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Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Kathleen Hepburn (née Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress admired for her charm and elegance.

Audrey Hepburn
AudreyKHepburn.jpg
Hepburn in 1953
Born
Audrey Kathleen Ruston

(1929-05-04)4 May 1929
Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium
Died20 January 1993(1993-01-20) (aged 63)
Tolochenaz, Vaud, Switzerland
Resting placeTolochenaz Cemetery
CitizenshipBritish
Occupation
  • Actress
  • humanitarian
Years active1948–1989
Notable work
Full list
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1954; div. 1968)​
​
​
(m. 1969; div. 1982)​
Partner(s)Robert Wolders (1980–1993)
Children2, including Sean Hepburn Ferrer
Parent(s)
Relatives
AwardsFull list
Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF
In office
1989–1993
Signature
Audrey Hepburn signature.svg

Early life

She was born in Brussels, Belgium on May 4, 1929. Her name at birth was Edda van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston. Her father, Joseph Ruston, was an English banker, and her mother Ella van Heemstra was a Dutch baroness.[1] Her parents divorced in 1935 due to her father leaving them.[2]

During World War II, she lived in Arnhem, The Netherlands with her mother.[3] Life was very hard for her—one of her two maternal half-brothers was captured by the Nazis, and the other spent the war in hiding.[3] Hepburn developed edema as a result of food shortages and she and her family nearly starved to death.[4] To help the war effort, she staged secret ballet shows—she had taken up the sport before the war began—and transmitted secret messages from Allied troops at risk of her own life.[3]

When the war ended, she and her mother moved to England. There, she studied ballet, and began working as a model and appearing in bit parts in the theatre and in movies.[5]

Career

Hepburn played her first major role in 1951, when she was chosen by French writer Colette to play the lead role in the English version of her play Gigi on Broadway.[6]

Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), one of her most famous roles

This led to her being cast in the lead female part in the movie Roman Holiday (1953), opposite Gregory Peck.[7] The movie made her an instant international star. Her performance won her the Academy Award, the Golden Globe Award and the BAFTA for best actress, becoming the first actress to win all three for the same role.[8]

She then appeared in a string of successful romantic comedies, such as Sabrina (1954), Love in the Afternoon (1957), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Charade (1963), How to Steal a Million (1967), etc. She also appeared in two musicals; Funny Face (1957) and My Fair Lady (1964) and tackled more dramatic roles in movies such as War and Peace (1956), The Nun's Story (1959), The Children's Hour (1961), Two for the Road (1967) and the thriller Wait Until Dark (1967).[9][10]

After not having taken an acting role in eight years to take care of her family, she returned with Robin and Marian (1976) with Sean Connery.[11] She also appeared in Bloodline (1979) and They All Laughed (1981) but retired for good shortly after.

In later life, she worked as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF and hosted a television series The Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn.[12]

Personal life

She was married twice; first in 1954 to actor and director Mel Ferrer with whom she had a son Sean (b. 1960), and second to Italian psychiatrist Doctor Andrea Dotti in 1969, with whom she had a second son Luca (b. 1970). Both marriages ended in divorce.[13] In 1980, she began dating Dutch actor Robert Wolders. They stayed together until Hepburn died in 1993, and she has referred to him as the love of her life.[14]

Hepburn became an EGOT winner in 1994, becoming the first person to do so posthumously.[8]

Death and legacy

Hepburn died of appendix cancer on 20 January 1993.[15] Her elder son, Sean Ferrer, later wrote a book about his mother, called Audrey Hepburn: an elegant spirit.[16][17]

Grave of Audrey Hepburn, Tolochenaz, Switzerland - 20080711.jpg

Audrey Hepburn Media

References

  1. ↑ History.com Editors. Legendary actress Audrey Hepburn is born | May 4, 1929 (in en). HISTORY (2009-11-13). Retrieved 2026-01-03.
  2. ↑ Clarke, Cath (2020-11-19). "'My mother was like a steel fist in a velvet glove': the real Audrey Hepburn" (in en-GB). The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 . https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/nov/19/my-mother-was-like-a-steel-fist-in-a-velvet-glove-the-real-audrey-hepburn. Retrieved 2026-01-03. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "'Dutch Girl' shows Audrey Hepburn's wartime courage". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729 . https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/Book-Reviews/2019/0516/Dutch-Girl-shows-Audrey-Hepburn-s-wartime-courage. Retrieved 7 January 2023. 
  4. ↑ How Audrey Hepburn Survived Near Starvation During WWII: One Slice of Bread and Watery Broth (in en). People.com. Retrieved 2026-01-03.
  5. ↑ Moonan, Wendy (22 August 2003). "ANTIQUES; To Daddy Dearest, From Audrey" (in en-US). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . https://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/22/arts/antiques-to-daddy-dearest-from-audrey.html. Retrieved 29 March 2021. 
  6. ↑ Billson, Anne (29 December 2014). "Audrey Hepburn: a new kind of movie star". The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/10252693/Audrey-Hepburn-a-new-kind-of-movie-star.html. Retrieved 23 May 2015. 
  7. ↑ King, Susan. Audrey Hepburn's 1953 'Roman Holiday' an enchanting fairy tale. Los Angeles Times (12 December 2013). Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 All 21 EGOT Winners, From Richard Rodgers to Elton John and BeyondBiography. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  9. ↑ Corliss, Richard (20 January 2007). "Audrey Hepburn: Still the Fairest Lady". Time. http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1580936,00.html. Retrieved 10 July 2015. 
  10. ↑ Audrey Hepburn tops beauty poll (31 May 2004)BBC. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  11. ↑ Chicago Sun-Times review by Roger Ebert, 21 April 1976, Retrieved on291 March 2024
  12. ↑ (in en-US) Audrey Hepburn. UNICEF. https://www.unicef.org/people/people_audrey_hepburn.html. Retrieved 27 April 2017. 
  13. ↑ Mel Ferrer obituary. 4 June 2008. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/2076351/Mel-Ferrer.html. Retrieved 5 April 2018. 
  14. ↑ Audrey Hepburn: How She Finally Found Love with Robert Wolders after Two Troubled Marriages (in en). People.com. Retrieved 2026-01-03.
  15. ↑ Actress Audrey Hepburn dies. History.com. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  16. ↑ Proposed Decision Favors Actress' Eldest Son in Dispute with Charity. Los Angeles, California: KNBC. 19 October 2019. https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/proposed-decision-favors-actress-eldest-son-in-dispute-with-charity/1963157/. Retrieved 15 April 2020. 
  17. ↑ Sean Hepburn Ferrer (3 December 2019). "Audrey Hepburn's Son Sean Hepburn Ferrer Vindicated By Court Decision". Press release. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/audrey-hepburns-son-sean-hepburn-ferrer-vindicated-by-court-decision-300967769.html. Retrieved 28 July 2020. 

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