50 Fun Facts About Breakfast at Tiffany's

Who plays Holly Golightly in the 1961 film?

She was 31 during filming; the Holly of the novella is 18 or 19.

Who wrote the 1958 novella the film is based on?

He said Holly was the favourite of all his characters.

Which director made the film?

He was brought in after Hepburn's agent asked for a higher-profile name than the original director.

Who plays the writer Paul Varjak, Holly's new neighbour?

He got the part despite having appeared the previous year in the flop The Subterraneans.

What is the name of the film's Oscar-winning theme song?

Hepburn sings it on the fire escape, accompanying herself on a guitar.

Who composed the film's score and the music for its theme song?

He won two Oscars for the film, for the score and the song.

Which lyricist wrote the words to the theme song?

The song relaunched his career, which had stalled when rock and roll displaced jazz standards.

Which actor did Capote want to play Holly Golightly?

She turned it down for The Misfits after Lee Strasberg warned that playing a 'lady of the evening' would hurt her image.

Which actor's portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi has drawn decades of criticism as a racist caricature?

He was the director's old roommate and later said he was 'heartbroken' by the criticism.

Where is the film set, and where were most of its exteriors shot?

Interiors, apart from parts of the Tiffany's scenes, were shot on the Paramount lot in Hollywood.

What does Holly call her pet, a marmalade tom?

The performing cat, Orangey, is credited on screen alongside his trainer Frank Inn.

Where does Holly go every week to visit the mobster Sally Tomato?

His lawyer pays her $100 a week to carry back 'the weather report'.

How much is Holly paid for each visit to Sally Tomato?

The visits eventually get her arrested when the drug ring is uncovered.

What was Holly's birth name before she reinvented herself in New York?

Capote's own mother was born Lillie Mae Faulk in Alabama and, like Holly, changed her name and left a teenage marriage.

What is Doc Golightly's profession in the novella?

He married Holly when she was a teenager and comes to New York to bring her home.

Which state did Holly run away from?

In the film Doc explains that Holly ran away and he has come to take her back to their rural home.

Which actor plays Doc Golightly?

The role helped revive his career and led to his casting as Jed Clampett in The Beverly Hillbillies.

Patricia Neal plays Paul's wealthy 'decorator'. What is her character's nickname?

Her full name is Emily Eustace Failenson; the nickname comes from her initials.

Which country is Holly planning to move to with José near the end of the story?

In the novella she goes anyway after José breaks it off, and the narrator never learns what became of her.

What did Paul have engraved at Tiffany's as a gift for Holly?

It was part of a day spent doing things neither of them had done before.

Which relative's death sends Holly into a spiral of grief?

She trashes her apartment when the telegram arrives; in the novella he dies overseas in the war.

Which magazine bought the novella first but then refused to print it?

Hearst executives found the language unsuitable and worried about upsetting Tiffany's, a major advertiser.

Which magazine finally published the novella in November 1958?

An outraged Capote resold it for $3,000, insisting the magazine use David Attie's photographs.

In which decade is Capote's novella set?

The film moved the action to 1960; the book opens in autumn 1943.

What was Holly's name in Capote's early drafts?

A real Manhattan woman named Bonnie Golightly later sued Capote unsuccessfully, claiming Holly was based on her.

What did Capote call the guessing game over which real woman inspired his heroine?

Contenders included Gloria Vanderbilt, Oona O'Neill, Doris Lilly and the models Dorian Leigh and Suzy Parker.

Which Christopher Isherwood character has Holly been compared to as a literary ancestor?

Isherwood was one of Capote's mentors, and one critic called the novella his 'personal crystallization' of that character.

Who was the film's original director before he was replaced during pre-production?

He had worked with screenwriter George Axelrod for three months on the project.

Which screenwriter turned the novella into a heterosexual romantic comedy?

He had earlier adapted The Seven Year Itch, and he replaced a first, more faithful screenplay.

On what date did filming begin outside the Tiffany & Co. flagship store?

One report says the crowd-heavy opening shot nearly electrocuted a crew member; another says an unexpected lull in traffic made it quick.

Which studio released the film in October 1961?

Studio production chief Martin Rankin wanted the theme song replaced after a test preview; the producers refused.

The film's budget was $2.5m. Roughly what was its worldwide gross?

Variety had already called it 'a bright box office contender' after a Radio City Music Hall screening.

How many Academy Awards did the film win?

Both went to Henry Mancini, for the score and (with Johnny Mercer) for the song; Hepburn was nominated for Best Actress.

Which award did Hepburn actually win for the film?

She lost the Oscar and the Golden Globe but took the Italian film prize.

Which designer created Hepburn's famous little black dress for the film?

Edith Head redesigned the lower half for the film because the originals showed too much leg.

How much did one of the Givenchy dresses fetch at Christie's in December 2006?

About seven times the reserve; the money went to build schools for poor children in Kolkata.

Which comic-book character's costume was influenced by a Givenchy dress and wide-brimmed hat from the film?

Artist Adam Hughes drew on the look, and it later fed into the costume in The Dark Knight Rises.

What was the lyricist's original working title for the theme song?

The colour came from the huckleberries he picked as a child in Savannah, Georgia.

Which singer made the theme song his signature tune and opened his TV show with it?

He never released it as a single, yet his 1962 album of movie themes went gold and he named his Branson theatre after the song.

Which British singer took the theme song to number one in the UK at the end of 1961?

In the US the hit versions were Jerry Butler's and Mancini's own, both peaking at number 11.

Which band had a 1995 hit single titled 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'?

It reached number five in the US and number one in the UK, and remains their only major hit.

Which other Hepburn film actually inspired the lyrics of the 1995 song that borrowed this film's title?

Songwriter Todd Pipes simply thought the other title made a better song name.

Which actress starred as Holly in the short-lived 2013 Broadway stage adaptation?

It ran 55 performances at the Cort Theatre; Anna Friel had played Holly in London in 2009 and Pixie Lott in 2016.

In which year was the film added to the US National Film Registry?

That was the year after its 50th-anniversary Blu-ray restoration.

How much did Capote's original typed manuscript sell for at auction in 2013?

The buyer, Russian billionaire Igor Sosin, said he planned to display it in Moscow and Monte Carlo.

Which actress turned down Holly Golightly to star in Two Loves instead?

Kim Novak also passed on the part before Paramount cast Hepburn, to Capote's fury.

Which actor declined the role of Paul Varjak because he was under contract to United Artists?

Jack Lemmon and Robert Wagner were also considered before George Peppard was cast.

Who wrote the first, faithful screenplay draft before being replaced by George Axelrod?

Producers Jurow and Shepherd disliked the faithful version and wanted a romantic comedy.

How old was Audrey Hepburn during filming, playing a character the novella says is 19?

Hepburn had also hesitated over the role, saying she found extroverted characters difficult.

Which of Hepburn's earlier films inspired the sequencing of her rendition of 'Moon River'?

The song was tailored to her limited vocal range; a Paramount executive later wanted it replaced by another singer.