Enchantment - The Biography of Audrey Hepburn by Donald Spoto

I listened to the Audio version of the book by Donald Spoto as I was driving to an from work over a week and a half.  My curiosity about Audrey was raised when Roger Moore gratefully accepted her invitation to work for UNICEF as noted in his autobiography.  As a child dancer growing up in both England and Holland in the late 1930's and 1940's Audrey escaped starvation during the Nazi occupation by eating tulip bulbs.  A relief agency was able to get the family food at a low point in the war.  She fell in love with the smell of diesel trucks and cigarettes as the British troops liberated the family residence in Holland.  During the war Audrey and the other children assisted the local resistance movement in Holland.  She also witnessed Jews being rounded up and trucked off to concentration camps.

Her father left her when she was young and her mother was very formal showing her love by supporting her efforts to learn to be a dancer but not through affection.  This left Audrey with a need to give and accept affection in her life and infrequent bouts of depression.  This resulted in two failed marriages and several short lived on the set romances.  Her two son's were the loves of her life and took precedence over other relationships.

Audrey did not intend to become and actress but fell into it as a result of failing to become an elite dancer.  The hiatus from dance lessons during WWII kept her from achieving that goal.  She never felt fully secure as an actor and felt after doing GiGi on Broadway for over a year that she was just beginning to understand the part. The exposure to both English and Dutch during her formative years left her with an accent that was unique helped her stand out as unique.

She found her life changed and she became a different person after researching and acting in the movie the Nun's Story.  While researching the part she went to the African missions personally witnessing both successful and unsuccessful medical operations.  She got to know the author and subject of the book and became lifelong friends with the women. 

In the last decade of her life, Audrey focused her energies on improving the living conditions of children in the most politically unstable locations on the planet.  She donated her salary from a PBS series on gardening to UNICEF.

Review of the book - 5 minutes