Audrey Hepburn remains one of the most beloved actors to ever grace the screen nearly 30 years after her death. The iconic actress died on Jan. 20, 1993, of appendiceal cancer. She was 63. Hepburn's performances left their mark on cinema, and remain a whole lot of fun to watch to this day. In her honor, let's take a look back at some of her most memorable work.
Directed by William Wyler
The romantic comedy starring fellow classic Hollywood icon Gregory Peck introduced Hepburn to the world, and had everyone falling in love with her signature grace and charm. The 1953 romantic comedy features Hepburn as Princess Ann, a sheltered royal who escapes her guards in Rome only to be discovered by Joe Bradley (Peck), an eager reporter. Joe shows her around Rome, and the two wind up falling in love in spectacular fashion.
The film received 10 Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture. It won 3 Oscars, one for Best Writing and another for Best Costume. Hepburn won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance as Princess Ann. The film was the start of her collaborations with legendary director William Wyler. Wyler went on to direct her in two more of her greatest roles, The Children’s Hour and How to Steal a Million.
Directed by Billy Wilder
The 1954 romantic comedy stars Hepburn as the title character Sabrina, the daughter of a chauffeur for the wealthy Larrabee family, who's in love with playboy David Larrabee (William Holden). Of course, she ends up delightfully falling for David's brother, Linus (Humphrey Bogart). Hepburn and Bogart's chemistry is electric and Billy Wilder’s filmmaking is, as it usually is, in top form. The film received six Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Hepburn, and two for Billy Wilder (one for Best Writing and another for Best Director). The film won the Oscar for Best Costume Design. The popular film even spawned a 1995 remake with Julia Ormond as Sabrina, Harrison Ford as Linus, and Greg Kinnear – in his first starring film role – as David.
Directed by Stanley Donen
The 1957 musical film is a standout thanks to Hepburn and co-star Fred Astaire's incredible performances. Hepburn, a trained ballerina, shows off her unmatched elegance in her role as a bookstore clerk in Paris who inspires a visiting American photographer (Astaire). Hepburn also sings her own songs in the film, which was her first musical. The film received four Academy Award nominations, including one for its stunning cinematography.
Directed by Fred Zinnemann
This drama showcases Hepburn's acting abilities like no other and is considered one of -- if not her most -- challenging film roles. Hepburn considered the film to be one of her favorites. She plays Sister Luke, the daughter of a prominent Belgian surgeon, who decides to enter a convent in the Congo. Hepburn may not be her usual, glamorous, impeccably stylish self in the film, yet she does bring her superb acting chops to the role, expertly conveying her character's constant struggles throughout the film. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including one for Best Picture, one for Best Director, and one for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Hepburn.
Directed by Blake Edwards
Hepburn's most recognizable film has her playing Holly Golighty, a New York socialite who falls for a struggling writer (George Peppard) in the 1961 adaptation of Truman Capote’s novella. Although it's marred by the derogatory and offensive portrayal of Hepburn's character's landlord, Mr. Yunioshi (Mickey Rooney in makeup and wearing a prosthetic mouthpiece), it's proven to be an unforgettable romantic comedy-drama thanks to its iconic and timeless fashion. Hepburn, in a Givenchy little black dress and gloves, wearing a tiara and sunglasses, and carrying a long cigarette holder, is an image that is still instantly captivating -- and every cool girl's go-to Halloween costume.
The film received five Academy Award nominations, including one for Hepburn for Best Actress in a Leading Role. The film won two Oscars, one for Best Score, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, as well as Best Original Song for Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer's timeless classic ballad "Moon River." The film also won five GRAMMY Awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year, for "Moon River."
Directed by William Wyler
The 1961 romantic drama stars Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine as best friends who open a private school for girls. When one of the students is punished, she lies and claims that Karen (Hepburn) and Martha (MacLaine) are in a lesbian relationship, which causes parents to withdraw their children from the school, and complicates Karen's engagement to a doctor (James Garner). The film is groundbreaking given that Martha ends up acknowledging that she is in fact in love with Karen and is a lesbian.
The Children’s Hour was remarkably the first film produced after the lifting of the Hays Code, a self-imposed industry set of guidelines for all motion pictures released between 1934 and 1968. While the code -- which prohibited such things as profanity and suggestive nudity -- didn't outright state that depictions of homosexuality were against the code, it did bar the depiction of any kind of sexual perversion or deviance, which homosexuality fell under at the time. Hepburn and MacLaine’s sensitive performances as Karen and Martha are a must-see in this devastating tale of unrequited love. The film received five Academy Award nominations, including one for Fay Bainter for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
Directed by Stanley Donen
In Charade, Hepburn stars alongside another Hollywood icon, Cary Grant. The 1963 romantic comedy-mystery features the two working together to solve the mystery of who killed her husband, and – you guessed it – falling for one another. The film is a departure from her usual, lighter roles, and, much like in The Nun's Story, allows Hepburn to truly flex her versatility. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer’s “Charade.”
Directed by George Cukor
Hepburn went on to star in another classic, the 1964 musical My Fair Lady, which received a whopping 12 Academy Award nominations, winning a grand total of eight Oscars, including the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor. Hepburn plays Eliza Doolittle, a poor Cockney flower-seller, while Rex Harrison plays Henry Higgins, a callous phonetics professor, who bets that he can teach her to speak "proper" English, and make her presentable to high society in London. Eliza takes the speech lessons to improve her job prospects. The two initially clash, though their chemistry ultimately becomes undeniable.
Directed by William Wyler
The 1966 heist film once again has Hepburn's incredible style on display. In the underrated film, Hepburn stars as Nicole Bonnet, the daughter of an art forger (Hugh Griffith), who teams up with Simon Dermott (Peter O’Toole), a burglar, to steal one of her father’s forgeries. Hepburn’s clothes in the film were designed by Givenchy, and the chic looks are the epitome of '60s glam.
Hepburn is known for her close relationship with French fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy, who first designed the iconic strapless floral gown her character wears in Sabrina, when the two were still at the beginning of their careers. He became her muse, and aside from designing her looks for her roles in Breakfast at Tiffany's, Funny Face, and a few of her other films, he created some of the style icon's most memorable off-screen looks as well. One of her most stunning appearances was in the white floral Givenchy gown she wore to the 26th Oscars in 1954, when she won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in Roman Holiday.
Directed by Stanley Donen
The 1967 British romantic drama revolves around couple Joanna and Mark (Hepburn and Albert Finney) looking back on their 12-year relationship while on a road trip. It's notable for its non-linear timeline, which jumps into different times in their lengthy relationship, and not in order. Viewers are brilliantly shown how their relationship has evolved over time, which includes the depiction of their changing social status. The film is both funny and brutally sad as viewers see the highs and lows of their troubled marriage, and displays Hepburn's more mature acting abilities -- leaving no doubt that she could play much more than just young, charming and naive characters. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (the category is now called Best Original Screenplay).
