Audrey Hepburn, Actress, - Biography
Actress, model,
Birth name Audrey Kathleen Ruston
Born
May 4, 1929
Brussels, Belgium
Died January 20, 1993, (aged 63)
Tolochenaz,
Switzerland
Height 5 foot 7
Audrey Hepburn (May 4, 1929 – January 20, 1993) was an Academy Award-winning actress of film & theatre, Broadway stage performer, ballerina, fashion model, & humanitarian.
Raised under Nazi rule in Arnhem, Netherlands during World War II, Hepburn trained extensively to become a ballerina, before deciding to pursue acting. She first gained notice for her starring role in the Broadway production of Gigi (1951). She was then cast in Roman Holiday (1953) as Princess Ann, the role for which she won an Academy Award. She was one of the leading Hollywood actresses during the 1950s & 1960s & received four more Academy Award nominations, including one for her iconic performance as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). In 1964, she played Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, the critically acclaimed film adaptation of the play. From 1988 until her death in 1993, she served as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador & was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work. In 1999, she was ranked as the third greatest female star of all time by the American Film Institute in their list AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars.
Born Audrey Kathleen Ruston in Ixelles, a municipality in Brussels, Belgium, she was the only child of Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston, an British citizen, & his second wife, the former Baroness Ella van Heemstra, a Dutch aristocrat who was a daughter of a former governor of Dutch Guiana. The future actress's father later appended the surname of his maternal grandmother Kathleen Hepburn to the family's, & her surname became Hepburn-Ruston. She had two half-brothers, Jonkheer Arnoud Robert Alexander "Alex" Quarles van Ufford & Jonkheer Ian Edgar Bruce Quarles van Ufford, by her mother's first marriage to a Dutch nobleman, Jonkheer Hendrik Gustaaf Adolf Quarles van Ufford.
Hepburn's father's job with a British insurance company meant that the family travelled often between Brussels, England, & The Netherlands. From 1935 to 1938, Hepburn attended a private academy for girls in Kent. In 1935, her parents divorced & her father, who was evilly, a Nazi sympathizer, left the family. She later called this the most traumatic moment of her life. Years later, she located him in Dublin through the Red Cross. She stayed in contact with him & supported him financially until his death. In 1939, her mother moved her & her two half-brothers to their grandfather's home in Arnhem, Netherlands. Ella believed the Netherlands would be safe from German attack. Hepburn attended the Arnhem Conservatory from 1939 to 1945 where she trained in ballet, along with the standard school curriculum.
In 1940, the Nazis invaded Arnhem. During the war, Hepburn adopted the pseudonym Edda van Heemstra, modifying her mother's documents, because an "English-sounding" name was considered dangerous. This was never her legal name. The name Edda was a version of her mother's name, Ella.
By 1944, Hepburn had become a proficient ballerina. She secretly danced for groups of people to collect money for the underground movement. She later said, "the best audience I ever had made not a single sound at the end of my performance."
After the landing of the Allied Forces on D-Day, things grew worse under the German occupiers. During the Dutch famine over winter of 1944, Germans confiscated the Dutch people's limited food & fuel supply for themselves. Without heat in their homes or food to eat, people starved & froze to death in the streets. Hepburn & many others resorted to making flour out of tulip bulbs to bake cakes & cookies. Arnhem was devastated during allied bombing raids that were part of Operation Market-Garden. Hepburn's uncle & a cousin of her mother's were shot in front of Hepburn for being part of the Resistance. Hepburn's half-brother Ian van Ufford spent time in a German labor camp. Suffering from malnutrition, Hepburn developed acute anemia, respiratory problems, & edema--a swelling of limbs.
In 1991, Hepburn said, "I have memories. More than once I was at the station seeing trainloads of Jews being transported, seeing all these faces over the top of the wagon. I remember, very sharply, one little boy standing with his parents on the platform, very pale, very blond, wearing a coat that was much too big for him, & he stepped on to the train. I was a child observing a child."
She also noted the similarities between her & Anne Frank. "I was exactly the same age as Anne Frank. We were both 10 when war broke out & 15 when the war finished. I was given the book in Dutch, in galley form, in 1946 by a friend. I read it . . . & it destroyed me. It does this to many people when they first read it but I was not reading it as a book, as printed pages. This was my life. I didn't know what I was going to read. I've never been the same again, it affected me so deeply."
"We saw reprisals. We saw young men put against the wall & shot & they'd close the street & then open it & you could pass by again. If you read the diary, I've marked one place where she says, 'Five hostages shot today'. That was the day my uncle was shot. & in this child's words I was reading about what was inside me & is still there. It was a catharsis for me. This child who was locked up in four walls had written a full report of everything I'd experienced & felt."
