我的母亲奥黛丽·赫本

Audrey Hepburn had come a long way from her early days as a chorus girl in a 1950 musical called Sauce Piquante at London's Cambridge Theatre. Her take-home pay then was a modest ?8 a week， but she had gone on to become the toast1） of Broadway in Gigi， won an Oscar for her first big Hollywood movie Roman Holiday and played a string of2） other major roles in films such as Breakfast at Tiffany's and My Fair Lady.

In short， she'd become a millionaire and a world star. But in private， she lived a simple life with her husband， Italian psychiatrist3） Andrea Dotti， and to her five-year-old son Luca she was just Mama.

自早期作为合唱团的一员参演了1950年在伦敦剑桥剧院上演的音乐剧《开胃酱》以来，奥黛丽·赫本取得了长足的进步。参演《开胃酱》时，她每周的实得收入只有可怜的八英镑，但后来她凭借在舞台剧《金粉世界》中的出色表演成了百老汇的红人，还因她的第一部好莱坞大片《罗马假日》获得了一项奥斯卡奖（编注：最佳女主角）。她还在一些电影如《蒂凡尼的早餐》和《窈窕淑女》中扮演了一系列的主要角色。

简而言之，她已经成了一个坐拥百万家财的世界巨星，但私下里，她和她的丈夫——意大利精神病医生安德烈亚·多蒂——却过着简单朴素的生活。而对她当时才五岁的儿子卢卡来说，她的身份只是妈妈。

My Mother Is a "Bad" Mother

"So imagine my surprise，" recalls Luca， now 43， "when I saw her on TV kissing a strange man. I didn't know she was an actress. I didn't even know what an actress was. All I knew was that Mama was doing something I was sure was wrong. I ran to my father and told him what I'd seen. 'You must be very upset，' I said. But he just laughed and swept me up4） in his arms. 'Don't worry，' he told me. 'Your mother is just acting.' I didn't understand， but if Papa didn't mind， it must be all right. And as I grew older I realised why I'd been so confused—the real Mama who took me to school， cooked my supper and read me a bedtime story was exactly like the Mama I had seen on the screen. She was perfectly natural on and off it. There was nothing forced or actressy about her whatever she did."

I Have a Special Mother

With her elfin5） face， big brown eyes， high cheek bones， swan-like neck and slim figure， Audrey Hepburn became a fashion icon as much as she was a movie star. Not that Luca realised.

"We would only see her in jeans and a top. The glamorous side of her life was something that she never flaunted6）. Eventually I realised she was special， because photographers would follow her around， and strangers would call out compliments in the street. It took me some time to see that this didn't happen to everyone's mama， just mine. When I asked her about it， she would laugh and play it down7）.

"She didn't like clothes that were over the top8）， because she was aware of what she regarded as her defects. She'd never wear revealing9） dresses， saying 'I'm too skinny. Not enough breasts'. She thought her nose and feet were too big and sometimes she'd look in the mirror and say， 'I don't understand why some people say I'm beautiful.'"

The discovery that his mother was a famous film star opened up a whole new world for Luca. "Until then， I'd never realised her friends who used to visit us were famous. There would be people like Gregory Peck， Cary Grant， James Stewart and the designers Givenchy and Valentino.

"She helped me and my brother with our homework and would come to school to speak with teachers， who sometimes got unsettled. One teacher was busy dealing with one parent after another， and then she looked up and there was Audrey Hepburn. She was speechless， as my mother said， 'Hello， I'm here to talk about my son.'

"That sort of thing has followed me all my life. Once， when I had to fill in a tax form in France， I had a meeting with this lady official， and where I was asked for mother's name I of course wrote Audrey Hepburn. She said， 'What is this？ Are you making fun of me？' It's something people didn't believe."

Mg Mother Will Never Be a Boddie10）

The level of his mother's fame hit home11） when Luca met Sean Connery， who was playing Robin Hood to her Maid Marion in the film Robin And Marion. "Mama took me to the set because she didn't want to be apart from us. I was very excited to meet Sean because for me he was James Bond. He was nice to me， but apparently I was a pain， because I wanted to have a sword and helmet like the men in the movie. Mama told me off12）. Not so much with words， but with her eyes. I could see that she was upset with me."

