With Holly Golightly, Truman Capote created a carefree, impish sprite — who happens to make money from gentlemen callers. Is it any wonder she’s become one of America’s most beloved heroines? Here we track Holly’s incarnations through the years.
* 1958: Already popular for his short stories, the 34-year-old Truman Capote publishes a novella titled “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” in the November issue of Esquire magazine.
* 1961: Blake Edwards directs a bowdlerized but highly popular Hollywood version starring a Givenchy-clad Audrey Hepburn and a cartoonish Mickey Rooney playing a Japanese man with fake buck teeth. Subtract Holly’s unsavory deals, add Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer’s “Moon River,” and voilà, a classic!
* 1966: Despite starry leads Mary Tyler Moore and Richard Chamberlain, and a book by Edward Albee (!), the musical version of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” flops before it opens. Producer David Merrick pulled the plug after four previews.
* 2009: A West End play features Anna Friel’s Holly as a Monroe-like blonde, the way Capote described her. While Friel’s performance is well-received, Samuel Adamson’s adaptation isn’t. Fun footnote: The director was Sean Mathias, who’s helming the Broadway production that opened last night.