Background

Audrey Hepburn was born Audrey Kathleen Ruston or Edda Kathleen Hepburn-Ruston on May 4, 1929, in Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium. She was a daughter of Baroness Ella van Heemstra and Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston who was a British subject born in Auschitz, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary. When Audrey was six her father left the family abruptly in 1935 and that same year, her mother moved with Hepburn to her family's estate in Arnhem.

Audrey Hepburn's parents officially divorced in June 1939. She renewed contact with her father after locating him in Dublin through the Red Cross in the 1960s. Hepburn supported him financially until his death.

Education

Hepburn studied at a boarding school in England before moving to the Netherlands with her mother during World War II, where she attended the Arnhem Conservatory from 1939 to 1945. She had begun taking ballet lessons during her last years at boarding school, and continued training in Arnhem under the tutelage of Winja Marova. In 1945, Marova referred Hepburn to Sonia Gaskell’s Ballet Studio ’45 in Amsterdam, where Hepburn studied ballet for three more years. Gaskell believed that Hepburn had something special; especially the way she used her doe eyes to captivate audiences.

Hepburn was engaged in modeling and dancing projects and at the same time took acting classes.

Career

Sonia Gaskell, a leading figure in Dutch ballet and Hepburn's ballet instructor, introduced Audrey to Marie Rambert of Ballet Rambert in London, a company performing night revues in London and international tours. Hepburn auditioned for Rambert and was accepted with scholarship in early 1948. By October, Rambert told Hepburn that she did not have the physique to become a prima ballerina for she was too tall. Plus, Hepburn didn’t compare to the other dancers since she had begun serious training too late. Devastated that her dream was over, Hepburn tried out for a part in the chorus line in High Button Shoes, a zany play at London’s Hippodrome. She got the part and performed 291 shows, using the name Audrey Hepburn.

Afterward, Cecil Landeau, producer of the play Sauce Tartare (1949) had spotted Hepburn and cast her as the girl walking across the stage holding up the title card for each skit. With her impish smile and large eyes, she was cast at higher pay in the play’s sequel, Sauce Piquant (1950), in a few comedy skits. In 1950, Audrey Hepburn modeled part time and registered herself as a freelance actress with the British film studio. She appeared in several bit parts in small movies before landing the role of a ballerina in The Secret People (1952), where she was able to show off her ballet talent.

In 1951, the famed French writer Colette was on the set of Monte Carlo Baby (1953) and spotted Hepburn playing the small part of a spoiled actress in the movie. Colette cast Hepburn as Gigi in her musical comedy play Gigi, which opened on November 24, 1951, on Broadway in New York at the Fulton Theater. Simultaneously, director William Wyler was looking for a European actress to play the lead role of a princess in his new movie, Roman Holiday, a romantic comedy. Executives in the Paramount London office had Hepburn do a screen test. Wyler was enchanted and Hepburn got the role. Gigi ran until May 31, 1952, earning Hepburn a Theatre World Award and plenty of recognition. When Gigi ended, Hepburn flew to Rome to star in Roman Holiday (1953). The movie was a box-office success and Hepburn received the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1953 when she was 24 years old.

Capitalizing on its newest star, Paramount cast her as the lead in Sabrina (1954), another romantic comedy, directed by Billy Wilder where Hepburn played a Cinderella type. It was the top box-office hit of the year and Hepburn was nominated for Best Actress again but lost to Grace Kelly in The Country Girl.

In 1954, Hepburn met and dated actor Mel Ferrer when they co-starred on Broadway in the hit play Ondine. When the play ended, Hepburn received the Tony Award.​ Then they starred in the film War and Peace (1956), a romantic drama, with Hepburn getting top billing.

Hepburn’s career offered many successes, including another Best Actress nomination for her dramatic portrayal of Sister Luke in The Nun’s Story (1959). Hepburn discovered she was pregnant in late 1958 but was on contract to star in a Western, The Unforgiven (1960), which began filming in January 1959. Later that same month during filming, she fell off a horse and broke her back. Although she recovered, Hepburn gave birth to a stillborn that spring.

In 1960, she started working on the screen adaptation of Truman Capote’s novel 'Breakfast at Tiffany’s' which was released the next year. With fashions designed by Hubert de Givenchy, the film catapulted Hepburn as a fashion icon; she appeared on nearly every fashion magazine that year. Hepburn's successful career continued when she starred in The Children’s Hour (1961), Charade (1963), and then was cast in the universally acclaimed musical film, My Fair Lady (1964). After more successes, including the thriller Wait Until Dark (1967), in order to focus her attention on her family, Hepburn took a lengthy hiatus from Hollywood.

