A rare handwritten note, dated May 6th 1989, by Audrey Hepburn (1929 - 1993), the British actress recognised as both a film and fashion icon, who was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend from Classical Hollywood cinema and was inducted into the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame. There is an inscription 'Dearest Val', but as you can see from the scans, it could easily be matted out for display purposes. This is a hard-to-find autograph now, and this lovely, bold example is perfect for mounting and framing with a portrait or scene, to make a fabulous display piece.
Born Edda Hepburn-Ruston, in Brussels, daughter of the second marriage of Baroness Ella Van Heemstra to an English banker, Audrey spent the Second World War in Holland before coming to England to study ballet. A job in the chorus line of a West End revue led to her signing with Associated British studios, and several small film parts. Whilst filming in the south of France, a chance encounter with writer Colette led to her being whisked to Broadway to star in Gigi, the hit stage version of Colette’s novel. America adored her, and two years later her US film debut in Roman Holiday won her 1953’s Best Actress Oscar – and nearly every other prize going. Almost every movie she made during the next 14 years was a hit; she was as good in epics as she was in musicals or light romantic comedies, and picked up a Golden Globe for My Fair Lady (1964) and four more Oscar nominations for Sabrina (1954), The Nun's Story (1959), Breakfast At Tiffany's (1961) and Wait Until Dark (1967).
In 1968, blaming her career for the failure of her marriage to actor Mel Ferrer, she returned to Europe, re-marrying the following year to a psychiatrist. For the next ten years Hepburn refused to work unless it was in Italy or Switzerland, but was eventually persuaded to make Robin and Marian, with Sean Connery, and a few other cameo appearances.
The latter years of her life were devoted to charity work, and she became a special ambassador for UNICEF. Her untiring work in this capacity, much of it in the field, had begun earning her worldwide admiration anew when she succumbed to colon cancer at age 63.
