April 2003
"Audrey Hepburn: The Beauty of Compassion" April 21st. A special exhibit at Sotheby's in New York on Audrey's life and her passions, which includes an auction of some of her belongings through the Estate. There's a cocktail reception and dinner, and proceeds will go to an educational program called "All Children in School." This program is designed to give hundreds of millions of children around the world basic education and survival skills. Open to the public. For more information, go to the official website and look under Events.
Click here for an article regarding this event and photos of the auctioned items.
Why Can't I Be Audrey Hepburn? in production. Can it be? After being tossed around for nearly seven years, is WCIBAH finally being made? According to The Internet Movie Database (IMDb), the film recently went into production. Jennifer Love Hewitt is set to star and produce. In it, Hewitt plays Perry Forman, a woman obsessed with Audrey. She is left at the altar on her wedding day, and the best man ends up getting close with Perry by using Audrey to pick up on her. Tentatively set to be released next year.
House in Tolochenaz sold posted April 25th. In a NY Daily News article I found today, Sean Hepburn Ferrer said at the aforementioned "Beauty of Compassion" charity event that he was forced to sell a house in Tolochenaz, Switzerland, where Audrey's belongings had been on display for seven years because "It got too commercial." This must be the Pavilion, which was closed last year. It's still unclear if the traveling exhibit will be the same articles as those in the Audrey Hepburn Pavilion, or new items.
Charade director Peter Stone dies April 27th Peter Stone died Saturday, April 26th of pulmonary fibrosis in New York. He was 73. For the full story, go here.
Audrey is honored by Rome April 29th through May 25th. To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Roman Holiday, a special Audrey Hepburn exhibit is on display at the Palazzo Wedekind in Piazza Colonna 366. Here you can see posters and drawings from Italian releases of her early films. The exhibit is free but donations are appreciated, as they go towards the building of a new school in Africa through UNICEF. For more information, go here.
Special on Audrey in this month's Town & Country on newsstands now. This month's issue of Town & Country has quite a large spread on Audrey, talking about her enduring appeal and featuring 20 pages of rare or never before released photos.
Growing Up With Audrey Hepburn: Text, Audience, Resonance, by Rachel Moseley just released. Another new book on Audrey has just been released. A sort of biography on Audrey's career, this book uses interviews with women throughout the years to show Audrey's impact on her audience. Go here for more details.
May 2003
"All Children in School" Event May 12th. There will be a special event in Atlanta, Georgia, to benefit this cause. No specific details available.
Timeless Audrey May 16th through July 20th. A really great exhibit on Audrey showing in New Orleans to help fundraise for a new Children's Hospital there. This exhibit includes time capsules of Audrey's life, including clothes, pictures, jewelry, awards, and other memorabilia. Go to the official site and click on "events" for more details.
The Unforgiven on DVD May 20th. According to Amazon, The Unforgiven is being released on DVD. Special features include the original theatrical trailer and widescreen format.
June 2003
The Audrey Hepburn stamp released through the United States Postal Service June 11th. Originally slated to be released on her birthday, the stamp has been pushed back. Now there will be an unveiling ceremony at the Children's Hospital in L.A. with special guests, including Audrey's eldest son Sean Ferrer and actress Jennifer Love Hewitt. Keep an eye out here for pictures and coverage of the event. There's a nice picture here of the stamp, and the United States Post Office's press release here.
Here's another story on the stamps on Yahoo.
(Note: there is also a Cary Grant stamp available. See details here.)
A new story on the release of the stamp today (6/11/03) here.
See my personal experience (with exclusive pictures and scans) here.
Audrey Hepburn, by Ellen Cheshire released sometime this month. A new mini-biography on Audrey is coming out soon. This is part of a series of books on famous people that packs their life's story down into an easy to read paperback. For ordering info, go here.
Gregory Peck dies at the age of 87 June 12th. Gregory Peck died at 4 am after saying he didn't feel well. Go here for a list of articles on him from Yahoo.
Gregory Peck laid to rest June 16th. Today a memorial service will be held at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles at 2 pm. Mr. Peck has already been interred earlier this morning at a private service, but the memorial has been opened to the public. The cathedral is expected to be packed to the 3,000 person limit with family, friends, co-workers, and fans. Cardinal Roger Mahony will deliver the sermon at the memorial, and Peck's long time friend and co-star from To Kill a Mockingbird, Brock Peters, will deliver the eulogy.
For more information, there's a story on Yahoo here.
Alex & Emma June 20th (U.S.) An apparent remake of Paris When It Sizzles, also based on a short story by Fydor Dostoyevsky. In it, Luke Wilson plays a novelist who has 30 days to write a novel before loan sharks close in, and Kate Hudson is his typist/muse.
Katharine Hepburn dies at the age of 96 June 30th Katharine Hepburn, an actress topping everyone's top ten list of greatest actors, died of old age on Sunday. She follows close behind Gregory Peck, David Brinkley, Hume Cronyn, and Buddy Hackett, all of whom have passed away this month. For a list of articles on Katharine, go here.
Audrey Hepburn Retrospective Touring Exhibit summer. While I'm not clear as to whether this is the same exhibit that was in the Audrey Hepburn Pavilion in Switzerland, there will be a traveling retrospective on Audrey's life touring the United States, Far East, and Europe until 2006.
July 2003
Buddy Ebsen dies at the age of 95 July 7th It's just been released that Buddy Ebsen, star of "The Beverly Hillbillies," "Barnaby Jones," and countless films, has died yesterday after a stay in Torrance Memorial Hospital in California. Audrey fans know and love him for his portrayal of Doc Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's. For a list of news stories, please go here.
