Who was Audrey Hepburn?

Audrey Hepburn was an English actress and humanitarian. She was known for her beauty, her stylish innocent charming looks. She was born as Audrey Kathleen Ruston on May 4, 1929, in Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium, to Joseph Victor and Baroness Ella Van Heemstra. Her birth name, Audrey Kathleen Hepburn-Rushton, was temporarily changed by her mother to Edda during the war II because her mother felt the name Audrey, being English, would reveal the British heritage.  After the end of the war she again assumed to Audrey, and later became the stage and screen name for the rest of her life.

She spent her childhood in Belgium, England and Holland. Audrey was born in Belgium but had British citizenship through his father. Her parents divorced in 1935 when she was only six years old. Her parents’ separation had a huge impact on her education and life. She lived in England before World War II, but she moved to her native Netherlands in 1939 after the outbreak of World War II. At that time, the Netherlands was neutral. However, the Netherlands was invaded by Nazi Germany in 1940 and occupied by the Nazis. Her family, along with her mother and her siblings, had to endure five years of hardships in a Nazi-occupied country.

Under Nazi occupation, Audrey suffered from malnutrition, which permanently affected her weight.After the war, her family moved to London, England in 1945, where Audrey lived in Amsterdam (1945 1948) and London (1948) with a ballet scholarship to study dance. At that time, Audrey was only 15 years old.

Height Weight & Zodiac sign

Acting career of Audrey Hepburn

Hepburn was an Oscar-winning actress who appeared in relatively few movies She was inducted into the International Best Dressed Hall of Fame, and by the American Film Institute, as both a film and fashion icon, and ranked the third-greatest woman in classic Hollywood cinema. Ranked as a legend. Since she was in her early twenties, she has studied acting and was also active as a model and dancer.

She landed several small film roles and modeling jobs from fashion photographers. Her only iconic photo, taken by British photographer Angus McBeam, shows her how she’s seen in the world of stage and film. In the early 1950s, Audrey began taking acting classes and even had supporting roles in several British films. In 1951, he appeared in Monte Carlo Baby. It was her key role. That same year, she also played her lead role in the Broadway play Gigi.

Photos of Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn movies

Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday (1953)

She also appeared in a number of theatrical productions and later made minor appearances in several British films Her stardom rose when she cast opposite to Gregory peck in the romantic comedy movie “Roman Holiday” (1953). In this film, she escaped the reins of royalty and played the role of Princess Anne, a European princess having a wild night with an American journalist (Gregor Pecks) .

The film was a box office success and Hepburn received critical acclaim for her role. For this, she won an Academy Award, a Golden Her Globe Award, and a BAFTA Award for her single performance. She was the first actress to win such an award for a single performance. It was a huge hit early in her film career.

• Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina (1954)

That same year she also won a Tony Award for Best Actress in the Broadway play, Ondine, for her performance.  After She went on to star in a number of successful and iconic films such as “Sabrina” (1954), in which Humphrey Bogart and William Holden compete for her affection. In Sabrina, Audrey Hepburn play as a chauffeur’s daughter, in which wealthy brothers (Humphrey Bogart and William Holden) compete for the affections of their chauffeur’s innocent daughter (Hepburn). 

 She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and in the same year won a BAFTA Award for Best Actress for her performance in this film.

• Audrey Hepburn in War and Peace (1956)

In 1956, Audrey played the role of Natasha Rostow in “War and Peace”. The film is based on the novel of Leo Tolstoy of the same name. It was produced by Dino De Laurentiis and directed by King Vidor.

Starring Audrey Hepburn as Natasha Rostova, Henry Fonda as Pierre Bezukhov, Mel Ferrer as Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, Herbert Lom as Napoleon, Vittorio Gassman as Anatol Kuragin, Anita Ekberg as Helene Kuragina.The theme of the film is set during the Napoleonic Wars.The film explores love, war, betrayal, and redemption.

• Audrey Hepburn in Funny face(1957)

In 1957 she gave her masterful performance in the classic film “Funny Face” (1957). Funny face is s a 1957 musical comedy film Written by Leonard Gershe, produced by Roger Edens and directed by Stanley Donen. Starring- Audrey Hepburn as Jo Stockton,Fred Astaire as Dick Avery,Kay Thompson as Maggie Prescott, Michel Auclair as Prof. Émile Flostre, Robert Flemyng as Paul Duval.

