BERLIN – A rare sheet of 10 stamps depicting Audrey Hepburn fetched $606,000 at a charity auction in Berlin on Saturday, two-thirds of which will go to help educate children in sub-Saharan Africa.

The mint-condition sheet of 10 stamps featuring Hepburn, a coy smile on her face and a long, black cigarette holder dangling from her lips, brought a profitable outcome to a botched stamp series that was mostly destroyed years ago — and evokes Hepburn’s starring role in the 1963 thriller “Charade,” in which the characters chase a set of rare stamps.

Sean Ferrer, 50, Hepburn’s son with actor and director Mel Ferrer, and the chair of the Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund, said he was thrilled that the sale Saturday brought “focus on children in need,” but wished the stamps had sold for a higher price.

Two-thirds of money raised will go to the Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund, and one-third to UNICEF Germany.

The German postal service printed 14 million of the Hepburn stamps in 2001 showing the Belgian-born actress in her most famous role as the ebullient Holly Golightly in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”

Only after the stamps were printed was Ferrer contacted to grant copyright — but he refused, arguing that the image had been altered.

Advertisement

“In the original photo, she’s got sunglasses hanging from her mouth, but they had flipped the negative and replaced the glasses with the cigarette holder,” he explained.

Jerry Hall cleans out art closet, earns $4 million

LONDON – An auction of art owned by model Jerry Hall has racked up nearly $4 million in sales.

Sotheby’s said Saturday that the highest price in the two-day sale was for a painting, “Head of Helen Gillespie,” by the artist Frank Auerbach. It sold for nearly $1.76 million, above the estimate of $1.4 million.

Hall acquired the painting in 1997.

Strong bidding pushed up the price of a nude study of Hall by Lucien Freud, painted when she was eight months pregnant with her fourth child with former husband Mick Jagger.

Advertisement

The two-day Contemporary Art Sale included 14 works owned by Hall. Four failed to sell.

Now that is tweet-worthy: Alicia Keys has a baby boy

NEW YORK – It’s a boy for Alicia Keys and her husband, music producer/rapper Swizz Beatz.

A representative for Keys said she gave birth Thursday night in New York. The couple have named their son Egypt Dean. It’s the first child for the 29-year-old superstar and the fourth child for Beatz, whose real name is Kaseem Dean. The couple was married July 31.

Swizz Beatz, 31, took time to tweet on Friday: “I’m so thankful for everything I been blessed with in my life.”

Singer Mary J. Blige also tweeted her congratulations on the birth.

 

Copy the Story Link

Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.