Luca shocked his mother by suggesting she should play a Bond villain. "I told her， 'Your films are boring and you should change this impeccable13） image and be the one in the Bond movies who wants to destroy the world.' She said， 'You have to understand that I lived through World War II and I saw people dying. I don't want to be the one who does anything like that.' But in a way I'd still have liked her to be a baddie！"

Born in 1929， Audrey was ten and had moved to Holland from Kent when war broke out， as her family thought Holland would remain neutral. But， surrounded by Nazis， they were often close to starvation. Her elder brother was taken to a slave camp in Germany and her uncle was shot by the Nazis in reprisal14） for a troop train being blown up. "These are things you never forget，" she told Luca.

我有个“坏”妈妈

“你可以想象得到，当我那时在电视上看到她和一个陌生男人接吻时，我有多惊讶，”现年43岁（编注：本文写于2013年）的卢卡说，“那时我并不知道她是个演员。我甚至不明白演员是什么。我只知道妈妈在做一件我确信是很坏很坏的事。我跑去找爸爸，把我看到的告诉他。‘你一定很伤心。’我说。但爸爸只是大笑着一把把我抱起来。‘别担心，’爸爸跟我说，‘你妈妈只是在演戏。’我还是不太明白，不过既然爸爸并不介意，那肯定就没什么事。后来随着年龄的增长，我才明白为什么我一直那么困惑——现实生活中送我上学、为我做晚饭、给我读睡前故事的妈妈跟我在电视里看到的妈妈一模一样。不论是在屏幕上还是在屏幕下，她都表现得十分自然。她不管做什么，都丝毫没有不自然的或是演戏的成分在内。”

我有个与众不同的妈妈

奥黛丽·赫本有着精致的面孔，棕色的大眼睛，高高的颧骨，天鹅般修长的脖颈和苗条的身材，这使得她成为一个时尚偶像，在时尚界享有不亚于在电影圈的盛名。不过那时的卢卡并没有意识到这些。

“她在我们面前从来都是牛仔裤加上衣。她从不炫耀自己生活中光鲜亮丽的一面。后来我终于意识到她是与众不同的，因为总会有摄影师跟在她周围，街上总会有陌生人大声赞美她。经过一段时间我才发现并不是每个人的妈妈都是这样的，只有我的妈妈如此。当我问起她这些的时候，她就会一笑置之，不当回事。

“她不喜欢太夸张的衣服，因为她觉得自己有些地方不够漂亮。她从不穿太暴露的衣服，说‘我太瘦了，胸不够大’。她还觉得她的鼻子和脚太大了，有时她会对着镜子自言自语：‘我真不明白为什么那么多人说我漂亮。’”

自己的妈妈是个著名的电影明星这一发现为卢卡打开了一个全新的世界。“直到那时，我才意识到她那些常常来我家的朋友都是名人。其中有格里高利·派克、加里·格兰特和詹姆斯·斯图尔特这样的电影明星，还有纪梵希和华伦天奴这样的大设计师。

“她会辅导我和哥哥的功课，还会到学校去跟老师们谈话，有时老师们会因此而手足无措。有一次，一位老师正忙着一个接一个地应付家长们，然后她抬起头时，就看到奥黛丽·赫本站在那里。当我妈妈跟她说‘你好，我来这里想跟你谈谈我儿子的情况’时，她都说不出话来了。

“诸如此类的事情伴随着我的一生。有一次在法国，我必须填一份纳税申报表，当时我遇到一位女公务员。当我在母亲姓名一栏理所当然地写下奥黛丽·赫本的时候，她说：‘这是什么？你在跟我开玩笑吗？’人们就是无法相信你的妈妈是奥黛丽·赫本。”

妈妈永远都不会演“坏人”