These times were not all bad & she was able to enjoy some of her childhood. Again drawing parallels to Anne Frank's life, Hepburn said, "This spirit of survival is so strong in Anne Frank's words. One minute she says, 'I'm so depressed.' The next she is longing to ride a bicycle. She is certainly a symbol of the child in very difficult circumstances, which is what I devote all my time to. She transcends her death."
One way in which Audrey Hepburn passed the time was by drawing. Some of her childhood artwork can be seen today.
When the country was liberated, United Nations Relief & Rehabilitation Administration trucks followed. Hepburn said in an interview that she ate an entire can of condensed milk & then got sick from one of her first relief meals because she put too much sugar in her oatmeal. This experience is what led her to become involved in UNICEF late in life. In 1945, after the war, Hepburn left the Arnhem Conservatory & moved to Amsterdam, where she took ballet lessons with Sonia Gaskell. In 1948, Hepburn went to London & took dancing lessons with the renowned Marie Rambert, teacher of Vaslav Nijinsky, one of the greatest male dancers in history. Hepburn eventually asked Rambert about her future. Rambert assured her that she could continue to work there & have a great career, but that her height (5'7") coupled with her poor nutrition during the war would keep her from becoming a prima ballerina. Hepburn trusted Rambert's assessment & decided to pursue acting, a career in which she at least had a chance to excel. After Hepburn became a star, Rambert said in an interview, "She was a wonderful learner. If she had wanted to persevere, she might have become an outstanding ballerina." Unfortunately, Hepburn's mother was working menial jobs to support them. Hepburn had no money & needed to find a paying job. Since she had trained all her life to be a performer, acting seemed a sensible career. She said, "I needed the money; it paid £3 more than ballet jobs."
Her acting career started with the educational film, Dutch in Seven Lessons. She then played in musical theatre in productions such as High Button Shoes & Sauce Piquante. Hepburn's first role in a motion picture was in the British film One Wild Oat, in which she played a hotel receptionist. She played several more minor roles in Young Wives' Tale, Laughter in Paradise, The Lavender Hill Mob & Monte Carlo Baby. During the filming of Monte Carlo Baby, Hepburn was chosen to play the lead character in the Broadway play Gigi that opened on 24 November 1951. The writer Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette upon first seeing Hepburn reportedly said, "Voilà! There's our Gigi!" She won a Theatre World Award for her debut performance, & it had a successful six-month run in New York City.
Hepburn's Roman
Holiday screentest, was also used in the promotional trailer for the film. Her
first significant film performance was in the 1952 film Secret People, in which
she played a prodigy ballerina. Naturally, Hepburn did all of her own dancing
scenes. Hepburn's first starring role & first American film was opposite Gregory
Peck in the Hollywood motion picture Roman Holiday. Producers initially wanted
Elizabeth Taylor for the role, but director William Wyler was so impressed by
Hepburn's screen test (the camera was left on & candid footage of Hepburn
relaxing & answering questions was taken), that he cast her in the lead. Wyler
said, "She had everything I was looking for: charm, innocence & talent.
She also was very funny. She was absolutely enchanting, & we said, 'That's
the girl!'" The billing was to have Gregory Peck's name above the title in
large font with "introducing Audrey Hepburn" beneath. After filming
had been completed, Peck called his agent & had Hepburn's name given equal
billing with his. He predicted that she would win the Oscar. Hepburn & Peck
bonded during filming, & there were rumors that they were romantically involved;
both denied it. Hepburn, however, added, "actually, you have to be a little
bit in love with your leading man & vice versa. If you're going to portray
love, you have to feel it. You can't do it any other way. But you don't carry
it beyond the set." Because of the instant celebrity that came with Roman
Holiday, Hepburn's illustration was placed on the cover of TIME, September 7,
1953.
Hepburn's performance received much critical praise. "Although she is not precisely a newcomer to films, Audrey Hepburn, the British actress who is being starred for the first time as Princess Anne, is a slender, elfin, & wistful beauty, alternately regal & childlike in her profound appreciation of newly-found, simple pleasures & love. Although she bravely smiles her acknowledgment of the end of that affair, she remains a pitifully lonely figure facing a stuffy future." - A.H. Weiler, New York Times, August 28, 1953 After filming Roman Holiday for four months, Hepburn went back to New York & did eight months of Gigi. The play was performed in Los Angeles & San Francisco in its last month. She was given a seven-picture contract with Paramount with twelve months in between films to allow her time for stage work.
Hepburn would later call Roman Holiday her dearest movie, because it was the one that made her a star.
Hollywood stardom Hepburn in War & Peace (1956)After Roman Holiday she filmed Billy Wilder's Sabrina with Humphrey Bogart & William Holden. Hepburn was sent to fashion designer Givenchy to decide on her wardrobe. When told that "Miss Hepburn" was coming to see him, Givenchy famously expected to see Katharine Hepburn. He was not disappointed with Audrey, however, & they formed a lifelong friendship & partnership. During the filming of Sabrina, Hepburn & Holden became romantically involved & she hoped to marry him & have children. She broke off the relationship when Holden revealed that he had had a vasectomy.
