English roots. Some reports incorrectly identified Audrey as having Irish ancestry on her paternal side (which even she believed), but her father's only ties to Ireland were having resided there in the latter part of his life. |
| 63 | As of 2005, she is one of only nine performers to win an Oscar, a Tony, an Emmy and a Grammy Award. |
| 64 | In 1996 the British magazine Harpers & Queen conducted a poll to find the most fascinating women of our time. She was in the #1 spot. |
| 65 | Was fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy's muse, who dressed her for the films Sabrina (1954), Funny Face (1957), Love in the Afternoon (1957), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Paris When It Sizzles (1964), How to Steal a Million (1966), Charade (1963) and Love Among Thieves (1987). |
| 66 | In 1993 she became the thirteenth performer to win the Triple Crown of Acting. Oscar - Best Actress for Roman Holiday (1953), Tony for Best Actress in a Play for "Ondine" (1954) and Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement |
| 67 | She was voted the 21st Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly. |
| 68 | Told People Magazine that she was very self-conscious about her size-10 feet. |
| 69 | Presented the Best Picture Oscar at the Academy Awards four times (in 1955, 1960, 1966, and 1975), more than any other actress. |
| 70 | During World War II, she lived in Arnhem, Netherlands. She worked with the Dutch Underground, giving ballet performances to collect donations for the anti-Nazi effort and as an occasional courier. She also received dance training and later studied ballet in London. |
| 71 | In 1954 she was presented with her Best Actress Oscar for Roman Holiday (1953) by Jean Hersholt. In 1993 she was posthumously awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. |
| 72 | During the battle of Arnhem, 16-year-old Audrey was a volunteer nurse in a Dutch hospital. The hospital received many wounded Allied soldiers, one of whom young Audrey helped nurse back to health was a young British paratrooper - and future director - named Terence Young. More than 20 years later, Young directed Hepburn in Wait Until Dark (1967). |
| 73 | Like Humphrey Bogart, Hepburn also starred in five of the movies listed by American Film Institute in its Top 100 U.S. love stories (2002). They are Roman Holiday (1953), ranked #4 on the list, Sabrina (1954) ranked #54, which co-starred Bogart, My Fair Lady (1964) ranked #12, Two for the Road (1967) at #57 and Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) #61. |
| 74 | Turned down a role in the film The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) because, as a young girl in the Netherlands during the war, she had witnessed Nazi soldiers publicly executing people in the streets and herding Jews onto railroad cars to be sent to the death camps. She said that participating in the film would bring back too many painful memories for her. Years later, in 1990, during her humanitarian career, she accompanied composer Michael Tilson Thomas and the New World Symphony orchestra to narrate portions of Frank's diary for a symphonic work he had written, "From The Diary of Anne Frank", which she performed on a small tour in the United States and London. Proceeds from all the concerts benefited UNICEF. |
| 75 | Henry Mancini said of her: "'Moon River' was written for her. No one else had ever understood it so completely. There have been more than a thousand versions of 'Moon River', but hers is inquestionably the greatest". |
| 76 | Was trained as a dental assistant before making it big. |
| 77 | Audrey felt that she was miscast as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) although it was one of her most popular roles. |
| 78 | She confessed to eating tulip bulbs and tried to bake grass into bread during the hard days of World War II. |
| 79 | Was briefly considered for the main role in Cleopatra (1963) but the part went to Elizabeth Taylor |
| 80 | Was fluent in English, Dutch, Spanish, French, and Italian. She was raised bilingually; speaking English and Dutch (resulting in her unique accent). Throughout her life, she used multilingualism to great advantage with international press in both her careers as an actress and humanitarian. |
| 81 | Christened simply Audrey Kathleen Ruston, her mother Baroness Ella Van Heemstra temporarily changed her daughter's name from "Audrey" to "Edda" during the war, feeling that "Audrey" might indicate her British roots too strongly. During the war, being English in occupied Netherlands was not an asset; it could have attracted the attention of the occupying German forces and resulted in confinement or even deportation. After the war her father Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston found documents about his ancestors, some of whom bore the name "Hepburn". This is when he added it to his name, which caused her daughter to have to add Hepburn to her legal name as well, thus Audrey Kathleen Hepburn-Ruston. |
| 82 | She won the 1953 Best Actress Academy Award for Roman Holiday (1953). On March 25th, 1954, she accepted the award from the much revered Academy president Jean Hersholt. After accepting the award, Audrey kissed him smack on the mouth, instead of the cheek, in her excitement. Minutes after accepting her 1953 Oscar, Audrey realized that she'd misplaced it. Turning quickly on the steps of the Center Theater in New York, she raced back to the ladies' room, retrieved the award, and was ready to pose for photographs. |
| 83 | Died on January 20, 1993, the day of Bill Clinton's first inauguration as President of the United States and the 67th birthday of Patricia Neal. They starred together in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). |
| 84 | Had a breed of tulip named after her in 1990. |
| 85 | Turned down the film Gigi (1958) after creating the character in the Broadway non musical play. |
| 86 | Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#8). [1995] |
| 87 | Interred in Tolochenaz, Vaud, Switzerland. |
| 88 | After Wait Until Dark (1967) was offered the leads in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969), 40 Carats (1973), Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), The Exorcist (1973), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), A Bridge Too Far (1977) and The Turning Point (1977) but decided to stay in retirement and raise her sons. |
| 89 | Chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world. [1990] |
| 90 | Son, Luca Dotti (b. 8 February 1970), with second husband, Dr. Andrea Dotti. |
| 91 | Mother of Sean H. Ferrer, with first husband, Mel Ferrer. |
| 92 | Ranked #50 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997] |
| 93 | Was first choice for the lead in A Taste of Honey (1961). |
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