Anna Karina

"I left home when I was 17...At that age young people can be very brave"

The beautiful Anna Karina became the best known of the French New Wave actresses through her collaborations with husband and director, Jean Luc Godard. She proved to be more than a muse however with her work in film, music and writing.

Hanne Karin Bayer was born in Denmark, 1940. She loved art, singing and dancing, though as a child she struggled with a difficult home life. Eventually she ran away to Paris at the age of seventeen. She started modelling and met Coco Chanel who changed her name to Anna Karina. After staring in a palmolive commercial she was spotted by director Jean Luc Godard. He offered her a film role but as it involved nudity she turned it down. Godard however was very taken with her and eventually cast her in the film Le Petit Soldat. Anna and Godard fell in love and were married in 1961. Professionally their relationship proved fruitful, together they made the films, Une Femme est Une Femme, Pierrot le Fou, Bande à Part, Alphaville and Made in the USA. Personally however Godard was cold and uncaring and following a miscarriage Anna attempted suicide. They divorced in 1967. Despite her personal unhappiness Anna was one of the most popular actresses of the day. She also became a fashion icon. Though her main films of the decade were collaborations with Godard she also stared in La Religieuse and Justine. 
She continues to act and has directed and produced films, she has also written four novels and remains a much loved figure throughout the world, often making appearances to discuss her work and life with Godard.

Whilst Godard's oeuvre was sometimes difficult to understand, Anna's luminosity and fragility made it more accessible to a wider audience. She could be both sensitive and lively, she imbued in her characters a sense of her own spirit. She was dedicated and passionate about her work and throughout her career continued to stretch herself in the roles she took on. She became an icon of the French New Wave and inspired many with her clothing choices, distinctive cats eyes and bangs.

Though she remains best known for being Godard's muse Anna was a talented and creative person in her own right.  She has worked in all areas of the arts including, painting, acting, singing and writing. She worked with some of the most talented people of the 1960s including, Serge Gainsbourg, George Cukor, Roger Vadim, Maurice Ronet and Jacques Rivette. In 1961 she was awarded the Berlin Film Festival's Best Actress award for her work in Une Femme est Une Femme. She also worked in the theatre including the theatrical version of La Religieuse (she would also go onto to star in the film version).

Despite their difficult relationship Anna has always remained loyal to Godard's artistic vision. She remains fascinating both as an actress and as a person. Her body of work presents a classic vision of France during the 1960s, and represents the ever evolving world of French Cinema. Though she found fame as a muse, Anna never let this define her, she was equally as creative as any of the powerful men she worked with. 

"It's about being human. It's beautiful, it's touching, it's acting. It's acting and reality at the same time"

Elizabeth Taylor

“The ups and downs, the problems and stress, along with all the happiness, have given me optimism and hope because I am living proof of survival”

A star since her childhood the 1960s provided Elizabeth Taylor with some of her most iconic and critically acclaimed roles. It was also the era in which her personal life became tabloid fodder as she embarked on a public affair with fellow actor, Richard Burton.

Elizabeth Taylor was born in London in 1932. When the family moved to America many insisted that the beautiful Elizabeth, with her dark hair and unusual violet eyes, should be in films. Her first role came in 1942 but it was the 1944 film, National Velvet that cemented her star status. She transitioned easily to adult roles in the 1950s starring in films including, A Place in the Sun, Giant, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Suddenly Last Summer. The beginning of the new decade proved controversial for Elizabeth, in 1959 she married her lover, singer Eddie Fisher. Fisher had left his wife Debbie Reynolds for Elizabeth and many turned against Liz, calling her a 'home wrecker'. Still she won an Academy Award for her role in the film BUtterfield 8. That same year, 1960, she began filming the historical epic, Cleopatra. During filming she began an affair with co-star Richard Burton and their actions garnered much press attention, they were even condemned by the Vatican. In 1961 Liz suffered near fatal pneumonia and underwent an emergency tracheotomy. Her illness won her back some support from the general public who were becoming increasingly fascinated with her romance with Burton. Released in 1963 Cleopatra was a box office success. She and Burton were married and the starred together in The V.I.Ps, The Sandpiper and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? which was to become the most acclaimed performance of her career. However towards the end of the 60s Elizabeth's career was in decline. In the 1970s she and Burton divorced and then remarried, only to divorce again. She continued to star in films but battled addiction, ill health and marital difficulties. In her later life she devoted her time to her philanthropic work where she worked tirelessly to raise money for AIDS/HIV causes. She passed away in 2011.