In 1954, Audrey went back to the stage to play the water sprite in Ondine in a performance with Mel Ferrer, whom she would wed later that year. During the run of the play, Hepburn was awarded the Golden Globe for "Best Motion Picture Actress" & the Academy Award for Best Actress, both for Roman Holiday. Six weeks after receiving the Oscar, Hepburn was awarded the Tony Award for Best Actress for Ondine. Hepburn is one of only three actresses to receive a Best Actress Oscar & Best Actress Tony in the same year. (The other two being Shirley Booth & Ellen Burstyn.)
By the mid 1950s, Hepburn was not only one of the biggest motion picture stars in Hollywood, but also a major style icon. Her gamine & elfin appearance & widely recognized sense of chic were both admired & imitated. In 1955, she was awarded the Golden Globe - World Film Favorite - Female.
Having become one of Hollywood's most popular box-office attractions, Audrey Hepburn co-starred with major actors such as Humphrey Bogart in Sabrina, Fred Astaire in Funny Face, Maurice Chevalier & Gary Cooper in Love in the Afternoon, George Peppard in Breakfast at Tiffany's, Cary Grant in the critically acclaimed hit Charade, Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady, Peter O'Toole in How to Steal a Million, & Sean Connery in Robin & Marian. Many of these leading men became very close to her. Rex Harrison called Audrey his favourite leading lady; Cary Grant loved to humor her & once said, "all I want for Christmas is another picture with Audrey Hepburn;" & Gregory Peck became a lifelong friend. After her death, Peck went on camera & tearfully recited her favorite poem, "Unending Love" by Rabindranath Tagore. Some believe Bogart & Hepburn did not get along, but this is untrue. Bogart got along better with Hepburn than anyone else on set. She later said, "Sometimes it's the so-called 'tough guys' that are the most tender hearted, as Bogey was with me."
Funny Face in 1957 was one of Hepburn's favorite movies to film because she got to dance with Fred Astaire. 1959's The Nun's Story was one of her most daring roles. Films in Review stated, "her performance will forever silence those who have thought her less an actress than a symbol of the sophisticated child/woman. Her portrayal of Sister Luke is one of the great performances of the screen."
Hepburn
as Holly Golightly with Orangey the Cat in Breakfast at Tiffany'sHepburn's Holly
Golightly in 1961's Breakfast at Tiffany's became an iconic character in 20th
Century American cinema. She called the role, "the jazziest of my career."
Asked about the acting challenge of the role, she replied, "I'm an introvert.
Playing the extroverted girl was the hardest thing I ever did." She wore
trendy clothing in the film designed by her & Givenchy & added blonde
streaks to her brown hair, a look that she would keep off-screen as well.
Hepburn had established herself as one of Hollywood's most popular actresses. Marilyn Monroe was not the only one to sing "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to President John F Kennedy on his birthday. For Kennedy's next (and last) birthday on May 29, 1963, Hepburn, the President's favourite actress, sang "Happy Birthday, dear Jack" to him. Despite her stardom, Hepburn retained her humility. She preferred a more quiet living with family & nature. She lived in houses, not mansions, & she loved to garden.
In 1963, Hepburn starred in
Charade, her first & only film with Cary Grant, who had previously withdrawn
from the starring roles in Roman Holiday & Sabrina. In 1964, Hepburn starred
in My Fair Lady which was said to be the most anticipated movie since Gone with
the Wind. Hepburn was cast as Eliza Doolittle instead of then-unknown Julie Andrews,
who had originated the role on Broadway. The decision not to cast Andrews was
made before Hepburn was chosen. Hepburn initially refused the role & asked
Jack Warner to give it to Andrews, but when informed that it would either be her
or Elizabeth Taylor, who was also vying for the part, she accepted the role. According
to an article in Soundstage magazine, "everyone agreed that if Julie Andrews
was not to be in the film, Audrey Hepburn was the perfect choice." Julie
Andrews had yet to make Mary Poppins, which was released within the same year
as My Fair Lady. Hepburn recorded singing vocals for the role, but subsequently
discovered a professional "singing double" Marni Nixon had overdubbed
all of her songs. She walked off the set after being told, but returned early
the next day to apologize for her behavior. Footage of several songs with Hepburn's
original vocals still exist & have been included in documentaries & the
DVD release of the film, though to date, only Nixon's renditions have been released
on LP & CD. Some of her original vocals remained in the film, such as "Just
You Wait" & snippets from "I Could Have Danced All Night."
