Real life of Audrey Hepburn - Anne Frank connection and hidden heartache
A true icon of cinema, Audrey Hepburn remains to this day one of the most admired actresses of all time, famed for her enchanting screen presence and chic sense of style.
There is however plenty fans may not know about the highly sophisticated My Fair Lady star, who passed away on January 20, 1993, at the age of 63, after being diagnosed with a rare type of abdominal cancer. Indeed, long before the bright lights of Hollywood, Audrey spent part of her childhood in the Netherlands, during the dark days of World War II.
The great beauty also experienced her fair share of personal heartbreak offscreen, which left her with painful insecurities.
Bond with Anne Frank
Audrey witnessed horrors while living under Nazi occupation (Bettmann Archive)
She felt a great affinity with diarist Anne Frank (Anne Frank House, Amsterdam)The Dutch government fell to the Nazis in 1940 when Audrey was just 11 years old and living in the city of Arnhem with her aristocratic family. Two years later, the diarist Anne Frank, who was just six weeks younger than Audrey, went into hiding in concealed rooms above her father's offices in Amsterdam.
Anne, whose diligent, lively diary continues to press home the horrors of the holocaust to this day, spent 761 days in the secret annex, documenting her reflections on the world, as well as the frightening realities of life in hiding. After the Frank family was discovered, Anne was deported to Germany's Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where she died at the age of just 15.
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Audrey felt a strong connection to Anne, whom she referred to as her 'soul sister' throughout her life. In his 2015 memoir Audrey at Home, Audrey's younger son Luca Dotti wrote: "Two years after the war's end, she received a manuscript [The Diary of Anne Frank]. It was the diary of a young girl born, like my mother, in 1929, who had lived for two years hidden in a shelter set up behind a bookshelf in an Amsterdam apartment. Her name was Anne Frank. Reading the diary stunned my mother because, as she said, 'That child had written a complete account of what I had experienced and felt'."
During an interview with People, Luca likened the bond between Anne and Audrey as that of 'twins', reflecting: "My mother never accepted the simple fact that she got luckier than Anne. She possibly hated herself for that twist of fate." Although Audrey rarely spoke of her time living under the Nazi's five-year occupation, it's understood she was forced to live in a cellar on account of the bombing, and almost starved to death because of food shortages.
Audrey's beloved uncle Otto van Limburg Stirum, a magistrate who opposed the Nazi regime, was also executed on August 15, 1942, in an incident that would go on to haunt her for the remainder of her life. Although Audrey, who knew passages from the now-famous diary by heart, was offered the opportunity to play Anne, she reportedly turned down multiple offers, feeling this would only bring back painful memories. Luca said: "The difference is that she remained inside, I could be outside', Mum said. It was no small difference and she knew it."
Private heartbreak
Audrey's son Sean has shared her secret heartbreak (Bettmann Archive)
Andrea's infidelity left Audrey devastated (Bettmann Archive)In an emotional 2020 interview with The Sun, Audrey's son Sean Hepburn Ferrer opened up about the heartbreak his mother had endured after learning her second husband Andrea Dotti had been unfaithful on multiple occasions. Paparazzi had spotted Italian psychiatrist Andrea with as many as 200 women while still with Audrey, whom he'd married in January 1969.
Film producer and author Sean recalled the moment his mother had tearfully disclosed his stepfather's infidelities when he was 12 years old, leaving him feeling helpless. He shared: "I knew there was difficulty. My mum sat me down with bloodshot eyes, told me what was going on and asked me what I thought. I was a kid. I did not know how to help her."
Although Sean recalled Andrea being a 'fantastic' stepdad, he added that his ideas about marriage differed greatly from Audrey, who had hoped for a monogamous relationship. While Audrey, who had a history of miscarriages, was pregnant with her second son Luca, Andrea was away clubbing in Rome. It was Audrey's maid who revealed to her that Andrea had been bringing home women while she was out of the country. Sean remembered: "She was as delicate as she could be and my mother had suspicions already — and this was the Sixties sexual revolution."
In 1982, after 12 years of marriage, Audrey and Andrea finally parted ways. The Breakfast At Tiffany's star initially remained in Italy so Andrea could see Luca, but Sean claims he never used his visitation rights.
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