当卢卡见到在《罗宾汉与玛莉安》一片中跟妈妈演对手戏的肖恩·康纳利（肖恩饰演罗宾汉，赫本饰演玛莉安）时，妈妈的知名度才对他有了意义。“妈妈带我去了片场，因为她不想和我们分开。能见到肖恩我非常激动，因为对我来说他就是詹姆斯·邦德（编注：肖恩·康纳利曾饰演过《007》中的詹姆斯·邦德）。他对我很亲切，但我显然是个烦人精，因为我也想像电影中的人物那样戴着头盔、佩一把剑。妈妈批评了我，不过还没到动嘴训斥的地步，而是用她的眼神。我可以看出来她生我气了。”

卢卡还跟妈妈提议说她应该去演一个邦德电影里的反派角色，这让她很震惊。“我跟她说：‘你演的电影都很无聊，你应该改变这种完美的形象，演一个邦德电影里想要毁灭世界的大坏蛋。’她回答说：‘你要明白我经历过二战，亲眼见到过人们死去。我不想演那样的人。’不过，从某种意义上来说我还是想看她演个坏人！”

赫本出生于1929年，在二战爆发时，时年十岁的她早已随家人从英国肯特郡搬到荷兰，因为她的家人以为荷兰可以一直保持中立。但纳粹包围了荷兰，一家人常常食不果腹。她的哥哥被带到了德国的一个奴隶营，她的叔叔则在纳粹因军用列车被炸而进行的一次报复行动中被枪杀。“这样的事情你永远都不会忘记。”她对卢卡说。

My Mother Is in Love with Rome

Audrey was born in Brussels， but had British citizenship through her banker father and went to school in the Kent village of Elham.

She fell in love with Rome at the age of 24 while making what was to become the classic movie Roman Holiday in 1953， and it later became her home for more than 20 years.

"She always described herself as a Roman mother. One thing she discovered there was pasta15） and she became a real pasta addict. I remember many times we were going to restaurants and waiters wanted to make her happy and would say， 'Madam， what can I do for you， something special？' She would tell them she'd just love a simple spaghetti16） with tomato sauce. And they were really surprised. Even when she travelled abroad she'd carry dried pasta along with her in her suitcase."

妈妈热爱罗马

赫本出生在布鲁塞尔，但跟随她的银行家父亲加入了英国国籍，并在位于英国肯特郡埃尔海姆乡的一所学校就读。

1953年，24岁的赫本参演了后来成为经典电影的《罗马假日》。拍摄期间，赫本爱上了罗马这个城市，罗马在之后的20多年里一直都是她的家。

“她总把自己描述成一个罗马母亲。她在罗马发现了后来成为她的最爱的意大利面，她简直是‘无面不欢’。我记得有很多次我们去餐厅吃饭，那些服务员想要讨她欢心，就会问她：‘夫人，您想要点什么，我们可以特别招待。’她都会告诉他们她只想要一份番茄酱意式细面。而他们总是非常惊讶。即使是到国外旅行，她都会在行李箱里随身携带一些干的意面。”

My Mother Has Her Own Life Philosophy

Luca says all the praise and respect and worldwide fame made no difference to her outlook. "She never had bodyguards or travelled in cars with blacked-out windows like celebrities do today. She would say 'No， I'm perfectly able to walk. Keep it for the years to come when I'm old and frail'." Fame meant nothing to her， says Luca， unless it could be used for something positive， which is why she spent her final years working for the children's charity UNICEF17）. "She would tell us， 'The human obligation is to help children who are suffering. The rest is luxury.'

"Mama always talked about her work as a profession， a way to provide for her family. Her first career， she always said， was being a mother and her second one was her work for UNICEF. She never saw herself as a movie star.

"She wasn't afraid of growing old. She was looking forward to sitting around the fire and telling stories to the grandchildren. She always saw life as seasons—'I have been young， I've been a mother， and now I am old.' So to her the aging process was normal."