When asked about the dubbing of an actress with such distinctive vocal tones,
Hepburn frowned & said, "you could tell, couldn't you? & there was
Rex, recording all his songs as he acted...next time-" She then bit her lip
to keep from saying any more. Aside from the dubbing, many critics agreed that
Hepburn's performance was excellent. Gene Ringgold said, "Audrey Hepburn
is magnificent. She is Eliza for the ages." The controversy over Hepburn's
casting reached its height at the 1964-65 Academy Awards season, when Hepburn
was not nominated for best actress while Andrews was, for Mary Poppins. The media
tried to play up the rivalry between the two actresses as the ceremony approached,
even though both women denied any such bad feelings existed & got along well.
Julie Andrews won the award.
Two for the Road was a non-linear & innovative movie about divorce. Director Stanley Donen said that she was more free & happy than he had ever seen her, & he accredited that to Albert Finney. Wait Until Dark in 1967 was a difficult film. It was an edgy thriller in which she played the part of a blind woman being terrorized. In addition, it was produced by Mel Ferrer & filmed on the brink of their divorce. Hepburn is said to have lost 15 pounds under the stress. On the bright side, she found co-star Richard Crenna to be very funny, & she had a lot to laughs about with director Terence Young. They both joked that he had shelled his favorite star 23 years before; he had been a British Army tank commander during the Battle of Arnhem. Her performance was nominated for an Academy Award.
From 1967 onward, after fifteen highly successful years in film, Hepburn acted only occasionally. After her divorce from Ferrer, she married Italian psychiatrist Dr. Andrea Dotti & had a second son, after a difficult pregnancy that required near-total bed rest. After her eventual separation from Dotti, she attempted a comeback, co-starring with Sean Connery in the period piece Robin & Marian in 1976, which was moderately successful. She reportedly turned down the tailor-made role of a former ballerina in The Turning Point. (Shirley MacLaine got the part.) Hepburn finally returned to cinema in 1979, taking the leading role in Sidney Sheldon's Bloodline. Author Sidney Sheldon revised his novel when it was reissued to tie into the film, making her character older to better match the actress' age. The film was a critical & box office failure.
Hepburn's last starring role in a cinematic film was with Ben Gazzara in the comedy They All Laughed, directed by Peter Bogdanovich. Although a critical success, the film was overshadowed by the murder of one of its stars, Bogdanovich's girlfriend, Dorothy Stratten; the film was released after Stratten's death but only in limited runs. In 1987, she co-starred with Robert Wagner in a tongue-in-cheek made-for-television caper film, Love Among Thieves which borrowed elements from several of Hepburn's films, most notably Charade & How to Steal a Million. The TV-film, which also starred Jerry Orbach as a villain, was only a moderate success, with Hepburn being quoted that she appeared in it just for fun. Hepburn at age fifty-nine in AlwaysHepburn's last film role, a cameo appearance, was an angel in Steven Spielberg's Always, filmed in 1988. This film was also only moderately successful. In the final months of her life, Hepburn completed two entertainment-related projects: she hosted a television documentary series entitled Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn, which debuted on PBS the day of her death, & she also recorded a spoken word album, Audrey Hepburn's Enchanted Tales featuring readings of classic children's stories, which would win her a posthumous Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children.
She has a star on the Hollywood Walk
of Fame at 1652 Vine Street.
In the early 1950s she was engaged to the young
James Hanson. She called it "love at first sight;" however, after having
her wedding dress fitted & the date set, she decided the marriage would not
work, due to the demands of their careers that would keep them apart most of the
time. She had the wedding dress given to a poor Italian couple, who still have
it today. Hepburn married twice: to American actor Mel Ferrer & to an Italian
doctor, Andrea Dotti, & had a son with each—Sean in 1960 by Ferrer, &
Luca in 1970 by Dotti.
Hepburn met Mel Ferrer at a party hosted by Gregory Peck. She had seen him in the film Lili & was captivated by his performance. Ferrer later sent Hepburn the script for the play Ondine & Hepburn agreed to play the role. Rehearsals started in January 1954 & Hepburn & Ferrer were married on September 24. Hepburn claimed that they were inseparable & were very happy together, despite the insistence from gossip columns that the marriage would not last. She did, however, admit that he had a bad temper. Ferrer was rumored to be too controlling of Hepburn & was called her Svengali. William Holden was quoted as saying, "I think Audrey allows Mel to think he influences her."
