Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn
source
Name	Audrey Hepburn
Caption	Hepburn in 1956
Birth name	Audrey Kathleen Ruston
Birth date	4 May 1929
Birth place	Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium
Death date	20 January 1993
Death place	Tolochenaz, Vaud, Switzerland
Occupation	Actress, humanitarian
Years active	1948–1989
Spouse	Mel Ferrer (m. 1954; div. 1968), Andrea Dotti (m. 1969; div. 1982)
Partner	Robert Wolders (1980–1993)
Children	2, including Sean Hepburn Ferrer
Awards	Full list

Audrey Hepburn. Audrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian, celebrated as both a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century. She rose to international fame with her starring role in Roman Holiday (1953), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award. Recognized for her elegance, distinctive voice, and philanthropic work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, her career spanned iconic films like Breakfast at Tiffany's and My Fair Lady.

Early life and background

Audrey Kathleen Ruston was born on May 4, 1929, in Ixelles, a municipality of Brussels, Belgium. Her mother, Baroness Ella van Heemstra, was a Dutch noblewoman, and her father, Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston, was a British subject who later appended the surname Hepburn-Ruston. She spent her childhood between Belgium, England, and the Netherlands, attending boarding schools in Kent and Arnhem. During the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II, she endured severe hardship in Arnhem, including malnutrition, and reportedly aided the Dutch resistance. After the war, she studied ballet with Sonia Gaskell in Amsterdam and later with Marie Rambert in London, but her height and the physical effects of the war led her to pursue acting.

Career

Hepburn's professional career began with minor roles in European films like Dutch in Seven Lessons (1948) and the British film One Wild Oat (1951). Her breakthrough came on the West End stage in the 1951 production of Gigi, which led to her being cast by director William Wyler in the Hollywood film Roman Holiday. Her performance as Princess Ann catapulted her to stardom and established her collaboration with famed costume designer Edith Head. She subsequently starred in a series of successful films, often opposite leading men like Gregory Peck, Humphrey Bogart in Sabrina, Fred Astaire in Funny Face, and Gary Cooper in Love in the Afternoon. Her role as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's, with costumes by Hubert de Givenchy, solidified her status as a fashion icon. Later notable films include the thriller Charade with Cary Grant and the musical My Fair Lady, directed by George Cukor.

Personal life

Hepburn was married twice, first to actor Mel Ferrer in 1954, with whom she had her son Sean Hepburn Ferrer, and later to Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti in 1969, with whom she had her second son, Luca Dotti. Both marriages ended in divorce. In her later years, she found lasting companionship with Dutch actor Robert Wolders. She maintained residences in Switzerland and was a close friend of designers like Hubert de Givenchy and fellow actress Elizabeth Taylor. Deeply affected by her wartime experiences, she dedicated the final years of her life to humanitarian work.

Filmography and stage work

Hepburn's filmography includes over thirty feature films, with major works spanning from the 1950s to the late 1980s. Key titles include War and Peace (1956), The Nun's Story (1959), for which she received an Academy Award nomination, and The Children's Hour (1961). She earned another Academy Award nomination for Wait Until Dark (1967). Her final film role was a cameo as an angel in Steven Spielberg's Always (1989). On stage, she starred in the 1954 Broadway production of Ondine, winning a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, and later in the 1979 television film The Fifth Musketeer.

Legacy and influence

Hepburn's legacy endures through her iconic film performances and her profound humanitarian impact. In 1988, she was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, undertaking field missions to communities in crisis in Ethiopia, Sudan, El Salvador, and Somalia. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously in recognition of this work. Her style, epitomized by the little black dress in Breakfast at Tiffany's, remains a perennial influence in fashion. The American Film Institute named her the third-greatest female screen legend in American cinema. Her life and career are memorialized in numerous biographies, documentaries, and exhibitions at institutions like the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Category:20th-century English actresses Category:UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors Category:Best Actress Academy Award winners