Elizabeth was a controversial star from an early age. Married eight times to seven men she had four children, but it was her relationship with Richard Burton that gained the most media attention. For her actions she was labelled a 'bad mother' and faced increasing hostility from the general public, but she cared little for others opinions and carried out her life on her terms. Her 'Cleopatra' hairstyle and makeup even started a fashion trend, with all things Egyptian becoming very popular during the 60s.

Her roles during this period were also challenging. For her role as the alcoholic housewife, Martha, in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? she gained weight and wore a wig, some not able to recognise the usually glamorous star. She took on roles reflective of her own tumultuous life with Burton and starred in a variety of genres. Though the 1960s are generally not regard as her best period, film wise, it is for the iconic role of Cleopatra that she is best known today.

Elizabeth Taylor was a passionate, vivacious woman. She was dedicated to her profession, beliefs and friends. Sadly today she is most remembered for her 8 marriages but she was a wonderful actress and should be remembered for her onscreen roles and philanthropy.

“Nothing will raise you self-esteem as much as helping others. It will make you like yourself more and make you more likable”

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Audrey Hepburn

“I am an introvert…I love being by myself, love being outdoors, love taking long walks with my dogs and looking at the trees, the flowers, the sky”

Widely considered the most beautiful woman in the world Audrey Hepburn was the epitome of elegance and style. The 1960s cemented her as a talented actress and fashion icon, her classic style at its most famous in the 1961 film, Breakfast at Tiffany's. 

Audrey Kathleen Ruston-Hepburn was born in Belgium in 1929. Her early life was tumultuous, her parents separated when she was six years old and she spent her formative years under Nazi rule in Arnhem, Holland. Following the end of the War Audrey and her mother moved to England where Audrey pursued a career in ballet. Told she was too tall to ever make it professionally Audrey began acting instead. She won an Oscar for her first starring role, Roman Holiday, and the 1950s were filled with classic roles including, Sabrina, Funny Face, and The Nuns Story. The 1960s began with great personal happiness for Audrey with the birth of her son, Sean. It also gave her her most popular and famous role that of Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's, for which she was nominated for an academy award. During the 1960s Audrey took on a greater variety of roles including that of teacher, flower seller, and a blind woman in films such as The Children's Hour, Charade, How to Steal a Million, Two for the Road and Wait Until Dark. Two for the Road proved to be one of her most challenging and rewarding roles. In it she played Joanna Wallace over a period of twelve years, the film was innovative for it's use of flashbacks and was risqué for a storyline that included adultry. She also starred in the classic musical My Fair Lady. Throughout the 1960s Audrey was considered a style icon, her fashion changing from the classic Jackie O to the mod looks she sported in Two for the Road. 
With the end of the 1960s Audrey took a break from acting and devoted her life to caring for her two sons Sean and Luca and living with her second husband in Rome. Audrey took on few film roles during the 70s and 80s, but the remainder of her life was devoted to helping underprivileged children for UNICEF. Audrey was a passionate humanitarian and remained beloved throughout the world until her death in 1993.

Audrey remains one of the most popular actresses from the classic era. She was voted as the third greatest actress of all time by the American Film Institute. She is as renowned for her film roles as for her innate sense of style and her beautiful clothes designed by her good friend, fashion designer Hubert Givenchy. Her 1960s style remains an influence on fashion houses to this day.

Audrey's style during the 1960s encompassed little black dresses, ballet flats, classic coats, skirt suits and large sunglasses. She presented a new alternative for women during the 1950s when a full, hourglass figure was considered to be the ultimate in feminine beauty. Audrey paved the way for the boyish shaped models to come including, Jean Shrimpton and Twiggy.

Audrey's dedication to her work and her compassion towards others saw her become a favourite throughout the world. The indelible image of Audrey during this decade is of her walking past Tiffany's in New York with a coffee cup and pastry. But Audrey's beauty was not just on the outside, she was a kind and loving woman who's greatest role was as a mother and a humanitarian. She was a woman of poise who wore many hats throughout her lifetime and it is for all these reasons and more that we continue to love and admire her.

“I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it’s the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It’s probably the most important thing in a person”

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