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2024 marks the 60th anniversary of the release of My Fair Lady starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison, so my wife and I recently sat down to rewatch this classic. A truly iconic film that was nominated for 12 Academy Awards. In the end, it won eight awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor.
However, the film’s star, Audrey Hepburn, was not even nominated. why?
It’s been 60 years since the film premiered, and most people may not know it, but Audrey Hepburn was cast as Eliza Doolittle instead of Julie Andrews, who played the role brilliantly on stage at the time. There was quite a bit of controversy over casting.
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Hepburn and Andrews may have been innocent bystanders in a shootout between Hollywood’s powerful men, but Hepburn was the one who suffered permanent collateral damage.
Audrey Hepburn wearing a large hat in a scene from the movie “My Fair Lady,” 1964. (Photo courtesy of Warner Bros./Getty Images)
As someone who met Hepburn in the late ’80s and helped her with her projects, I’ve long believed I deserved to defend her when it comes to this nasty controversy. As advertised, she was the embodiment of grace, dignity, kindness, and empathy. I paid homage to her with a little romance novel titled: “Channeling Audrey Hepburn – A once-in-a-lifetime romantic misadventure.”
As for the controversy surrounding the casting of My Fair Lady, when the film was first announced, Hollywood Many people at home and abroad thought so and had high expectations. Harrison and Andrews will reprise their stage roles in the film. Hepburn herself is one of those who hopes so.
Audrey Hepburn poses for publicity photos for the movie Sabrina. (Getty Images)
After it was confirmed that Harrison would star in the film, but that Hepburn would replace Andrews, Hepburn tried to set the record straight, saying, “I could understand the disappointment of people who saw Julie on Broadway. I made the role my own. So when I was first offered the role, I knew that if I turned it down, another actress would be offered the role. I thought I was qualified. I was the third girl, so I accepted.”
Jack Warner, the studio’s all-powerful boss, had decided from the beginning that Andrews would not appear in the film. He felt that as much as she had amazing talent, she was unknown and the investment he and the studio were making required a world-famous actress.
Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993) as Eliza Doolittle and Rex Harrison (1908-1990) as Professor Henry Higgins in George Cukor’s My Fair Lady, 1964 . (Photo: Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
Many theater and film critics at the time were furious that Andrews was removed from the production and seemed to be looking for an excuse to criticize Hepburn. When it was leaked that Marni Nixon, who sang for Deborah Kerr in “The King and I,” and Natalie Wood in “West Side Story,” had dubbed most of Hepburn’s songs in the film. They found one.
What critics didn’t know at the time was that Hepburn had been promised that her singing voice would be used in the film. Hepburn was not a naturally gifted singer, but she did appreciate her songs, as she demonstrated years earlier when she sang “Moon River” on “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” I was able to carry it.
Also, the plot of “My Fair Lady” did not require a “talented” singer. Rex Harrison happily proved that reality on stage and screen by “talking” her way through her musical numbers.
Audrey Hepburn plays Eliza Doolittle in “My Fair Lady.” Original release date is December 25, 1964 (Photo Credit: CBS, Getty Images)
Sadly, Jack Warner and the studio never intended to use Hepburn’s voice. As Andre Previn, the film’s music director, later revealed, they were just pulling her in to get her into the role.
One of the consequences of this unfortunate controversy was that Hepburn’s Hollywood colleagues perversely awarded the Academy Award for Best Actress to Julie Andrews. “My dear woman.”
Some believe Hepburn’s legacy is still dealing with the fallout from six decades of controversy. In a 2010 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Emma Thompson was asked about the My Fair Lady remake she was writing, and said, “I was so happy that they asked me to do it, because when I saw it, I was like, “I’m so happy.” he said. I don’t like this movie very much and need a new version. ”
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Of Hepburn herself, Thompson added, “Unfortunately she can’t sing and she can’t act.”
oh. I’m a big fan of Thompson, but the criticism is shocking. As Thompson knows, great acting, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.
Actress Audrey Hepburn lovingly holds the Oscar she won for her role in the film “Roman Holiday” at the Academy Awards ceremony in New York City. (Photo Credit: Ralph Morse/Life Magazine/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images)
Perhaps she intended to defend her countryman Andrews, but to do so in such a way after Hepburn, who won one Academy Award and was nominated for four more, was ousted and unable to defend her… gives the impression of being mean and mean.
Meanwhile, to her credit, Julie Andrews, just before accepting the Best Actress award for Mary Poppins, very gracefully said: ”
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And as he accepted his award on stage, Andrews cleverly summed up the controversy with a piece of paper and a bow, saying, “Thank you Mr. Jack L. Warner for making all of this possible.”
In fact, Hepburn gave a great performance in “My Fair Lady.” It would be “fair” and appropriate if, as she intended, releasing a film with her original vocal track could remove the stigma that has been created against her dubbed voice. .
Click here to read more articles by Douglas MacKinnon