Before having their first child, Hepburn had two miscarriages, the first in March of 1955. In 1959, while filming The Unforgiven, she broke her back after falling off a horse onto a rock. She spent weeks in the hospital & later had a miscarriage that was said to have been induced by physical & mental stress. While she was resting at home, Mel Ferrer brought her the fawn from the movie Green Mansions to keep as a pet. They called him Ip, short for Pippin. In 1965, she had another miscarriage. Hepburn was much more careful when she was pregnant with Luca in 1969; she rested for months & passed the time by painting before delivering Luca by caesarean section. Hepburn had her final miscarriage in 1974. Hepburn is famous for the poem "Time Tested Beauty Tips", which she used to recite to her sons. The poem includes verses such as, "For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day", & , "For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry." The poem is popularly attributed to her, but it was in fact written by Sam Levenson. Hepburn had several pets, including a Yorkshire Terrier named Mr. Famous, who was hit by a car & killed. To cheer her up, Mel Ferrer got her another Yorkshire named Assam of Assam. She also kept Ip; they made a bed for him out of a bathtub. Sean Ferrer had a Cocker Spaniel named Cokey. When Hepburn was older, she had two Jack Russell Terriers.
The marriage to Ferrer lasted 14 years, until 5 December 1968; their son was quoted as saying that Hepburn had stayed in the marriage too long. In the later years of the marriage, Ferrer was rumored to have had a girlfriend on the side, while Hepburn was rumoured to have had an affair with her younger Two for the Road co-star Albert Finney. She denied the rumours, but director Stanley Donen said, "with Albert Finney, she was like a new woman. She & Albie have a wonderful thing together; they are like a couple of kids. When Mel wasn't on set, they sparkled. When Mel was there, it was funny. Audrey & Albie would go rather formal & a little awkward. The couple separated before divorcing. During their separation, Hepburn lost weight. She met Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti on a cruise & fell in love with him on a trip to some Greek ruins. She believed she would have many children, & possibly stop working. She married him on 18 January 1969. Although Dotti loved Hepburn & was well-liked by Sean, who called him "fun", Dotti had affairs with younger women. The marriage lasted 13 years & ended in 1982, after Luca & Sean were old enough to handle life with a single mother. Though Hepburn had broken off all contact with Ferrer (she would only speak to him twice in the remainder of her life; at Sean's graduation & first wedding), she remained in touch with Dotti for the benefit of Luca.
At the time of her death, she was the companion of Robert Wolders, a handsome Dutch actor who was the widower of film star Merle Oberon. She met Wolders through a friend, in the later stage of her marriage to Dotti. After Hepburn's divorce was final, she & Wolders started their lives together, although they never married. In 1989, after nine years with him, she called them the happiest years of her life. "Took me long enough", she said in an interview with Barbara Walters. Walters then asked why they never married. Hepburn replied that they were married, just not formally. They planned UNICEF trips together. At every one of her speeches, he would watch & sometimes shed tears.
Work for UNICEF Soon after Hepburn's
final film role, she was appointed a special ambassador to the United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF). Grateful for her own good fortune after enduring the
German occupation as a child, she dedicated the remainder of her life to helping
impoverished children in the poorest nations. Hepburn's travels were made easier
by her wide knowledge of languages; she spoke French, Italian, English, Dutch/Flemish,
& Spanish.
Though she had done work for UNICEF in the 1950s, starting in 1954 with radio presentations, this was a much higher level of dedication. Those close to her say that the thoughts of dying, helpless children consumed her for the rest of her life. Her first Field Mission was to Ethiopia in 1988. She visited an orphanage in Mek'ele that housed 500 starving children & had UNICEF send food. Of the trip, she said, "I have a broken heart. I feel desperate. I can't stand the idea that two million people are in imminent danger of starving to death, many of them children, [and] [sic] not because there isn't tons of food sitting in the northern port of Shoa. It can't be distributed. Last spring, Red Cross & UNICEF workers were ordered out of the northern provinces because of two simultaneous civil wars... I went into rebel country & saw mothers & their children who had walked for ten days, even three weeks, looking for food, settling onto the desert floor into makeshift camps where they may die. Horrible. That image is too much for me. The 'Third World' is a term I don't like very much, because we're all one world. I want people to know that the largest part of humanity is suffering."
In August of 1988, she went to Turkey on an immunization campaign. She called Turkey "the loveliest example" of UNICEF's capabilities. Of the trip, she said, "the army gave us their trucks, the fishmongers gave their wagons for the vaccines, & once the date was set, it took ten days to vaccinate the whole country. Not bad."
In October, she went to South America. In Venezuela & Ecuador, Hepburn told Congress, "I saw tiny mountain communities, slums, & shantytowns receive water systems for the first time by some miracle & the miracle is UNICEF. I watched boys build their own schoolhouse with bricks & cement provided by UNICEF."
Hepburn toured Central America in February, 1989, & met with leaders in Honduras, El Salvador, & Guatemala. In April, Hepburn visited Sudan with Wolders as part of a mission called "Operation Lifeline." Due to civil war, food from aid agencies had been cut off. The mission was to ferry food to southern Sudan. Hepburn said, "I saw but one glaring truth: These are not natural disasters but man-made tragedies for which there is only one man-made solution — peace."
