 Audrey Hepburn (qv) was first offered the role of Anne Frank. She  refused it for two reasons: she had decided to accept the role in  _Green Mansions (1959)_ (qv) and, more importantly, she had lived in  occupied Holland during the war and had seen the Nazis carry out  street executions and watched as they herded Jews onto boxcars to  carry them to concentration camps. She knew that making the film  would bring back memories that were far too painful for her.