Audrey Hepburn: Not Just a Pretty Face
We all know Audrey Hepburn. She’s that beautiful actress from Breakfast at Tiffany’s and many other movies. What most people don’t know, is how incredible this woman actually was.
Audrey was born in 1929 in Belgium. She was sent to boarding school in England when she was five, until England declared war on Germany. While away in England, she learned ballet and was immersed in the English culture. Her father put her on a plane back home, and didn’t see her again for twenty-five years. In the book published by her son, he talks a lot about her relationship with her father and the effects it had on her without him in her life.
Once she returned home, her mother enrolled her in ballet lessons and Audrey even taught ballet to refugees. Her two brothers were gone and they did not know what had happened or what would happen to them during the war. Once the import of food to Holland was no longer available, she had to stop dancing because she was too weak to continue.
On Audrey’s sixteenth birthday the war was over and although joyful, she did suffer from a few medical ailments. Her two brothers returned; one from a factory in Berlin and the other with a pregnant wife.
Audrey was accepted to a dance school in Amsterdam and that’s where her and her mother headed. She studied there until the studio shut down and then traveled to London to study at a new school. She occasionally modeled and auditioned for cabaret acts to have some money she could live off of. Her dream quickly ended when her medical ailments from the war got in the way.
This is where her acting career began. She was cast in a cabaret show in 1948 and continued to dance until she was featured in Sauce Piquante. During this time, she performed twelve times a week while attending classes and learning languages, and modeling. By the end of 1951 she had been case in five movies. After these five rolls, she was cast a slightly bigger one in Monte Carlo Baby. While filming the movie, she was discovered by a famous writer named Colette.
Audrey, although hesitant to accept the role that was given to her, accepted. She rehearsed for days on and end and received private coaching. In 1951 the play Gigi, of which Audrey played Gigi, opened and was a huge success.
This role is what got her to her first Hollywood film, Roman Holiday. Roman Holiday (1953), directed by William Wyler and starring the beloved Audrey Hepburn is simply a classic. It tells a story of a princess taking a break from her duties (without permission) and doing things she actually enjoys for 24 hours. She meets a reporter, played by Gregory Peck, and they both lie to each other about who they are. He lies to get a story and she lies to have some fun. Along the way they begin to fall for each other and there begins a budding romance that you’ll have to watch to see where it goes. It is a wonderful film that keeps you laughing and has different moments for different audiences as most good movies do. I recommend Roman Holiday to anybody who wants to see a classic comedy and doesn’t mind black and white. This film won Audrey an Oscar for Best Actress in 1954.
Gregory Peck and her became very close during the movie and he ended up introducing her to her husband, Mel Ferrer, at a dinner celebrating the opening of Roman Holiday.
Audrey’s next film was Sabrina. Sabrina, a movie in which, you guessed it, Audrey played Sabrina, is another incredible black and white film. It tells a story of a woman from a poor family falling in love with the son of the family her father worked for. The story follows her through her teen years with glimpses of childhood. It is another classic love story that I recommend you watch. Spoiler Alert: it has a huge twist that you won’t see coming.
After Sabrina, Audrey returned to Broadway to co-star with Mel Ferrer in Ondine. Audrey and Mel Ferrer got married in Switzerland in 1954. They then starred in War and Peace together, a movie that is currently on my ‘Must Watch’ list.
Audrey worked with many directors and actors on many films throughout the next few years and received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for her role in The Nun’s Story. (Another one on my ‘Must Watch’ list) In 1959, Audrey and Mel were expecting their first child, Sean. Sean then went on to write an amazing book called “Audrey Hepburn, an Elegant Spirit” about his mother and the struggles and achievements she had in her life that was published in 2003.
Shortly after the birth of Sean, she began working on the performance that she is most commonly known for; Breakfast at Tiffany’s. She played Holly Golightly, a woman with a great sense of style and little money. The movie follows Holly throughout her life in New York and especially her relationships with people in her apartment building. This movie is what got me into Audrey and made me want to know more and see more that she had done. Again, huge recondition and it’s not in black and white! To this day, she is still a huge icon because of that movie.
After Breakfast at Tiffany’s came The Children’s Hour which reunited her with the director from Roman Holiday, William Wyler. After this movie, she took time off and spent 1962 with her family and friends.
The next roles that Audrey starred in were Charade, Paris When It Sizzles, My Fair Lady, How to Steal a Million, and a personal favorite of mine, Wait Until Dark. All must see, and on my top 20 movies I’ve seen, with the exception of My Fair Lady. I have to admit that one was tough to get through because of the accent, you’ll understand when you watch it.
In 1964, Mel Ferrer reunited Audrey with her father, Joseph Ruston. After this reunion, Audrey took another break to focus on her family in Switzerland. Mel and Audrey divorced in 1968 and she and Sean relocated to Rome, a city of which she had fond memories, including the filming of Roman Holiday.
Audrey met her second husband, Andrea Dottie, on a cruise around the Greek Islands. The two were married in 1969. They had a son, Luca, about a year later and the new family of four spent time traveling. In 1975, Audrey decided to go back into movies and played what is said to have been her favorite role yet, a wife and a mother. Director Richard Lester cast Audrey in Robin and Marian with Sean Connery. After that she was reunited with another director of which she was fond of, Terence Young, who directed Wait Until Dark. This time, they worked on Bloodline. Bloodline and Robin and Marian are also currently on my ‘Must Watch’ list so I unfortunately cannot tell you about how amazing she did in the roles. (Even though we all know she did great.)
In 1980 she was in They All Laughed and her life changed again. Audrey and Andrea divorced in this year. Also in 1980, Audrey was introduced to Robert Wolders. Robert has grown up in Holland as well and had similar experiences to Audrey’s during the war. The two of them became very close over a short amount of time.
In 1988, Audrey became a UNICEF International Goodwill Ambassador. Audrey traveled to over twenty countries witnessing and reporting conditions to the world and helping the struggling children and families in those countries. Today, the Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund helps keep her legacy alive and helps children and families in the same situations that she saw survive.
In 1992, after her last UNICEF mission, she got very sick. The doctors were unable to diagnose the reason for the rapid progression of the illness and eventually had a surgery to figure it out. Turns out she had colon cancer that was too far along to be helped. In 1993, in her favorite place, her house called La Passable, with her two sons and Robert, Audrey died.
Audrey Hepburn was much more than just a pretty face. She was a woman who went through hard times during war that I, personally, could not even imagine going through today. She worked extremely hard to make ends meet until her acting career really took off. Audrey had a loving family and many friends and did as much for them as she possibly could. Sean, her eldest son, talks a lot about his mother’s love in his book that I recommend everybody reads. Above all else, she did some amazing work for UNICEF and is a true inspiration for women everywhere.
A link to wear you can donate to the Audrey Hepburn Foundation as well as view more pictures: http://www.audreyhepburn.com/menu/index02.php
References:
Ferrer, Sean, and Luca Dotti. “Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund — New.” Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund — New. Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund, 2008. Web. 19 Dec. 2015.
Ferrer, Sean. Audrey Hepburn, and Elegant Spirit. New York: Atria, 2003. Print.