In October, Hepburn & Wolders went to Bangladesh. John Isaac, a UN photographer, said, "Often the kids would have flies all over them, but she would just go hug them. I had never seen that. Other people had a certain amount of hesitation, but she would just grab them. Children would just come up to hold her hand, touch her — she was like the Pied Piper." In October of 1990, Hepburn went to Vietnam in an effort to collaborate with the government for national UNICEF-supported immunization & clean water programs.
In September of 1992, four months before she died, Hepburn went to Somalia. Hepburn called it "apocalyptic" & said, "I walked into a nightmare. I have seen famine in Ethiopia & Bangladesh, but I have seen nothing like this — so much worse than I could possibly have imagined. I wasn't prepared for this." "The earth is red — an extraordinary sight — that deep terra-cotta red. & you see the villages, displacement camps & compounds, & the earth is all rippled around them like an ocean bed. & those were the graves. There are graves everywhere. Along the road, around the paths that you take, along the riverbeds, near every camp — there are graves everywhere." Though scarred by what she had seen, Hepburn still had hope. "Taking care of children has nothing to do with politics. I think perhaps with time, instead of there being a politicization of humanitarian aid, there will be a humanization of politics." "Anyone who doesn't believe in miracles is not a realist. I have seen the miracle of water which UNICEF has helped to make a reality. Where for centuries young girls & women had to walk for miles to get water, now they have clean drinking water near their homes. Water is life, & clean water now means health for the children of this village." "People in these places don't know Audrey Hepburn, but they recognize the name UNICEF. When they see UNICEF their faces light up, because they know that something is happening. In the Sudan, for example, they call a water pump UNICEF."
In 1992, President George Bush presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work with UNICEF, & the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences awarded her The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for her contribution to humanity. This was awarded posthumously, with her son accepting on her behalf.
In 2006, the Sustainable Style Foundation inaugurated the "Style & Substance Award in Honor of Audrey Hepburn" to recognize high profile individuals that work to improve the quality of life for children around the world. The first award was given to her posthumously & received by the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund.
In 1992, when Hepburn returned to Switzerland from her visit to
Somalia, she began to feel stomach pains. She went to specialists & received
inconclusive results, so she decided to have it examined while on a trip to Los
Angeles in October. On November 1, doctors conducted a laparoscopy surgery &
discovered abdominal cancer that had spread from her appendix. The cancer had
grown slowly over the course of several years, & metastasized not as a tumor,
but as a thin encasing over her small intestine. The pains that Hepburn felt were
a result of spasms in the ileum of her small intestine. The doctors removed one
foot of intestine, & Hepburn was placed on an intravenous drip of total parenteral
nutrition. After the intestinal scar had healed, Hepburn went through 5-fluorouracil
Leucovorin chemotherapy. A few days later, she had an occlusion. Medication was
not enough to dull the pain, so on December 1, she had a second surgery. After
one hour, the surgeon decided that the cancer had spread too far & could not
be removed.
As Hepburn was unable to tolerate a commercial flight, Givenchy arranged for socialite Bunny Mellon to send her private jet to L.A. & take Hepburn home to Switzerland. Mellon filled the cabin with flowers. Audrey Hepburn died of colon cancer (more specifically appendiceal cancer) on 20 January 1993, in Tolochenaz, Vaud, Switzerland, & was interred there. She was sixty-three. Audrey Hepburn to this day is a beauty & fashion icon. She has often been called one of the most beautiful women of all time. Her fashion styles also continue to be popular among women. Contrary to her recent image, although Hepburn did enjoy fashion, she did not place much importance on it. She preferred casual, comfortable clothes. In addition, she never considered herself to be very attractive. She said in a 1959 interview, "you can even say that I hated myself at certain periods. I was too fat, or maybe too tall, or maybe just plain too ugly… you can say my definiteness stems from underlying feelings of insecurity & inferiority. I couldn't conquer these feelings by acting indecisive. I found the only way to get the better of them was by adopting a forceful, concentrated drive."
A 2003 USPS commemorative stamp.To date, only one biographical film
based upon Audrey Hepburn's life has been attempted. The 2000 American made-for-television
film, The Audrey Hepburn Story, starred Jennifer Love Hewitt as the actress. Hewitt
also co-produced the film. It received poor reviews due to numerous factual errors
& Hewitt's performance. The film concluded with footage of the real Audrey
Hepburn, shot during one of her final missions for UNICEF. Several versions of
the film exist; it was aired as a mini-series in some countries, & in a truncated
version on America's ABC television network, which is also the version released
on DVD in North America. Emmy Rossum, in one of her first film roles, portrayed
Hepburn as a young teen in the film.