The story of the film is revolve is about a shy young girl named Jo Stockton who works on book store. She is discovered by a a fashion magazine publisher and editor for Quality magazine named Maggie Prescott and transformed into a top icon model.

• Audrey Hepburn in The Nun’s Story(1959)

The story of the film is based on the 1956 novel of the same name by Kathryn Hulme. It was produced by Henry Blanke and directed by Fred Zinnemann. Starring Audrey Hepburn as Sister Luke, Peter Finch as Dr. Fortunati, Edith Evans as Rev. Mother Emmanuel, Peggy Ashcroft as Mother Mathilde, Dean Jagger as Dr. van der Mal, Mildred Dunnock as Sister Margharita, Beatrice Straight as Mother Christophe,Patricia Collinge as Sister William , Rosalie Crutchley as Sister Eleanor.

The film follows the story of a young woman, Gabrielle Van Der Mal daughter of prominent surgeon in Belgium. She change her name to sister Luke after entering a convent in Belgium The film portrays her difficulties and experiences working as a nurse during World War II in the Belgian Congo. People praise Audre’s role and and  she was nominated for another Academy Award for her role. It was her first movie for Warner Bros

The film was critically acclaimed and box-office success. The film earned eight Academy Award nominations and won for Cinematography and Best Art Direction.

Her career peaked in 1961 with the romantic comedy “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and the romance thriller “Charade” (1963) with cult star Cary Grant.

One of Hepburn’s most radiant role was in “My Fair Lady” in 1964 with her co-star Rex Harrison. Hepburn also appeared in the heist-comedy film “How to Steal a Million” (1966), in which she played the daughter of a famous art  collector. The collection consists entirely of forgeries that are about to be exposed as fakes. Her character plays the role of a loyal daughter who tries to help her father with the help of a man played by Peter O’Toole.

In 1967, she starred in the thriller film “Wait Until Dark” , and was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in the film. After 1967, Hepburn became more focused on her family and performed only occasionally. In 1976, she made a comeback as Maid Marian in “Robin and Marian” with Sean Connery.It was moderately successful. . In between the hit films mentioned above, she also appeared in many other movies.

Her last appearance was in the 1990 documentary  TV series Gardens of the World, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Personal Achievement-Information Programing.

Audrey Hepburn spouse

 Sometime in 1952, Hepburn got engaged to businessman James Hanson, whom she had known from her early days in London. Unfortunately the wedding has been cancelled. Hepburn later married twice.

In 1954, she married film actor Mel Ferrer. She co-starred him in “War and Peace” in 1956, Their marriage lasted only fourteen years and ended in 1968. For the second time She got married in 1969 to Dr. Andrea Mario Dotti. They were together  until their divorce in 1982. 

Audrey Hepburn Children

Audrey had two son from the two marriages. one from the first marraige called Sean, born on July 17, 1960 and the other from the second marriage called Luca, born on February 8, 1970. .

Awards and honours recieived by Audrey Hepburn

Hepburn won three BAFTA Awards for Best British Actress in a Leading Role. She also received BAFTA’s Lifetime Achievement Award and the Special Tony Awar in recognition of her contribution to the film industry, She remains one of only seventeen people who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards. In 1993 People Magazine named her one of the fifty most beautiful people in the world, and Empire Magazine listed her in “The Top 100 Movie Stars of all Time”.

Networth of Audrey Hepburn

When Audrey Hepburn died in 1993, she had a net worth of $55 million which is about 100$ million in today’s time.

Later life and death of Audrey Hepburn

After her retirement from stage and screen , she devoted most her time to UNICEF, to which she had contributed since 1954.She also worked for the cause of children particulary in some of the poorest countries of Latin America, Africa and Asia. In 1988 she also beacame ambassador of United Nations Unicef Fund, until her death in 1993 at the age of 63. In December 1992, she also received the US Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

Audrey Hepburn cause of death

In 1993, Audrey Hepburn died of colon cancer at her home in Tolochenaz, Vaud, Switzerland, at the age of 63.

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Refernce-

• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Audrey-Hepburn
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audrey_Hepburn