Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn » (Reprint)

Donald Spoto received his Ph.D. from Fordham University. He is the author of twenty-one books, including internationally bestselling biographies of Alfred Hitchcock, Tennessee Williams, Marlene Dietrich, Laurence Olivier, Marilyn Monroe and Ingrid Bergman. He is married to the Danish school administrator and artist Ole Flemming Larsen; they live in a quiet village, an hour’s drive from Copenhagen.

The most complete, illuminating biography of Audrey Hepburn s incredible life both on screen and off. With unprecedented access to those closest to her, internationally bestselling biographer Donald Spoto has crafted the most comprehensive and insightful biography of one of our greatest screen legends. From her childhood in Europe, where she escaped Hitler s occupation of the Netherlands on a ballet scholarship to London, to her discovery by Hollywood, and her star-making turn as Holly Golightly, Spoto traces the amazing life of a unique woman who continues to fascinate us.

Publishers Weekly

Celebrity biographer Spoto (The Art of Alfred Hitchcock) offers a sparkling, fawning life of the European gamine whom America took to instantly with her 1953 debut in Roman Holiday. Hepburn (1929-1993) held the irresistible charm of a childlike star na vely unaware of her appeal, from her first big break at age 22 when selected by Colette herself to play the Broadway version of Gigi. Born to a Dutch baroness and an English ne'er-do-well (and fascist sympathizer) who separated when she was six, Hepburn and her mother underwent horrendous deprivations during the Nazi occupation of Holland during WWII; her early ambition to become a ballet dancer was undermined by inadequate nutrition and training. Her early film successes flowed astonishingly, however, from Sabrina, Funny Face, Love in the Afternoon, Breakfast at Tiffany's and My Fair Lady to attempts at roles with more gravitas, as in The Nun's Story and Wait Until Dark. Often paired with older, avuncular leads, Hepburn was viewed as unerotic, yet Spoto tracks her steamy relationships with playboys and co-stars, and marriage to American actor-director Mel Ferrer, who often acted as her Pygmalion. Her later work with UNICEF is sketched too briefly. Spoto's previous Hollywood biographies allow the author authoritative access to Hepburn. (Sept.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.