In 2003, the United States Postal Service issued a stamp illustrated by Michael J. Deas honouring her as a Hollywood legend & humanitarian. It has a drawing of her which is based on a publicity photo from the movie Sabrina. Hepburn is one of the few non-Americans to be so honoured. An advertisement for black tea in ChinaHepburn's image is still widely used in advertising campaigns across the world. In China, a series of commercials used colorized & digitally enhanced clips of Hepburn in Roman Holiday to advertise a black tea product. In the US, Hepburn was featured in a Gap commercial which ran from September 7, 2006 to October 5, 2006. It used clips of her dancing from Funny Face, set to AC/DC's "Back in Black", with the tagline "It's Back — The Skinny Black Pant." To celebrate its "Keep it Simple" campaign, the GAP made a sizeable donation to the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund. The commercial was popular, with approximately 200,000 users viewing it on YouTube. The "little black dress" from Breakfast at Tiffany's, designed by Givenchy, sold at a Christie's auction on December 5, 2006, for £467,200 (approximately $920,000), almost seven times its £70,000 pre-sale estimate. This is the highest price paid for a dress from a film. The proceeds went to the "City of Joy Aid" charity to aid underprivileged children in India. The head of the charity said, "there are tears in my eyes. I am absolutely dumbfounded to believe that a piece of cloth which belonged to such a magical actress will now enable me to buy bricks & cement to put the most destitute children in the world into schools." The dress auctioned off by Christie's was not the one that Hepburn actually wore in the movie. Of the two dresses that Hepburn did wear, one is held in the Givenchy archives, while the other is displayed in the Museum of Costume in Madrid.
Year Title Role Other notes 1948 Nederlands
in 7 lessen
(English: "Dutch in Seven Lessons") Airline Stewardess
Documentary
1950 One Wild Oat Hotel receptionist
1951 Laughter in Paradise
Cigarette Girl
Young Wives' Tale Eve Lester
The Lavender Hill Mob Chiquita
1952 The Secret People Nora Brentano
Monte Carlo Baby Linda Farrell Discovered
by French novelist Colette during filming & cast as Gigi for the Broadway
play
Nous irons à Monte Carlo
(English: "We Will Go to Monte
Carlo") Melissa Walter French version of Monte Carlo Baby
1953 Roman
Holiday Princess Ann Academy Award Winner; Golden Globe Winner; BAFTA Award Winner;
New York Film Critics Circle Award Winner
1954 Sabrina Sabrina Fairchild Academy
Award Nomination; BAFTA Award Nomination
1956 War & Peace Natasha Rostov
Golden Globe Nomination; BAFTA Award Nomination
1957 Funny Face Jo
Love
in the Afternoon Ariane Chavasse/Thin Girl Golden Globe Nomination; Golden Laurel
Winner
1959 Green Mansions Rima Directed by Mel Ferrer
The Nun's Story
Sister Luke (Gabrielle van der Mal) Academy Award Nomination; Golden Globe Nomination;
BAFTA Award Winner; New York Film Critics Circle Winner; Zulueta Prize Winner
1960 The Unforgiven Rachel Zachary
1961 Breakfast at Tiffany's Holly Golightly
Academy Award Nomination
The Children's Hour Karen Wright
1963 Charade
Regina Lampert Golden Globe Nomination; BAFTA Award Winner
1964 Paris, When
It Sizzles Gabrielle Simpson
My Fair Lady Eliza Doolittle Golden Globe Nomination
1966 How to Steal a Million Nicole Bonnet
1967 Two for the Road Joanna
Wallace Golden Globe Nomination
Wait Until Dark Susy Hendrix Academy Award
Nomination; Golden Globe Nomination
1976 Robin & Marian Lady Marian 1979
Bloodline Elizabeth Roffe 1981 They All Laughed Angela Niotes 1989 Always Hap
Television
& theatre 1949 High Button Shoes Chorus Girl Musical Theatre Sauce Tartare
Chorus Girl Musical Theatre 1950 Sauce Piquante Featured Player Musical Theatre
1951 Gigi Gigi Opened on Broadway at the Fulton Theatre, November 24, 1951. Hepburn
won the 1952 Theatre World Award. 1952 CBS Television Workshop Episode entitled
"Rainy Day at Paradise Junction" 1954 Ondine Water Nymph Opened on Broadway,
February 18 - June 26. Tony Award Winner - Best Actress. Costarring Mel Ferrer
1957 Mayerling Maria Vetsera Producers' Showcase live production. Costarring Mel
Ferrer as Prince Rudolf. Released theatrically in Europe. 1987 Love Among Thieves
Baroness Caroline DuLac Television movie. 1993 Gardens of the World with Audrey
Hepburn Herself PBS miniseries; Emmy Award Winner - Outstanding Individual Achievement
- Informational Programming
According to some biographies, Hepburn made several American & British TV appearances before Roman Holiday, & a poster for a 1951 British public appearance listed her as a TV actress. "Rainy Day" is the only example of this early work to have surfaced. A copy of this production exists in the Museum of Television & Radio archives in Beverly Hills, California & New York City, New York. She won the 1953 Academy Award for Best Actress for Roman Holiday. She was nominated for Best Actress four more times; for Sabrina, The Nun's Story, Breakfast at Tiffany's, & Wait Until Dark. There was a lot of Oscar controversy in 1964 when Audrey was not nominated for her performance as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, one of her most acclaimed performances. For her 1967 nomination, the Academy chose her performance in Wait Until Dark over her critically acclaimed performance in Two for the Road. She lost to Katharine Hepburn (in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner). Audrey Hepburn was one of the few people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar & a Tony Award.