Although Hepburn ventured back into a few more movies, in 1988 her main focus became helping with the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF). As a spokesperson for children in crisis, she remembered the United Nations relief in Holland after WWII and threw herself into her work. She and Wolders traveled the world six months a year, bringing national attention to the needs of starving, sick children throughout the world.

In 1992, Hepburn thought she had picked up stomach virus in Somalia but was soon diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. After an unsuccessful surgery, doctors gave her three months to live. Audrey Hepburn, age 64, passed away on January 20, 1993, at La Paisible.

Achievements

• Audrey Hepburn is recognised as a film and fashion icon. She was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend in Golden Age Hollywood and was inducted into the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame.
  
  She shot to stardom for playing the lead role in Roman Holiday (1953), for which she was the first actress to win an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award for a single performance. The same year Hepburn won a Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Play for her performance in Ondine. She went on to star in a number of successful films, such as Sabrina (1954), The Nun's Story (1959), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Charade (1963), My Fair Lady (1964) and Wait Until Dark (1967), for which she received Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations. Hepburn won three BAFTA Awards for Best British Actress in a Leading Role.
  
  In recognition of her film career, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from BAFTA, the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award and the Special Tony Award. She remains one of the 12 people who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy and Tony Awards. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in December 1992.
  
  Hepburn was a member of the International Best Dressed List and was elevated into its Hall of Fame in 1961. She was included in People's "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" in 1990 and received the Council of Fashion Designers of America's Lifetime of Style Award in 1992.
  
  The actress has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1652 Vine Street. She received 'The Key to the City' in five American cities: Chicago and Indianapolis in 1990; Fort Worth, Texas in 1991; and San Francisco and Providence, Rhode Island in 1992.
  
  In 1990 Hepburn was honored with a new hybrid tulip in her name as a tribute to the actress's career and to her longtime work on behalf of UNICEF, according to the Netherlands Flowerbulb Information Center. In 1991 she was honored with a rose in her name.
  
  "Audrey Hepburn Day" was proclaimed on 28 February 1991 by the mayor of Fort Worth, Texas and on 10 April 1992 by the mayor of Providence, Rhode Island.
  
  In 2003, the United States Postal Service issued a stamp illustrated by Michael J. Deas honouring her as a Hollywood legend and 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.

Works

More photos

• movie

  • Funny Face

    (Dispatched on an assignment, New York City-based fashion ...)

    1957
  • Sabrina

    (Chauffeur's daughter Sabrina (Audrey Hepburn) returns hom...)

    1954
  • Paris When It Sizzles

    (Romantic comedy about a vivacious young assistant of a ve...)

    1964
  • Love in the Afternoon

    (In Paris, a naive girl falls for the charms of an ageing ...)

    1957
  • Robin And Marian

    (An ageing Robin Hood returns from the Crusades after twen...)

    1976
  • The Nun's Story

    (Willful and outspoken Gabrielle van der Mal (Audrey Hepbu...)

    1959
  • Roman Holiday

    (Stuck with boredom in her luxurious confinement, a prince...)

    1953
  • Two For The Road

    (Architect Mark Wallace (Albert Finney) and his wife, Joan...)

    1967
  • Wait Until Dark

    (A recently blinded woman, is terrorized by a trio of thug...)

    1967
  • How To Steal A Million

    (Charles Bonnet (Hugh Griffith) expresses his passion for ...)

    1966
  • Sidney Sheldon's Bloodline

    (A pampered woman (Audrey Hepburn) inherits her slain fath...)

    1979
  • My Fair Lady

    (A snobbish phonetics professor agrees to take a lowly flo...)

    1964
  • War And Peace

    (In the years leading to Napoleon's invasion, members of t...)

    1956
  • Charade

    (Regina finds herself followed and harassed by three men w...)

    1963
  • The Children's Hour

    (A troublemaking student at a girls' school accuses two te...)

    1961
  • Breakfast at Tiffany's

    (Paul is a struggling writer who recently moves into a new...)

    1961
  • The Unforgiven

    (The Zachary family live quietly on a cattle ranch in post...)

    1960

Religion

Audrey was not particularly religious herself. She did express some pantheistic views, mentioning awe and respect for the grandeur of nature. But she never actually connected these feelings with a religious value system.

