Audrey Hepburn’s Real Life Tragic Love Legacy

Scandal, jealousy, hatred, passion..death.

Have a seat.

Like I mentioned in my Sabrina post, the tea behind the scenes of the film was much stronger than any movie plot.

Audrey Hepburn met William Holden, her co-star and love interest played as David, for the first time on the set of Sabrina. They instantly fell in love. Humphrey Bogart, played as Linus and the man Audrey’s character ended up falling in love with, however, hated Audrey, William, and the director of the movie, Billy Wilder. He was deeply offended that he was the second choice to star in the film, since Billy wanted Cary Grant to play Linus originally. On top of that, Humphrey wanted Lauren Bacall to star as Sabrina, and felt Audrey was not a good enough actress, despite her monumental success in her previously released film, Roman Holiday. He also resented the fact that Audrey, William, and Billy would hang out in each other’s trailers and have fun.

So back to Audrey and William. They fell in love. Problem was- he was a married father of three. He told Audrey he would leave his family for her. This satisfied her; however, she ended their affair once she found out he had a vasectomy and could not have anymore kids, which is what she had wanted all along. Audrey moved on and married twice, getting cheated on by her husbands and having her own affairs with co-stars. William ended up divorcing his wife and had girlfriends all over the world and was believed to be doing it intentionally to make Audrey jealous. In the meantime, William was suffering from alcohol substance abuse.

Shockingly enough, the two starred in one more film together called Paris When it Sizzles, in 1964, 10 years after Sabrina was released. I cannot even imagine the chemistry and tension behind the scenes and in the film since these two played each other’s love interests again. I saw clips of it and it looked.. interesting. It was said that William’s addiction really spiraled out of control during this time because Audrey made him crazy and he was still in love with her. I am sure they both still had feelings for each other regardless of how toxic it could have been.

After this film was released and they both went their separate ways again, William tragically died from an accident that involved tripping over a rug due to binge drinking at Just 63 years old. 12 years later, Audrey also died at 63 years old. It is just a coincidence that they both happened to be the same age when they passed away, but it gives me goosebumps because of everything they had been through. Furthermore, 63 was a fairly young age to pass away at even in the eighties. Audrey was 24 on the set of Sabrina.

I found out about Audrey and William’s love story from my Audrey Hepburn 30 Years Later magazine I bought in January. I am not sure what shocks me most: that Audrey was willing to go the extra mile with a married man of three kids, that she never seemed to find real love, or that Linus actually never liked Sabrina.

I will have to pretend everything is good and go watch Sabrina again- with a snack and open heart.

Xoxo <3