Audrey Hepburn as Suzy
Susie's husband is asked to hold a doll for a woman as they get off an airplane. She disappears. Mike and Carlino are small time hoods who find the woman's body in Susie's apartment, placed there by her partner, Harry Rote. Susie's blindness is the key to them searching the apartment for the doll that contains smuggled drugs. Mike pretends to be an old friend of Susie's husband while her husband is away and together the crooks invent a story of a police investigation of her husband that only the discovery of the now missing doll can save him from. Rote is a killer, and his stalking of Susie becomes more and more obvious as the story unfolds, leaving us with the question, how does a blind woman defend herself?
Biography for Audrey Hepburn
Date of birth
4 May 1929
Brussels, Belgium
Date of death
20 January 1993
Tolochenaz, Switzerland.
Birth name
Andrey Kathleen Ruston
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Audrey Hepburn was born on May 4, 1929 in Brussels, Belgium. She really was blue-blood from the beginning with her father, a wealthy English banker, and her mother, a Dutch baroness. After her parents divorced, Audrey went to London with her mother where she went to a private girls school. Later, when her mother moved back to the Netherlands, she attended private schools as well. While vacationing with her mother in Arnhem, Holland, Hitler's army took over the town. It was here that she fell on hard times during the Nazi occupation. Audrey suffered from depression and malnutrition. After the liberation, Audrey went to a ballet school in London on a scholarship and later began a modeling career. As a model, she was graceful and, it seemed, she had found her niche in life--until the film producers came calling.
After being spotted modeling by a producer, she was signed to a bit part in the European film Nederlands in 7 lessen (1948) in 1948. Later, she had a speaking role in the 1951 film, Young Wives' Tale (1951) as Eve Lester. The part still wasn't much, so she headed to America to try her luck there. Audrey gained immediate prominence in the US with her role in Roman Holiday (1953) in 1953. This film turned out to be a smashing success as she won an Oscar as Best Actress. This gained her enormous popularity and more plum roles. One of the reasons for her popularity was the fact that she was so elf like and had class, unlike the sex-goddesses of the time. Roman Holiday was followed by another similarly wonderful performance in the 1957 classic Funny Face (1957). 0047437, in 1954, for which she received another Academy nomination, and Love in the Afternoon (1957), in 1957, also garnered rave reviews. In 1959, she received yet another nomination for her role in _Nun's Story (1959).
Audrey reached the pinnacle of her career when she played Holly Golightly in the delightful film, Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) in 1961. For this she received another nomination. One of Audrey's most radiant roles was in the fine production of My Fair Lady (1964), in 1964. Her co-star Rex Harrison once was asked to identify his favorite leading lady. Without hesitation, he replied, "Audrey Hepburn in MY FAIR LADY". After a couple of other movies, she hit pay dirt and another nomination in 1967's Wait Until Dark (1967). By the end of the sixties, after her divorce from actor Mel Ferrer, Audrey decided to retire while she was on top.
Later she married Dr. Andrea Dotti. From time to time, she would appear on the silver screen. One film of note was Robin and Marian (1976) with Sean Connery in 1976. In 1988, Audrey became a special ambassador to the United Nations UNICEF fund helping children in Latin America and Africa, a position she retained until 1993. She was named to People's magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. Her last film was Always (1989) in 1989. Audrey Hepburn died on January 20, 1993 in Tolochnaz, Switzerland, from colon cancer. She had made a total of 31 high quality movies. Her elegance and style will always be remembered in film history as evidenced by her being named to Empire magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time".
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trivia
Was first choice for the lead in Taste of Honey, A (1961).
(October 1997) Ranked #50 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.
(1990) Chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world.
After "Wait Until Dark" was offered the leads in "Forty Carats, " "Nicholas and Alexandria" and "The Turning Point" but decided to stay in retirement and raise her sons.
Turned down the film "Gigi" after creating the character in the Broadway nonmusical play.
Everyone remembers when Marilyn Monroe serenaded President John F. Kennedy on his birthday in 1962. What is often forgotten is that Audrey Hepburn sang "Happy Birthday Mr. President" to JFK for his final birthday in 1963.
Had a breed of tulip named after her in 1990.
Died on January 20, 1993, the 67th birthday of Patricia Neal. They starred together in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961).
Audrey Hepburn 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 childish 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.
Is descended from a long line of royals, her mother was a baroness and Audrey is related to, among others, Queen Wilhemina of Holland and Mary Queen of Scots
Was briefly considered for the main role in Cleopatra (1963) but the part went to Elizabeth Taylor
Audrey felt that she was miscast as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) although it was one of her most popular roles.