Of her own personal faith, Audrey said: "(I have) enormous faith, but it’s not attached to any one particular religion…. My mother was one thing, my father another. In Holland they were all Calvinists. That has no importance at all to me."

Politics

During World War II Audrey worked for the Dutch resistance and would carry secret messages in her ballet slippers. In one instance, she was suspect and rounded up by truck. She barely escaped when the Nazis pulled over to the side of the road. As an agent for the Dutch Resistance, she performed in a series of secret ballets to help raise money for the rebels.

Hepburn was concerned with the results of bad politics: poverty, illness, death, war. She spent the latter part of her life devoted to UNICEF. Hepburn was deeply affected by what she saw as an ambassador of goodwill for the UN. It caused her to question the age-old ways of mankind. She once said: "There is a science of war, but how strange that there isn’t a science of peace. There are colleges of war; why can’t we study peace?"

Views

Hepburn was a British citizen, but in many ways, she could be considered a citizen of the world, and not just because of her mixed heritage. Hepburn spent the latter years of her life devoted to UNICEF, going on dozens of field missions to places like Somalia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Sudan, Turkey, and Ethiopia to address poverty, illness, and political turmoil. She became a spokesperson for UNICEF and addressed the UN, saying: "To fully understand the problems of the state of the world’s children, it would be nice to be an expert on education, economics, politics, religious traditions, and cultures. I am none of these things, but I am a mother. There is unhappily a need for greater advocacy for children–children haunted by undernourishment, disease and death."

Quotations: "Nothing is impossible, the word itself says I’m possible."

"The best thing to hold onto in life is each other."

"I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles."

"There is a shade of red for every woman."

"Some people dream of having a big swimming pool, with me it’s closets."

"My look is attainable. Women can look like Audrey Hepburn by flipping out their hair, buying the large sunglasses, and the little sleeveless dresses."

"To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow."

"I don’t take my life seriously, but I do take what I do – in my life – seriously. "

"The most important thing is to enjoy your life – to be happy – it’s all that matters."

"Elegance is the only beauty that never fades."

"People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone."

"Paris is always a good idea."

"Let’s face it, a nice creamy chocolate cake does a lot for a lot of people; it does for me."

"I decided, very early on, just to accept life unconditionally; I have never expected it to do anything special for me, yet I seemed to accomplish far more than I had ever hoped. Most of the time it just happened to me without my ever seeking it."

"I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it’s the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It’s probably the most important thing in a person."

Personality

Audrey Hepburn lived for helping others, always was humble, valued the power of hard work, possessed a childlike optimism. She only spoke of others in a positive light, denied society's idea of beauty and preached forgiveness. She believed in the power of knowledge and kept family as number one.

Hepburn wasn't one of those celebrities who craved the spotlight and being surrounded by an entourage. She even called herself an introvert. She once said, "I have to be alone very often. I’d be quite happy if I spent from Saturday night until Monday morning alone in my apartment. That’s how I refuel."

Hepburn didn't like to wear watches. She didn’t like the "sensation of cold or weight against her skin." Her favorite jewelry was pearls. She either wore pearl earrings or a pearl necklace from her husband Mel Ferrer. She never considered herself a style icon. She once said, "I never think of myself as an icon. What is in other people's minds is not in my mind. I just do my thing." She also considered her style to be quite accessible. "My appearance is accessible to everyone. With hair tied in a bun, big sunglasses and black dress, every woman can look like me," she said.

The actress was deathly afraid of water. In the below shot for the movie "Two for the Road" with Albert Finney, Audrey had to be thrown into the pool. Audrey was extremely scared of drowning – so outside of the shot, part of the film crew was in the pool ready to grab Audrey for her comfort if something were to happen.

Audrey was known for her love of animals, especially her pet Yorkie, Mr. Famous, but her most interesting pet was when she took in a fawn and named him Pippin. When she was making her 1959 film Green Mansions, the animal trainer on the set suggested that she take her on-screen sidekick, a baby deer, home with her so that he would learn to follow her. He soon became completely docile. She would even take him, nicknamed Ip, to the supermarket in Beverly Hills.

Hepburn loved to garden in her spare time. She’s famously quoted saying "To grow a garden is to believe in tomorrow". She loved gardens so much that in her last years, she gladly agreed to host the PBS Television series Gardens of the World.