She died from cancer in 1993 at age 63， after returning from a trip to Somalia on behalf of UNICEF. Says Luca sadly， "She had a check-up， and at first they didn't spot the cancer， but it was very aggressive and she went very quickly. She had told us， 'If I go， it means I am meant to. Everything comes at the right time.' And that was her philosophy throughout her life."

妈妈有她自己的人生哲学

卢卡说，所有的赞誉、尊敬和享誉世界的知名度并没有对赫本的人生观造成什么影响。“她从来没有像现在的那些名人那样雇佣保镖或者乘坐贴了黑色窗膜的车出行。她会说：‘不用了，我完全可以自己走路。等我将来年老体弱的时候再说吧。’” 卢卡说，名气对她而言毫无意义，除非名气可以用来做点积极的事，所以在她生命的最后几年里，她一直在做联合国儿童基金会儿童慈善工作。“她常常告诉我们：‘人的义务就是帮助那些正在受苦的孩子。其余的都是奢侈品。’

“妈妈总是把她的演艺工作当做一份职业，一个养家糊口的途径。她常说，她的第一事业是做好一个母亲，第二事业就是她为联合国儿童基金会所做的工作。她从来没有把自己当成一个电影明星。

“她并不害怕变老，反而期待着自己能坐在炉火边给孙子孙女讲故事。生命在她看来就像四季更迭——‘我曾经是个年轻的姑娘，然后成了母亲，现在我老啦。’所以对她而言，变老是再正常不过的了。”

她于1993年因癌症逝世，享年63岁。那时她刚结束了代表联合国儿童基金会对索马里的慰问之旅。卢卡伤心地回忆道：“她做了身体检查，一开始他们没有发现是癌症，但是那病来势凶猛，她很快就离世了。她曾对我们说：‘如果我走了，那是因为时间到了。一切都会如期而至。’这就是她坚持了一辈子的人生哲学。”

TIP

《罗马假日》背后的故事

《罗马假日》改变了奥黛丽·赫本的一生。她一直认为自己能出演《罗马假日》很大一部分原因要归功于运气。当时制片方本来想找伊丽莎白·泰勒（Elizabeth Taylor）出演安妮公主一角，因为泰勒从小就开始演戏，当时已经是一位巨星。但是导演威廉·惠勒（William Wyler）坚持要让赫本出演，理由是她的表演太自然了。在赫本试镜的时候，工作人员并没有告诉她摄像机是一直开着的，所以她在做剧本以外的事情时也被拍摄了下来。导演看过之后说她太完美了。

电影开拍以后，制片方本来打算把男主演也就是巨星格里高利·派克（Gregory Peck）的名字放在电影海报的最上方，并且最先出现在电影上。但派克坚持让赫本的名字跟自己的名字一起作为领衔主演出现。在当时自私自利、暗箭伤人无处不在的好莱坞，派克的这一举动毫无疑问是无比慷慨的，这更促使赫本一跃成为好莱坞的顶级新星。

1. toast [t??st] n. 深受敬慕的人；最受推崇的人

2. a string of： 一系列

3. psychiatrist [sa??ka??tr?st] n. 精神病医生

4. sweep up： 飞快地抱起

5. elfin [?elf?n] adj. （指人的容貌）五官小巧的；似小精灵的

6. flaunt [fl??nt] vt. 炫耀；夸耀

7. play down： 降低……重要性；贬低

8. over the top： 过分的；离谱的

9. revealing [r??vi?l??] adj. （女子衣服）过分暴露的；袒胸露肩的

10. baddie [?b?di] n. 坏人，（尤指小说、戏剧、电影等中的）坏蛋，反派角色，反面人物，恶棍

11. hit home： 使有意义

12. tell off： 训斥

13. impeccable [?m?pek?bl] adj. （指行为、外貌）无可挑剔的；无瑕疵的

14. reprisal [r??pra?zl] n. （使用暴力的）报复行为

15. pasta [?p?st?] n. 意大利面食

16. spaghetti [sp??ɡeti] n. 意大利式细面条

17. UNICEF： 联合国儿童基金会