Audrey Hepburn and Pippin.
The picture above is of famous actress Audrey Hepburn in a store with a deer. Not any deer though, this was her deer! This was taken in 1958, and although the exact store is unknown, it is known that this was in Beverly Hills, Hepburn’s hometown at the time.
The deer in the picture was named Pippin and became an animal buddy to Hepburn throughout the filming of a movie at the time. 1958’s Green Mansion was the name of this project and it was directed by her husband at the time, Mel Ferrer.
Hepburn was to play a young woman who lived in the jungles of Venezuela and has a strong connection to nature. As such, Ferrer wanted her to be accompanied by a deer as her companion. Mel bought a young fawn to fill this role that was already trained and named Pippin. In order to have the two connect and get Pippin to follow her around, Mel told her to take him around and connect with him.
The two connected and quickly bonded. Hepburn reportedly even fed the deer from a bottle to help build trust with Pippin. She also decided to give him the nickname ‘Ip.’ The pair went everywhere together, even shopping as you can see. The film was finished at the point where the deer would actually follow her around like a loyal dog.
After it was finished, however, their friendship was severed by a parting of the ways as Pippin had to return to his owner and trainer. Pippin was so “deer” to her however, that Mel actually bought him a year later for his wife to keep.