Audrey was an avid smoker. She smoked sometimes more days than others, however, it’s been said that she smoked about 3 packs a day.

Physical Characteristics: Audrey was slender, stylish motion picture actress known for her radiant beauty, her ability to project an air of sophistication tempered by a charming innocence. Considered one of the most beautiful and elegant women in the world, then and now, her beauty shone through her doe eyes and contagious smile.

For her slight frame, Audrey was sporting some big feet. She was putting her size 10 feet into those dainty little ballet flats. And she was very critical of her looks. "I'd like to be not so flat-chested," she once said. "I'd like not to have such angular shoulders, such big feet, such a big nose."

Audrey Hepburn’s weight was 110 lbs which she did not exceed over unless she was pregnant. Right after World War II, she weighed a measly 88 lbs at age 16. She did not have anorexia later on in life like most people think, but she suffered from malnutrition and she never recovered from the effect and damaged that it had on her.

In childhood, Hepburn was suffering from colitis, jaundice, severe edema, anemia, endometriosis, asthma, and depression.

Quotes from others about the person

• "I was determined to wipe Audrey out of my mind by screwing a woman in every country I visited. My plan succeeded, though sometimes with difficulty. When I was in Bangkok, I was with a Thai girl in a boat in one of the klongs. I guess we got too animated, because the boat tipped over and I fell into the filthy water. Back at the hotel I poured alcohol in my ears because I was afraid I'd become infected with the plague. When I got back to Hollywood, I went to Audrey's dressing-room and told her what I had done. You know what she said? "Oh, Bill!" That's all. "Oh, Bill!". Just as though I were some naughty boy. … She was the love of my life." - William Holden
  
  "Audrey was meek, gentle and ethereal, understated both in her life and in her work. She walked among us with a light pace, as if she didn't want to be noticed. (I regret losing her) as a friend, as a role model, and as a companion to my youthful dreams." - Sophia Loren
  
  "She is like a portrait by Modigliani where the various distortions are not only interesting in themselves but make a completely satisfying composite." - Cecil Beaton

Interests

• Writers

  One of her favourite poems was Rabindranath Tagore’s 'Unending Love'.

Connections

Audrey Hepburn became engaged to James Hanson in 1952. However, before the wedding she decided the marriage would not work because the demands of their careers would keep them apart most of the time. Hepburn married Mel Ferrer on 25 September 1954. The marriage produced a son Sean Hepburn Ferrer. Hepburn and Ferrer divorced in 1968.

Hepburn married her second husband Andrea Dotti on 18 January 1969. The marriage produced a son Luca Andrea Dotti. The Dotti-Hepburn marriage lasted thirteen years and was dissolved in 1982. From 1980 until her death, Hepburn was in a relationship with Dutch actor Robert Wolders.

Father:

Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston

Mother:

Ella van Heemstra

Baroness Ella van Heemstra was a Dutch-British aristocrat.

Brother:

Ian Edgar Bruce Quarles van Ufford

Brother:

Arnoud Robert Alexander Quarles van Ufford

Grandfather:

Aarnoud van Heemstra

Aarnoud Jan Anne Aleid Baron van Heemstra was a Dutch nobleman, jurist and politician.

ex-spouse:

Mel Ferrer

Mel Ferrer was an American actor and director of stage and screen, film producer.

ex-spouse:

Andrea Dotti

Andrea Paolo Mario Dotti was an Italian psychiatrist.

Son:

Luca Dotti

Son:

Sean Hepburn Ferrer

Sean Hepburn Ferrer is a Swiss film producer and author.

Partner:

Robert Wolders

Robert Wolders was a Dutch television actor.

Friend:

Hubert de Givenchy

Hubert de Givenchy was a French fashion designer who founded the house of Givenchy in 1952.

References

• Audrey Hepburn, An Elegant Spirit
  2005
• Audrey: The 50s A stunning photographic compilation showcasing Audrey Hepburn’s iconic career in the 1950s – the decade that solidified her place as one of the world’s greatest stars in film and fashion.
  2016
• Audrey at Home: Memories of My Mother's Kitchen
  2015
• Just Being Audrey
  2011
• Living Like Audrey: Life Lessons from the Fairest Lady of All Living Like Audrey is a captivating and insightful look at an iconic woman who was an inspiration to many and whose style, personality, and uniqueness inspires generation after generation.
  2017
• How to be Lovely: The Audrey Hepburn Way of Life
  2004
• Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of an Icon
  2015