Originally published on 4/8/26
One of the most enduring images of Audrey Hepburn was that of elegance—both on screen and the red carpet—and later in life as a global ambassador for UNICEF. But to her sons, Sean Hepburn Ferrer and Luca Dotti, she wasn’t an icon, but simply their mother. But what was being raised by her really like? Was she really as kind, caring and elegant as the image she projected? Woman’s World recently spoke with Sean, who offered a deeply personal look at the woman behind the legend and shared on the kind of mother she truly was.
Sean Hepburn Ferrer opens up about being raised by Audrey Hepburn
Sean, author of Intimate Audrey: An Authorized Biography, was born in 1960 while Audrey was married to actor and director Mel Ferrer. Audrey’s first child, but Mel’s fourth, he was raised in Europe and the primary reason Audrey left Hollywood.
“One of the greatest gifts she gave me, and subsequently my brother Luca, was not letting us grow up in that environment. She really gave up ‘Hollywood’ to be a full time mom in a country home, making jams and fetching us at school,” Sean tells Woman’s World. “And the gift of normality is something that’s probably as valuable today as it will ever be, especially when we look at what happens and how celebrity can corrupt even people who appear to be stronger than they are. I grew up with a regular mom who did not import any of those accouterments into our upbringing. She was a mom who went through the war, who suffered, who knew the value of work, of a dollar, and made you finish your plate.”
“In America,” he elaborates, “we didn’t have the second World War at home, but we had grandparents who talked about the Great Depression, and we lived through the ‘70s—the crises, the devaluation, the oil crisis and all that. But I grew up with a normal mom, which is a fantastic thing to be able to say today, because I was able to pass that on to my kids. We didn’t have screening rooms. They weren’t educated in the cult of the Hollywood firmament. None of that.”
Another thing Sean was able to pass on? A few recipes created by Audrey herself. “She cooked in a time when we didn’t know about food groups and all of that. She used to say it’s not very interesting to eat a plate full of white—mashed potatoes, gravy, turkey and white bread—so there were always colors and different vegetables to make it more interesting,” Sean shares. “Also, having Dutch ancestors, they imported all kinds of curries and things, so we grew up with that as well. But she was mostly attentive to portions. Luca did a very cute book called Audrey at Home: Memories of My Mother’s Kitchen, where there are quite a few recipes. She was just a wonderful cook.”
One of the most interesting observations that Sean makes in his book is that Audrey Hepburn—despite the world’s view of her as a star—did not represent an image of perfection. “Far from it,” he laughs. “I used to always describe her as a perfect package of imperfections. And in the end, what that means is that elegance and beauty all start in the mind. She was a gawky, awkward, too-tall, flat-chested Dutch girl who created herself into what she became. And it all started here [gesturing to his head] and in her heart as well. So elegance comes from the inside; it comes from a beautiful mind, not so much from beautiful physical traits. Those blur after a very short time, as we all know.”
His mother’s cancer journey
Audrey tragically died in 1993 from a rare form of abdominal cancer known as appendiceal cancer. She was 63 years old and Sean was 33.
“She died of a cancer that only affects one in a million people,” offers Sean. “It started in the appendix, and it developed from there. And of course, they couldn’t see it when they did an endoscopy because it’s too sharp a turn for the camera to see in there. It’s slow growing and it probably was there for quite a few years when they caught it. I think cancer today is a little bit like depression—it’s sort of an umbrella, because we don’t know enough about it, and I’m sure that with AI, we’re going to make leaps and bounds in the next couple of decades.”
As Audrey’s legacy continues to live on—including an upcoming biopic of Breakfast at Tiffany’s with Lilly Collins portraying her—Sean drives home the point that his children, who never had the opportunity to meet her, absolutely feel connected to their late grandmother.
“She would have been a wonderful grandmother,” he muses. “In a way, she is a wonderful grandmother, because her legacy is so enduring. She’s kind of always alive around the family, whether we’re doing exhibitions or there are photos or videos of her, or they’re listening to her voice. They’ve all listened to her UNICEF speeches and they’ve all been involved in one way or another. And maybe, in a way, she’s alive because she is in society much more than other grandmothers. And so it’s wonderful for them in a way.”
Order Sean Hepburn Ferrer’s newest book Intimate Audrey: An Authorized Biography now wherever books are sold.
Link to original: https://www.womansworld.com/entertainment/celebrities/audrey-hepburns-son-sean-reveals-what-she-was-really-like-exclusive
Carissa Mosness 