Academy Award:
Best Actress for Roman Holiday (1954) & posthumous The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian
Award (1993). Golden Globe award: Best Motion Picture Actress for Roman Holiday
(1954). Tony Award: Best Actress for Ondine (1954) & Special Achievement award
(1968). Grammy Award: Best Spoken Word Album for Children (1993) for Audrey Hepburn's
Enchanted Tales (posthumous). Emmy Award: Outstanding Individual Achievement -
Informational Programming (1993) for the "Flower Gardens" episode of
her documentary series, Gardens of the World (posthumous). In addition, Hepburn
won the Henrietta Award in 1955 for the world's favorite actress, the Cecil B.
DeMille Award in 1990 & the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in
1992. Hepburn was posthumously awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award later
in 1993. In December 1992, one month before her death, Hepburn received the Presidential
Medal of Freedom for her work in UNICEF. This is one of the two highest awards
a civilian can receive in the United States. Written in April 2007,
Pictures of Audrey Hepburn Picture of herself Herself My list of heights of very many famous supermodels
Index of celebrity women, lots of models
A Biography of Nina Moric A Biography of 6 foot 1 Supermodel Jodie Kidd
A Biography of 5 foot 6 Jayne Mansfield A Biography of 5 foot 5 & a half Marilyn Monroe
A Biography of Brigitte Nielsen A Biography of 6 foot 2 Dorothy Ford
A Biography of 5 foot 1 Kylie Minogue A Biography of 6 foot 2 Slavica Eccleston
A Biography of 6 foot tall supermodel Sophie Dahl A Biography of 5 foot 11 Scottish Supermodel Kirsty Hume
A Biography of 5 foot 9 & a half Cameron Diaz A Biography of 5 foot 11 Charlize Theron
A Biography of 6 foot tall Supermodel Elle Macpherson A Biography of Eva Herzigova
A Biography of 6 foot tall in her stockings, Supermodel, Adriana Sklenaríková
A
Biography of Bette Davis A
Biography of Marlene Dietrich A
Biography of Mary Astor
A
Biography of Shelley Winters A
Biography of Rita Moreno
A Biography of Danish Supermodel, 5 ft 10 Helena Christensen
A Biography of 5 foot 11 Anne Nicole Smith
A Biography of Eva Marie Saint
A Biography of Ingrid Bergman A Biography of Diana Rigg, alias Emma Peel
A Biography of 5 foot 11 Scottish Supermodel Kirsty Hume
A Biography of Tom Logan A Biography of 5 foot 11 Sigourney Weaver
A Biography of 6 foot 3 Gabrielle Reece
My biographies, & statisticts on many very tall women site, legs & more lenghs, & some historicly, from alphabeticly Amazon Amanda, & Amazon Astrid's legs to Zhou Rurrui's & loads of famous tall models
Most of the major Amazons on Earth are on this site, maybe the best amount of links about tall women ever with everyone such as from letter A Amazon Astrid, to Lauren Jackson, & 100s, of Amazons, to Letter Z Zhou Rurrui , I prefer people, to see womenn3, as it is a smaller site, http://www.lonympics.co.uk/womenn.htm
A Multiple Choice Quiz on very famous beautiful women
A Biography of Martina Hingis A biography of Kelly Sotherton
A Biography of 6 foot tall actress Uma Thurman A Biography of Grace Kelly
A Biography of the 5 foot 11 Daniela Peštová A Biography of the 5 foot 11 Karolína Kurkova
A Biography of 6 foot tall Actress Brooke Shields
A Biography of Lindsay Davenport A Biography of Lucy Lawless Aka Xena
A Biography Strong Woman, Joan Rhodes, who could lift men with ease,
A Biography of 5 foot 11 Miss World 1999 Yukta Mookhey
A
Biography of Greta Garbo A Biography
of 6 foot Tall Jerry Hall
A
link site of biographies of actresses, many from the black and white era .
A Biography of Katherine Hepburn
A Biography of 6 foot tall Strong Woman, Robin Coleman
A Biography Ekaterina Gamova A Biography of 6 foot 5 Kalee Carey
An Index with links to almost all our sites. from history to sport
