Picture of Audrey Hepburn

On Wednesday, January 28, 1959, Hepburn was pitched from an Arabian stallion during the shooting of The Unforgiven. Camera trouble developed, someone yelled “cut,” the horse stopped abruptly and the star went over its head. Ernest Anderson, the producer’s spokesperson, said she seemed to bounce two or three times. She was unconscious for five minutes. Doctors would not permit her to be moved for two hours. “She insisted on doing it despite the fact that we had a stunt double (Sharon Lecar who is shown with her in the photo) to do all the riding scenes for her,” said Anderson. Audrey’s husband later explained that, “Audrey had an accident on a horse when she was 11. She broke her collarbone. When we were making War and Peace, I got her to ride again and she got completely over her fear."

“I feel fine,” the actress said from her stretcher. “It only hurts when I laugh,” she told the press and newsmen… “So don’t say anything funny!" Mel Ferrer, serious-faced beside his smiling wife, said, "She’s in pain every minute. She won’t say it and won’t admit it.” Ferrer added, “On the phone, right after the accident, Audrey said to me, ‘Don’t get angry at the horse! It wasn’t the horse’s fault.’”