| Audrey Hepburn
Born in Brussels in Belgium in
1929, Hepburn charmed all who knew her until her death in
1993. As a young child, she traveled extensively because
of her father’s job and was sent to England for boarding
school when she was five years old. During the Nazi occupation,
Audrey suffered from bouts of malnutrition and the family
was at one point forced into hiding. During all of this,
Audrey kept up with ballet with which she had started training
when she was at boarding school. She even gave lessons to
local children.
The family moved to Amsterdam where Audrey
continued to train as a ballerina and began to model to
make extra money. In 1948, she had her first screen test
, as well as a small role in a Dutch film. Audrey then appeared
in the chorus line of a stage show. In 1951, Hepburn was
noticed and cast for a small role in the British production,
“The Lavender Hill Mob”, but her first major
screen role would come two years later when she played the
part of a princess in hiding in “Roman Holiday”.
The following year, she took the title role in the film,
“Sabrina” which not only gained her notice for
her acting, but for her fashion sense as well. The gowns
that she wore in the film, most of them Givenchy, inspired
countless others as her claim to the title, fashion icon
was cemented. Hepburn is possibly best remembered with her
dark hair piled high on her head, although she did wear
other hair styles equally well. The upswept, elegant ‘do
though became almost a trademark for her, almost as important
as her fabulous clothes and understated jewelry choices.
In ‘53, she won a Tony award for
“Ondine” and then married her first husband,
Mel Ferrer, whom she remained with for 15 years. Audrey
remained busy during the following years with films “War
and Peace”(‘56), “Funny Face” (‘57)
and “The Nun’s Story” in 1959. She received
an Oscar nomination for both “The Nun’s Story”
and for the 1961 role that became one most often associated
with her, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”.
To decide which she is most famous for is probably difficult
at best, especially when you consider such roles as “Breakfast
at Tiffany’s” and the ‘64 classic, “My
Fair Lady” with Rex Harrison.
Audrey continued acting until announcing
her retirement in 1975, after a career which had netted
her a Tony award and five Oscar nominations. She was officially
named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1987, working diligently
and lovingly with starving children world wide, perhaps
because of her own experience with malnutrition at a young
age. She received the Screen Actor’s Guild Achievement
Award the year before she died and received a humanitarian
award posthumously from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences.
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| Audrey Hepburn |
Audrey Hepburn |
Audrey Hepburn |
Audrey Hepburn |
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