Happy birthday Audrey Hepburn!
Remembering the beautiful Audrey Hepburn, on what would have been her 88th birthday.
Audrey Hepburn is a personal favourite actress of mine. With her beauty, grace, style, and talent, Audrey is one of the greatest icons of Old Hollywood.
Audrey Kathleen Ruston was born on 4 May 1929 in Brussels, Belgium. Her father used the last name Hepburn-Ruston, and her mother was a Dutch baroness. She was multilingual, able to speak Dutch and English from her parents, and later French, Spanish, and Italian. Her father left the family in 1935, an event that left Audrey deeply hurt for the rest of her life.
She was educated at a school in England, until World War ll broke and she moved to Arnhem with her mother to mistakenly avoid German attacks. However when Germany invaded the Netherlands, Audrey and her family endured horrifying trauma and famine. During the German occupation, Audrey witnessed executions, hunger and the deportations of Jews to concentration camps.
During the Dutch famine of 1944, Audrey and her family used flour and tulips as their only source of food. Despite the trauma of the war, Audrey seeked refuge in dance, particularly ballet. She secretly performed to raise money for the underground, and even in ill health and in hunger, she helped others. After 5 years of Nazi occupation, Audrey had developed acute anæmia, respiratory problems and edema as a result of malnutrition. After the war ended, aged 16, Audrey weighed just 88lbs.
After the war, Audrey studied and trained ballet. However the after effect of the war had left Audrey weaker, and her height and weaker construction meant her talent alone could not make her a prima ballerina. She became a chorus girl under the name Audrey Hepburn, and was discovered by French novelist Colette to play the title role of Gigi on Broadway. The play was a success and soon Hollywood would be intrigued.
In 1953 she won the part of a runaway princess in Roman Holiday. She impressed director William Wyler with her screen test, in which she revealed her life during the war. Her costar Gregory Peck, was so impressed by Audrey that he suggested that she receive equal billing despite her unknown name.
Audrey won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for her performance in the successful Roman Holiday. She quickly became a star and performed alongside Humphrey Bogart and William Holden in Sabrina. Audrey’s tall height and slim frame would revolutionise and redefine femininity, beauty and sex appeal.
Audrey was known for something which has disappeared, and that is elegance, grace and manners … God kissed her on the cheek, and there she was. – Director Billy Wilder
While filming Sabrina, Audrey met fashion designer Hubert Givenchy, who would help to make Audrey a style icon. Givenchy would also become a friend for life and would design Audrey’s clothes in almost all of her films.
Audrey continued to work onstage for a while, and met and married actor Mel Ferrer in 1954. She danced with her idol Fred Astaire in the musical Funny Face, in which she also sang her own songs. She received critical acclaim with her performance in The Nun’s Story in 1959.
More than anything Audrey wanted to have children. She had suffered two miscarriages, one in 1955, and another in 1959. When she became pregnant for the third time, she took a year off work and gave birth to her first son in July 1960.
In 1961, Audrey would star in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, a film that would make her an icon of style and film. Her performance as the iconic Holly Golightly, would give Audrey a fourth Oscar nomination. In the same year she broke boundaries in a film about lesbians in The Children’s Hour.
She also starred in Charade alongside Cary Grant. Her performance in My Fair Lady as the iconic Eliza Doolittle cause controversy as an unknown Julie Andrews who originated the role onstage was up for the part. Audrey won the role, but her singing voice was dubbed. She failed to even receive an Oscar nomination much to everyone’s disbelief. However Audrey wasn’t bitter and remained courteous and thankful.
After several films, Audrey divorced her husband, and in 1968 she married Andrea Dotti. After suffering from several miscarriages, Audrey gave birth to a second son, Luca Dotti in 1970. During this period she starred in fewer films to focus on motherhood. In 1983 she divorced her second husband.
From 1980 until her death, Audrey was in a relationship with Dutch actor Robert Wolders. She spent her time in the countryside in her home in Switzerland. Her last film performance was a cameo appearance as an angel in Steven Spielberg’s Always in 1988. She donated her entire salary to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
During this time, Audrey had begun her most important role. She became a UNICEF ambassador and dedicated the rest of her life to the care and welfare of deprived children. Audrey visited developing countries and witnessed first handed the hunger and suffering. She helped to immunise children and mothers, and provide clean water, food and shelters. She used her name and popularity to campaign for UNICEF and create publicity.
“I can testify to what UNICEF means to children, because I was among those who received food and medical relief right after World War II. I have a long-lasting gratitude and trust for what UNICEF does.” –Audrey Hepburn
While on a UNICEF visit to Somalia, Audrey experience abdominal pain. When she returned home to Switzerland, tests revealed she had a rare form of terminal abdominal cancer, that had slowly grown over the years.
In December 1992, Audrey was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. One month later, on 20th January 1993, Audrey died in her sleep at the age of 63.
Audrey was a wonderful human being with so much love and care for others. She never consider herself to be a good actress or even talented. Her work for UNICEF was the most rewarding experience of her life. She is remembered for her films, beauty, style, kindness, generosity and love and care for others.
Happy Birthday Audrey Hepburn! Thank you for everything, and all of the beautiful qualities you possessed. You are remembered and loved💜
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