Couture shows hearken back to Givenchy and Audrey posted July 9th. Yesterday and today I've received alerts from Yahoo mentioning Audrey. Apparently, a lot of designers of haute couture are flashing back to the golden era and designing clothing that you'd see on the films stars of the 40s and 50s. You know, when they had taste and class. ;) Anyways, here is the link to yesterday's article, and click here for today's.
Audrey Hepburn biographer dies at 73 July 15th. Yahoo reports that film critic/biographer Alexander Walker died today in Britain after a short illness. He wrote a good biography on Audrey in 1994 called Audrey: Her Real Story. For the whole story, go here.
VH1's Top 200 Pop Culture Icons July 21st through the 25th (9 pm). VH1 has released a list of the top 200 pop culture icons and will have a mini-series to talk about it. The icons chosen for this list have to fit a certain criteria to be included. For the full Yahoo article, click here. Also, People magazine will have a special magazine booklet out to commemorate this list. Of course, Audrey Hepburn is included. :)
Rare Breakfast at Tiffany's poster to be auctioned on Ebay July 21st through the 31st. An extremely rare, large Breakfast at Tiffany's poster is being auctioned off on Ebay, with the opening bid at just $2.95! This has been in a private collection for 25 years, and is definitely a collector's item. For more details, here's the full story.
Elegance reinvents a woman posted July 18th. A new book out called Elegance follows a woman who finds an old style guide from the 60s in a used bookstore and proceeds to change her life. This book sounds pretty neat, and Audrey is mentioned in the opening of the article on this book, which you can find here.
Bob Hope dies at 100. July 28th. Bob Hope died of pneumonia at the age of 100. He'd obviously had a good long life, but it's still very sad to hear.
August 2003
Wait Until Dark on DVD. August 5th. At amazon.com, you can now preorder WUD to be shipped to you. Now Amazon says that it has a featurette, the original trailer and more, but it's only Region 1 encoding, so unless you have a universal player, this only works in the US and Canada. :/ For any and all info (or to pre-order), click here.
Hermes bags all the rage posted August 21st. I got a little story from Yahoo about the biggest rage in fashion (this week), the Hermes Kelly bag. Named after Grace Kelly, who really made the bag popular, these new bags are taking the fashion world by storm. I added this because it has a quote at the bottom from the lady who bought Audrey's Hermes bag recently at auction. See the story here.
September 2003
Roman Holiday 50th anniversary screening September 25th. As a special celebration in honour of Roman Holiday being released 50 years ago, there will be a special screening in Los Angeles at the Academy of Arts and Sciences' Samuel Goldwyn Theatre at 8pm. No word on if it's open to the public, but I'm going to find out. ;) A special thanks to KateNAudrey of our board for posting the story for us, which you can see in more detail here.
October 2003
Audrey Hepburn, An Elegant Spirit: A Son Remembers October 28th. Sean Hepburn Ferrer's long-awaited book on his mother is due out at the end of October, according to the pre-order page on Amazon. It sounds pretty good from what Amazon has said about it, and you can preview the dust jacket as well (though that's not what I remember seeing earlier in the year). For all information, go here. Remember, all proceeds go to the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund!
added 8/29/03: Pre-order your copy today through audreyhepburn.com and receive a copy signed by Sean Ferrer himself!
hi,
i'm writing on behalf of UNICEF to pass the word that there will be a fundraising event in Boston October 29, 2003. US Fund for UNICEF and Author Sean Hepburn Ferrer will jointly host a reception, movie screening of Funny Face, and an afterparty. A general ticket will get you into the film screening and the afterparty, and a patron ticket includes a signed copy of the new book and entry to the private reception at the Ritz Carlton. Tickets and information are available at 617.277.3334, ext. 32, or at bostonevent@unicefusa.org. I would really appreciate it if you could post this event on your website. Thanks!
I'm afraid I'll be across the country working that night, but if anyone else can make it, let us all know how it is! I'd love to be there -- especially since they're screening Funny Face. :) Thank you again to Alisa for this.
December 2003
UNICEF holds 50 years of Goodwill Ambassadors gala December 3rd. Just got an alert that UNICEF is planning a big bash to celebrate 50 years of celebrity ambassadors helping them help children all over the world. It's going to be a big, star-studded bash. You, too, could attend! -- with tickets ranging from $500 - $250,000. Why don't you go and tell me how it goes. ;) For the full story, go here.
*added 12/7/03* Here's a nice recap of the event for those of us who couldn't make it.
Liv Tyler moved to UNICEF work thanks to Audrey December 6th. I just read this story on IMDb:
Actress Liv Tyler was inspired to become an Ambassador for children's charity Unicef by Angelina Jolie and her idol Audrey Hepburn. Tyler signed to work as a National Ambassador for the charity's American fund after meeting the late Hepburn's son at a charity fundraiser. She explains, "I was really blown away and inspired by everything that she had done for children via and through Unicef and I guess it really, really floored me in a way that I hadn't ever felt toward a public figure before." To see her kindness was inspiring and spoke to me as a person. She was so real and so elegant." And Jolie's recent work as a Goodwill Ambassador for Unicef in Asia was important to her too, "I am also inspired by what Angelina Jolie is doing by traveling to places like Cambodia to help children by actually being there and being more involved."
It's nice to see Audrey still affecting people in such a wonderful way. :) Good luck to Liv.