Chapter ten: My Fair Lady

My Fair Lady opened on Broadway in 1956. Rex Harrison was Higgins and Julie Andrews was Eliza Doolittle. It became the most successful theater musical of all time. Everybody wanted to see the same actors in the movie, but Jack Warner, the producer, had other ideas. He was happy with Rex Harrison, but he wanted a more famous actress for Eliza. He wanted Audrey Hepburn.

In the beginning, Rex Harrison was very unfriendly to Audrey because Julie Andrews was not in the movie. He was also unhappy about money. “Why are you paying Audrey $1,000,000?” he asked the producers angrily. “My part is more important, but you’re only paying me $250,000!” Audrey found an answer to this problem. She bought Rex a red bike and they became good friends.

But she could not buy red bikes for everybody. The newspapers also wanted to see Julie Andrews in the movie. Audrey felt sorry for Julie. “But what can I do?” she thought. “The producers want me, and I really want to be Eliza. I can’t say no.”

Work began in August 1963, and it was not an easy time for Audrey. She had to have singing lessons because she could not sing as well as Julie Andrews. One day, the director said, “I’m sorry Audrey. We’ll have to use a different singer.” After this, she was difficult with everybody. She shouted at Mel when he visited her. Everybody on the movie heard their fights. Sometimes, in front of the cameras, she started to cry.

My Fair Lady came to the movie theaters in October 1964. The newspapers did not like Audrey’s acting in the first half of the movie, but they liked her more in the second half. She was beautiful in her white hats and dresses. And when Professor Higgins hurt her, she acted wonderfully. You could really feel it when she was angry!

My Fair Lady won eight Oscars, but Audrey did not win one. Hollywood felt sorry for Julie Andrews, and gave her the Oscar for her part in the Disney musical Mary Poppins.