Fell in love with William Holden, her co-star in Sabrina (1954) but broke off the relationship on learning that Holden could not have children.
Broke her back during filming of a horse-riding scene in Unforgiven, The (1960)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Personal quotes
"I never thought I'd land in pictures with a face like mine."
"I was asked to act when I couldn't act. I was asked to sing 'Funny Face' when I couldn't sing and dance with Fred Astaire when I couldn't dance - and do all kinds of things I wasn't prepared for. Then I tried like mad to cope with it."
"Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, it's at the end of your arm, as you get older, remember you have another hand: The first is to help yourself, the second is to help others."
"I liked her a lot; in fact, I loved Audrey. It was easy to love her" - Gregory Peck
"In a cruel and imperfect world, she was living proof that God could still create perfection." - Rex Reed
"She was the first to make something that's not sexy, sexy." - Cynthia Rowley
"'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". - Henry Mancini
"My own life has been much more than a fairy tale. I've had my share of difficult moments, but whatever difficulties I've gone through, I've always gotten a prize at the end."
"For me, the only things of interest are those linked to the heart."
Her screen presence was defined, in the words of Gregory Peck, as "a magical combination of high chic and high spirits".
"I probably hold the distinction of being one movie star who, by all laws of logic, should never have made it. At each stage of my career, I lacked the experience."
"After so many drive-in waitresses - it has been a real drought - here is class, somebody who went to school, can spell, and possibly play the piano... She's a wispy, thin little thing, but you're really in the presence of somebody when you see that girl." - Billy Wilder
"There was proof that looking good need not be synonymous with looking bimbo. Thanks to their first glimpse of Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday, half a generation of young females stopped stuffing their bras and teetering on stiletto heels." - New York Times
"I know I have more sex appeal on the tip of my nose than many women in their entire bodies. It doesn't stand out a mile, but it's there." "Success is like reaching an important birthday and finding you're exactly the same." "My look is attainable. Women can look like Audrey Hepburn by flipping out their hair, buying the large sunglasses, and the little sleeveless dresses." "I never think of myself as an icon. What is in other people's minds is not in my mind. I just do my thing." "I was born with an enormous need for affection, and a terrible need to give it."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Salary
My Fair Lady (1964) $ 1.1 million
Unforgiven, The (1960) $200,000
War and Peace (1956) $130,000
Sabrina (1954) $15,000
Biography from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia: When thinking of this dark, almost luminously beautiful actress, especially as a young woman, the words "waiflike" and "gamine" frequently spring to mind. It's true that Hepburn's large, hypnotic eyes, slender figure, and distinctive voice marked her as a true original in an era when Marilyn Monroe was everyone's favorite pinup, but physical attributes don't explain her appeal. Winsome, delicate almost to fragility, she brought to her performances an effortless charm perhaps best described as ethereal. A former ballet dancer, Hepburn broke into movies in 1948, playing bits in several European and English productions, most notably a walk-on in the opening scene of The Lavender Hill Mob (1951). In 1953, she came to Hollywood to star as the princess on the run in Roman Holiday she subsequently won an Oscar for the role, confirming her newfound stardom.
Hepburn opted to work at a leisurely pace, seeking a variety of roles; these include a chauffeur's daughter in Sabrina (1954, which brought her another Oscar nomination), Natasha in War and Peace (1956), a Greenwich Village intellectual in Funny Face (1957, in which she sang and danced with Fred Astaire), a Parisian romantic in Love in the Afternoon (also 1957), a South American "bird woman" in Green Mansions (1959, one of her best remembered-if least successful films), the lead role in The Nun's Story (1959, another Academy Award nomination), a half-Indian in The Unforgiven (1960), the blithe Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961, which snagged her yet another Oscar nod), a newly widowed target in Charade (1963), Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady (1964), a bickering wife in the delicious Two for the Road (1967). It was she who asked Henry Mancini to compose the (memorable) score for that movie, as he had for several of her best films; it was also she who fought to keep "Moon River" from being cut from Breakfast at Tiffany's She introduced that Oscarwinning Mancini-Johnny Mercer song in the film, in her own pleasing voice, but when she starred in My Fair Lady it was decided that she had to be dubbed!
