Audrey Hepburn left more than just an incredible legacy of acting since her
passing. She left an incredible amount of money,
too. So who inherited it? And why was there a legal battle? Stay tuned to find out.
Born in Belgium in 1929, Audrey Hepburn survived an adolescence
plagued by World War II to become one of the 20th century's most beloved stars.
A performer at heart, Hepburn was first a ballet student before becoming an actress.
While living in Nazi-occupied Holland,
she helped the Dutch resistance by delivering messages and giving dance performances.
After the war ended, she continued her dance studies and became a chorus girl and actress.
Audrey Hepburn was eventually cast in the 1953 film "Roman Holiday"
and won an Academy Award for best actress. She would also later star in "Sabrina,"
"Funny Face," and the iconic film "Breakfast at Tiffany's." Hepburn is one of only a
few actresses in history who has won an Emmy, Tony, Grammy, and an Academy Award.
Aside from her acting career, Hepburn was also a doting wife and mother. According to The Guardian,
she always wanted to be a mom, so she put her career on hold to be one.
Her first marriage was to actor Mel Ferrer in 1954, and her second was with psychiatrist Andrea
Dotti in 1969. Hepburn later gave birth to sons Sean Hepburn Ferrer and Luca Dotti, respectively.
When Sean was born in 1960, Audrey Hepburn stopped acting for a decade. She explained that she stayed
home with her children because she wanted to; it was not a sacrifice, it's what made her happy.
Despite their mother being an icon, they had a normal childhood. Sean and
his brother were raised in Switzerland and Rome instead of growing up in Hollywood.
Per Closer Weekly, her son Luca, born in 1970, didn't realize how famous his mother was.
She would simply pick him up from school and do everything an average mother would do.
Moreover, Hepburn lived a modest life in the Swiss countryside with her children.
Though their mother has been gone for years, Sean has said that she left her
family such an extraordinary legacy that it makes up for her not actually being here. It
wasn't until her death and funeral that he realized how beloved she was by the world.
"What a lovely heritage she's left in this world.
The films people can see and the joy that she gives them."
Sean believes that their ordinary childhood helped prepare them for the world. According to AmoMama,
the brothers later founded the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund to raise money for charity.
In her later years, Audrey Hepburn focused less on acting and more on her role as a goodwill
ambassador for UNICEF. She felt compelled to travel the world to raise awareness for
children in need — a desire that was inspired by her childhood in Nazi-occupied Holland.
After a trip to Somalia, Hepburn fell ill and was diagnosed with colon cancer. On January 20, 1993,
she died from the disease at the age of 63. She was survived by her two sons, half brothers Sean
and Luca. Celebrity Net Worth reports that she was worth $55 million at the time of her death.
According to The Law Offices of DuPont & Blumenstiel,
a handwritten will from Hepburn stated that her two sons would split her estate 50/50.
This included a Los Angeles storage locker full of mementos and memorabilia. However,
she failed to specify who would get what, so the brothers later asked a judge to help them
divide the items. Even though they signed a deal with Christie's Auction House, Sean sued Luca
and a lengthy legal battle followed. Per the Daily Mail, they settled the matter in 2017.
The brothers split the items into three categories: pieces to be given to the
auction house, items they would each keep, and items they already had in their possession.
Moreover, they would split the profits and any unsold items from the auction equally.
The Washington Times reports that the Christie's auction made $6.2 million in 2017.
Hepburn's personal script for "Breakfast at Tiffany's" alone
sold for nearly $900,000. Other issues about her estate are reportedly still ongoing.
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