Audrey Hepburn loved comic books. That revelation, from a preface by the Hollywood icon’s second son Luca Dotti, is an apt piece of trivia with which to begin her graphic biography. It is apt because so much of Hepburn’s colourful story has been overshadowed by larger subjects, her image as an actor crowding out other smaller facets of what was a full, colourful life.
Born in May 1929, the English actress’s journey to stardom often glosses over her early years to focus on what happened after she made it in America. This is understandable to a certain extent, given that what she did across the pond yielded Breakfast at Tiffany’s, My Fair Lady, and Roman Holiday. Still, as writer Michele Botton points out in his acknowledgements, we have so many Audreys in ‘movies, documentaries, and books—so many fragments of a single, consistent person who encompassed a multitude of complexities.’ As a medium, the comic becomes a particularly versatile choice for this attempt to create a version of Hepburn ‘as close as possible to the real one.’
Illustrated by Dorilys Giacchetto and translated by Nanette McGuiness, the tale doesn’t exactly move in a linear manner, even if the chapters are arranged chronologically. The prologue introduces us to a late Hepburn avatar as UNICEF ambassador, after which the first chapter opens with a 20-something woman trying to figure out if acting can replace her dream of becoming a professional ballerina. It is only when her Hollywood journey begins that hints about her early years start to appear — the peripatetic childhood in Europe, emotional distance between her and her Baroness mother, pain of growing up in a broken home, and challenges of living during World War Two.
Botton, helped by Giacchetto’s art, also hints at the difficulties of being a young woman in what was an undeniably male-dominated industry. “A little sulkier, please, Miss Hepburn,” an unnamed photographer exhorts the young woman during her early days on stage, while working on promotional materials. It is those little asides that breathe new life into Hepburn’s otherwise well-documented story, along with the care with which her renowned, visually arresting poses are rendered throughout.
The problem with biographies endorsed by a celebrity’s estate is that they shy away from tricky questions that inadvertently crop up while sifting through the subject’s past. We get only minor insights into Hepburn’s inner life and the forces that shaped her decisions away from the limelight. Her affairs, relationships, and marriages pass by like milestones without stops for close examination. And while it makes sense for a comic to pay more attention to her years of glamour than her time spent as a nurse, it does reduce her portrait to the one-dimensional image most people have of her. It compels one to ask if the medium could have been exploited to do more.
Having said that, this is a book that wears its intentions on its vibrant sleeves, and is certainly not for anyone wanting insights into Hepburn’s life or art. It works best as a simple, visual introduction to one of the most enduring screen idols of the twentieth century, which isn’t such a bad thing at all.
Michele Botton (W), Dorilys Giacchetto (A), Nanette McGuiness (T) • NBM Publishing, £20.00
Review by Lindsay Pereira
