AUDREY HEPBURN

AS ROMAN HOLIDAY TURNS 70 THE LEGENDARY MOVIE STAR AND FASHION ICON'S SON OPENS UP ABOUT HER LIFE, LOVES AND LEGACY

- DAGMAR DUNLEVY

When Audrey Hepburn showed up onscreen as a free-spirited princess opposite Gregory Peck as a gentlemanly reporter in the 1953 romance Roman Holiday, she took the world by storm. The young British actress’s mesmerizing onscreen presence not only earned her an Oscar but paved her path to Hollywood greatness. It established her as a sought-after leading lady – opposite movie stars like Cary Grant and Humphrey Bogart – and an enduring style icon who popularized pixie haircuts, cropped pants and little black dresses.

“Here is class,” her Sabrina director Billy Wilder once said of Audrey’s unequivocal reign. “She’s a wispy, thin little thing, but you’re really in the presence of somebody when you see that girl.”

Seven decades on, Audrey’s aura still shines in Tinseltown and beyond, with A-listers like Lily Collins and Anne Hathaway channelling her unique look, and classics like Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Funny Face continuing to inspire new generations.

“She was a movie star when movie stars still existed – and that means a persona that is bigger than life,” her eldest son, Sean Hepburn Ferrer, 63, tells Hello! Canada of Audrey’s extraordinary legacy.