Hepburn earned her final Oscar nomination playing a terrorized blind woman in Wait Until Dark (1967), which was produced by her longtime husband Mel Ferrer (who also acted with her in War and Peace and directed her in Green Mansions). Soon after, she divorced him, and began to devote herself to a variety of causes, notably world hunger. She became a tireless supporter of UNICEF and traveled the world raising funds and calling attention to the plight of needy children. More or less retired, she was lured back to the camera occasionally-as an aging Maid Marian opposite Sean Connery in Robin and Marian (1976), another damsel in distress in Bloodline (1979), an elegant jewel thief in the made-for-TV Love Among Thieves (1987), or as an angel in Always (1989)-but seemed content to stay busy with more important things than movies. She appeared with her son Sean Ferrer in Peter Bogdanovich's They All Laughed (1981). Just months after her death, he appeared on stage to accept her posthumous Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 1993 Oscar ceremony.
Audrey Hepburn Story, The (2000) (TV) (archive footage) (uncredited) .... Herself in UNICEF footage
If These Walls Could Talk 2 (2000) (TV) (archive footage) (uncredited) .... Footage from The Children's Hour (segment "1961")
Intimate Portrait: Audrey Hepburn (1996) (TV) (archive footage) .... Herself
Roger Moore: A Matter of Class (1995) (TV) (archive footage) .... Herself
Making of 'My Fair Lady', The (1994) (V) (archive footage) .... Herself
Audrey Hepburn: Remembered (1993) (TV) .... Herself
"Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn" (1993) (mini) TV Series .... Host
... aka "Gardens of the World" (1993) (mini) (USA: short title)
64th Annual Academy Awards, The (1992) (TV) (uncredited) .... Presenter - Honorary Award to Satyajit Ray
Fred Astaire Songbook, The (1991) (TV) .... Host
Always (1989) .... Hap
Love Among Thieves (1987) (TV) .... Baroness Caroline DuLac
Directed by William Wyler (1986) .... Herself
Salute to Billy Wilder, A (1986) (TV) .... Herself
... aka 14th American Film Institute Life Achievement Award: A Salute to Billy Wilder (1986) (TV) (USA: complete title)
They All Laughed (1981) .... Angela Niotes
Bloodline (1979) .... Elizabeth Roffe
... aka Blutspur (1979) (West Germany)
... aka Sidney Sheldon's Bloodline (1979)
Robin and Marian (1976) .... Lady Marian
Salute to William Wyler, A (1976) (TV) .... Herself
... aka 4th American Film Institute Life Achievement Award: A Salute to William Wyler, The (1976) (TV) (USA: complete title)
World of Love, A (1971) (TV) .... Host
Wait Until Dark (1967) .... Suzy Hendrix
Two for the Road (1967) .... Joanna Wallace
How to Steal a Million (1966) .... Nicole Bonnet
... aka How to Steal a Million Dollars and Live Happily Ever After (1966)
Love Goddesses, The (1965) .... Herself
... aka Love Goddesses: A History of Sex in the Cinema, The (1965)
My Fair Lady (1964) .... Eliza Doolittle
Paris - When It Sizzles (1964) .... Gabrielle Simpson
Charade (1963) .... Regina 'Reggie' Lampert
Children's Hour, The (1961) .... Karen Wright
... aka Loudest Whisper, The (1961) (UK)
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) .... Holly Golightly (Lulamae Barnes)
Unforgiven, The (1960) .... Rachel Zachary
Green Mansions (1959) .... Rima
Nun's Story, The (1959) .... Sister Luke (Gabrielle van der Mal)
Love in the Afternoon (1957) .... Ariane Chavasse
Funny Face (1957) .... Jo Stockton
War and Peace (1956) .... Natasha Rostov
... aka Guerra e pace (1956) (Italy)
Sabrina (1954) .... Sabrina Fairchild
... aka Sabrina Fair (1954) (UK)
Roman Holiday (1953) .... Princess Ann aka Anya Smith
Secret People, The (1952) .... Nora
... aka Secret People (1952)
Nous irons � Monte Carlo (1952) .... Melissa Walter
... aka We Will All Go to Monte Carlo (1952) (International: English title)
Lavender Hill Mob, The (1951) .... Chiquita
Monte Carlo Baby (1951) .... Linda Farrel
One Wild Oat (1951) .... Hotel Receptionist
Young Wives' Tale (1951) .... Eve Lester
Laughter in Paradise (1951) .... Cigarette girl
Nederlands in 7 lessen (1948) (uncredited) .... KLM stewardess
... aka Dutch in Seven Lessons (1948) (International: English title)