Classic Move Legend Tribute: Audrey Hepburn

Happy Birthday to Classic Movie Legend, Audrey Hepburn, born May 4th, 1929!

In one way or another, classic movies have always been in my life. As a child The Wizard of Oz was my favorite movie and, like any kid with a favorite flick, I watched it obsessively. My mother was a huge Shirley Temple fan and became fond of humming “The Good Ship Lollipop” while toiling away at her daily chores. My first grade teacher was fond of making Three Stooges references, which, of course, went right over our 7 year old heads. So, you see, it’s hard to pin-point my first exposure to the world of classic movies. However, I can pin-point the moment I became a classic movie fan.

The year is 2003 and I am a bored 7^th grader on a Sunday morning. Flipping through the channels, I land on a movie called Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I decide to stop and watch it for one reason. That reason being “and as I recall I think, we both kind o’ liked it.” For those of you who are confused, those are lyrics from the one-hit-wonder alt-rock band Deep Blue Something. The song is “Breakfast at Tifffany’s” and it was huge during the 90’s. So, wanting to see if I would “kind o’ like it,” I watched it.

Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961, Blake Edwards director)

And, well, I loved it. Sure, I found a few things dated or inappropriate, but overall I fell in love with the glamor of it all. Or rather I should say the glamor of Audrey Hepburn. Immediately, I thought this woman was both the most gorgeous and the most stylish person I had ever seen. I wanted every single dress she wore in the film and I wanted to have an apartment exactly like hers when I grew up. And the film itself, with its Technicolor pastel palette, had such an ethereal quality to it, I saw it almost as a dream. Yes, the movie made a lasting impression on me and soon I began to devour any Hepburn film I could and within a month I had seen Sabrina, Funny Face, Charade and My Fair Lady. What can I say? I was completely enamored. And from there I became even more obsessed with other stars, directors, and pretty much all things classic movies. Soon, I was watching at least two classic films a week and soon after I entered high school, I knew I wanted to attend college for film. Strange to think that it all started because of a 90’s band crooning about an Audrey Hepburn movie, right?

Audrey Hepburn, winner of “Most Perfect”