EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN: Martha Gellhorn

They seemed to have it all – glamour, power, wealth and adoration. Grace Kelly, Coco Chanel, Audrey Hepburn, Indira Gandhi, Madame Chiang Kai-shek... they were worshiped, loved and sometimes even feared by millions the world over. These were the pioneers who showed that a woman could be the equal of any man. But behind the public success, there was so often private heartache and personal tragedy. Featuring archive, interviews and dramatic re-enactment, this series reveals the price these extraordinary women paid for their achievements. Yet in the end, they overcame all adversities to emerge as triumphant, inspirational icons of the 20th century.

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Ernest Hemingway with Martha Gellhorn. (Agency reference BEO27921).

Courtesy of © BETTMAN/ CORBIS (1945)

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Mr. And Mrs. Hemmingway on the beach at Waikiki. (Agency reference BEO42551)

Courtesy of © BETTMAN /CORBIS (1941)

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Martha Gellhorn seated on a deck chair returning to New York from Europe aboard the SS Rex. (Agency reference BE072000)

Courtesy of © BETTMAN/ CORBIS (1940)

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Author Ernest Hemingway with wife Martha Gellhorn (left) chatting with actress Ingrid Bergman outside Jack's Restaurant where they will discuss Bergman's possible role as Maria in the movie version of Hemingway's novel "For Whom The Bells Toll." (Agency reference 50371307)

Courtesy of Bob Landry/ © Time Life Pictures/ Getty Images (1941)

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Secretary of Navy Frank Knox (left) chatting with Martha Gellhorn (center) after the press conference. (Agency reference 50488104)

Courtesy of David E. Scherman/ © Time Life Pictures/ Getty Images (1943)

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Martha Gellhorn, the U.S. war correspondent in Italy talks to Indian soldiers of the British Army on the 5th Army's Cassino front. (Agency reference 3068866)

Courtesy of © Keystone/ Getty Images (1944)

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Martha Gellhorn and fellow American journalist Virgina Cowles wrote a play comprising a series of their adventures experienced in Italy where they were war reporters. The play is called "Love Goes to War," and has opened at the Embassy Theatre, London. The two journalists are to be played by Joyce Heron and Irene Worth. Gellhorn flew from America to be present at the first night of the play. Photo shows authors and actresses discussing the play. They are actor Ralph Michael, writers Virginia Cowles and Martha Gellhorn, and actress Irene Worth. (Agency reference 3241911)

Courtesy of © Fox Photos/ Getty Images (1946)

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Portrait of American novelist and war correspondent Martha Gellhorn. (Agency reference 107806105)

Courtesy of © FPG/ Archive Photos/ Getty Images (1946)

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American novelist and war correspondent Martha Gellhorn at a press conference held at the offices of the Spanish Refugee Appeal in New York City. (Agency reference 107806104)

Courtesy of © FPG/ Archive Photos/ Getty Images (1946)

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Former President of League of Women Voters, Martha Gellhorn, sitting in her living room, January 1, 1954. (Agency reference 50394455)

Courtesy of Ed Clark/ © Time Life Pictures/ Getty Images (1954)

"Martha Gellhorn" - Martha Gellhorn became a war correspondent almost by accident when her lover, Ernest Hemingway, urged her to file a report from Madrid during the Spanish Civil War. She wrote about the innocent victims of the war: the civilians who lived in daily fear of being killed by bombs. It was the beginning of a remarkable career spanning some sixty years.

Until Martha entered the field, war-reporting was dominated by male journalists but, through her fearlessness and dedication, she earned a place at the top. Unlike many of her contemporaries, she was motivated to write – not about tactics and statistics - but about the devastating effects of war on the lives of civilians. It was a theme she carried from Spain throughout World War II, to Vietnam and, much later, to America’s wars in Guatemala and Panama.

But Martha’s success came at great cost to her personal life. Her relationships were disastrous and short-lived. Her first marriage, to the writer Ernest Hemingway, ended acrimoniously when it became clear that she could not put her husband before her job. She had several affairs with married men and a painful and difficult relationship with her adopted son.

Although American, Martha fell out with her government and spent her whole life looking for somewhere else to settle. She had homes in Mexico, Africa and Britain, ending her life in an apartment in London. She carried on reporting well into her eighties when, half-blind, she traveled alone to Brazil to report on the plight of street-children who were being murdered by death-squads. Martha Gellhorn was committed to reporting the truth and she worked hard for her reputation as one of the greatest war correspondents of the twentieth century.

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