Isn't It Romantic? A little about Audrey...

Last night I was listening to Michael Feinstein's rendition of the classic love song, "Isn't It Romantic?" The song reminded me of the film "Sabrina" (the original version) with Audrey Hepburn, William Holden and Humphrey Bogart. If you haven't seen this film, it is a must in the romantic category. The song plays in the film when Audrey finally gets to dance with the love of her life, William Holden. There is a close-up of her face, and she is in total rapture. Ah, c'est l'amour!

Any film that Audrey Hepburn was in had to be romantic, no? "Roman Holiday," "Breakfast at Tiffany's," "My Fair Lady" and "Funny Face" come to mind instantly. Women (and lots of girls, too) still love Audrey today because she was beautiful, charming, graceful, unabashedly stylish, elegant and all THAT without losing an intangible girlish innocence and intelligence! A great romantic heroine and icon, indeed.

Audrey trained for the ballet, but by a fluke, became an actress. After some bit parts in movies, she met the famous French writer, Collette, who was looking for an actress to play her famous literary character Gigi on Broadway. When Collette first laid eyes on Audrey, legend has it that she loudly pronounced, "I have found my Gigi!" The rest is history, because Audrey was enormously talented. Okay, by now you may have guessed that she is one of my favorite old school actresses, along with Greta Garbo and Ingrid Bergman.

But despite all of her talent and good looks, her love life was tumultuous. It took two failed marriages before she met the true love of her life. Her first marriage to fellow actor Mel Ferrer lasted fourteen years and she was depressed during most of that time. Her second marriage to a wealthy Italian psychiatrist was a disaster and ended rather quickly (we're talking rebound relationship, here) until she eventually met Robert Wolders. Wolders was wealthy and found happiness in just letting Audrey be Audrey -- and what she wanted most was to be a mommy to her two sons (one from each of her marriages). They all lived in her Swiss Chalet where she loved to tend her garden, cook, read, entertain and travel a little. Sounds good to me! Wolders and Hepburn never married, but they were together until she died.

So though we often talk about marriages lasting hundreds of years (okay, maybe thirty or forty is more realistic) there are some people who find true love later in life, such as Audrey. A second or even third go round can be the charm for some who are world weary and wiser in the love department. And for some, like Audrey, marriage is not the answer. Her lover, Wolders, was empathetic to the unhappiness Audrey had endured and once said when asked why they never married, "It would be like asking someone who has just got out of an electric chair to sit back on it again."

Ouch!