Audrey Hepburn
Contents My Audrey
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Childhood 4 Career 8 Iconic Roles
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Personal Life
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Humanitarian 22 Style Icon
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Legacy 32
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“ The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.�
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udrey Hepburn inspires me. Growing up as a skinny and
awkward girl, I looked up to Audrey because she looked like me. She taught me that beauty is not one-size fits all. Audrey Hepburn left a legacy and remains relevant today. People will always know who she is because of both her career and her humanitarian work. Audrey did not let her popularity go to her head. She was dedicated to making the world a better place, and because of her, it is.
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O
n May 4, 1929, Audrey Kathleen Ruston was born
in Brussels, Belgium. She was her parents’s first and only child together. Audrey had two older brother from her mother’s, Baroness Ella van Heemstra’s, first marriage. The family resided in Brussels up until the outbreak of World War II. The Baroness moved the family to Kent, England after the failure of her marriage to Audrey’s father, Victor Hepburn-Ruston. The marriage failed partly because Victor Ruston was a Nazi sympathizer and eventually abandoned the family. In Kent, Audrey attended a small school and began ballet lessons.
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Living in England was short-lived for Audrey and her mother. After England declared war on Germany, the Baroness moved the family to the Netherlands, believing that the country would remain neutral. This neutrality ended in 1940 when Germany invaded. Audrey halfbrother Ian was deported to Berlin to work in German labor camps and her other brother Alex went into hiding to avoid a similar fate. Unlike her brothers, Audrey attended the Arnhem Conservatory in the Netherlands from 1939 to 1945 where she continued to study ballet under the Winja Marova.
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Audrey’s life in the Netherlands was not as charmed as her early childhood. She and her mother suffered from malnutrition during the occupation. Audrey took part in the war effort. She secretly danced to raise money for the Dutch resistance.
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udrey’s career in acting began in 1951. After the war ended, she
and her mother moved to Amsterdam for three years where Audrey continued her study ballet, now under the tutelage of Sonia Gaskell. Audrey moved to study at Ballet Ramert. She supported herself by working as a part-time model. Audrey strived to become a prima ballerina but was considered too tall to be a professional dancer because she was taller than many of the male dancers. Audrey first started acting so she could make enough money to keep her mother from working menial jobs to support them. Her first jobs were as a chorus girl in London and working in musical theatre.
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These jobs helped Audrey find minor roles in films like One Wild Oat, Laughter Before Paradise, and Monte Carlo Baby. Her very first starring role in a film was as a stewardess in Dutch in Seven Lessons. It was on the set of Monte Carlo Baby that she met the French novelist Colette. Colette was looking for an actress to fill the role of the title character of her Broadway play, Gigi. After seeing Audrey, Colette offered her the role. The play ran for 219 performances. It was this role that launched Audrey’s career as we know it today as well as win the first award of her career, the Theatre World  Award.
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H
er role as Princess Anne in Roman Holiday thrust Audrey
into stardom. Although the producers of the film originally wanted Elizabeth Taylor for the role, Audrey impressed the director so much that he cast her instead of Taylor. His decision paid off when Audrey won her first Oscar for Best Actress in 1954 for her role in Roman Holiday. Audrey’s rise to stardom was reinforced by her role as the title character in Sabrina, where she worked alongside Humphrey Bogart and William Holden. Audrey often starred opposite notable male actors, many of whom were much older.
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“My career is a complete mystery to me. I never thought I was going to be an actress; I never thought it would all happen the way it did.”
Even though she worked with these notable actors, her career soared. In 1956, Audrey filmed her first BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated role in War and Peace, and showed the world her dancing with Fred Astaire in Funny Face. Her roles are characterized by strong women that challenged the men that pursued them. Her most iconic role is her portrayal of Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Audrey considered this role one of her most difficult. The character of Holly Golightly was an extrovert whereas Audrey considered herself more introverted.
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Audrey’s film career produced 28 films. Among these films are My Fair Lady, How to Steal a Million, and Wait Until Dark. Wait Until Dark is a suspense thriller in which Audrey demonstrated her acting range. In 1967, Audrey took a break from acting to spend more time with her family. She returned to acting ten years later in the role of Marian in Robin and Marian. However, Audrey did not stay in the film industry long after that role. Her last film role was an appearance in the film Always.
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L
ike many starlet’s, Audrey Hepburn’s life was well
documented by the media and her fans. When Gregory Peck introduced Audrey to Mel Ferrer at a premier party for Roman Holiday, the world knew that the two were meant to be. Audrey and Mel Ferrer worked together during the filming of War and Peace and quickly fell in love. The couple married in Switzerland in 1954. After experiencing two miscarriages, Audrey took a break from acting when she was pregnant with her first son Sean, who was born in 1960. She returned to acting soon a few months after his birth to star in (one of her most recognized films), Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
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In 1964, with the help from her husband, Audrey was able to find and reunite with her father. Although after finding him, Audrey and her father never became close, but she supported him financially for the rest of his life. Many of the Hollywood tabloids believed that Audrey and Mel’s marriage would last forever. However, in 1968 the couple divorced after being together for fourteen years. Within a year of her divorce, Audrey met and fell in love with Andrea Dotti, and Italian psychiatrist. They met while exploring Greek ruins.
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Audrey and Andrea were married in 1969, and a year later, Audrey gave birth to her second son, Luca. She took a break from acting while pregnant with Luca like she did with her first oldest son. The family settled down in Rome, Italy where Audrey was able to be in her favorite role as a loving wife and mother. Audrey had fallen in love with Rome while filming Roman Holiday. Being a mother did not stop Audrey from acting. In 1975, Audrey went back to acting to star in Robin and Marian.
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ot only is Audrey Hepburn known as an incredible actress,
but also a famous humanitarian. It was this work that she considered one of her greatest roles. Audrey started her humanitarian work as a UNICEF International Goodwill Ambassador. As a Goodwill Ambassador, she travelled to over twenty countries in five years. Audrey witnessed children struggling to survive and reported back to UNICEF and world governments. Her first mission was to the village of Mek’ele in Ethiopia. Audrey had UNICEF send food to an orphanage that housed over five hundred children. Four months before her death, Audrey visited Somalia where she witnessed the nightmare of Somali’s civil war.
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Audrey’s work with UNICEF inspired others to commit their time to improve the lives of children around the world. Today, the Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund is set up to continue Audrey’s important work. The Fund’s mission is to provide funds to support the health and well-being of children. Audrey’s son Sean Ferrer served as the Fund’s chairman for twenty years. After he retired, his younger brother, Luca Dotti, assumed the role of the Foundation’s chairman.
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n contrast to the silver screen “sex goddesses,” Audrey’s beauty was
seen as wholesome and innocent, winning her millions of fans across the world. Her doe eyes and small stature redefined beauty. Early in her career, Audrey formed relationships with designers and had specific opinions of what she thought her style ought to be. Audrey brought the famous costume designer Edith Head’s fashions to life on and off screen. Designer Hubert Givenchy considered Audrey his muse. Givenchy and Audrey started working together on the film Sabrina, and maintained a lifelong friendship.
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Audrey created and embodied her own style. Her wardrobe on screen affected the fashion of future generations. The little black dress in Breakfast at Tiffany’s became one of the most iconic pieces of clothing in the twenty-first century. Off screen, Audrey was known for her playful, girly, yet refined style.
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fter over a 40 year career, Audrey Hepburn is one of the
most recognized and loved women in the world. She was unassuming and humble about her celebrity status and allowed her kindness and grace to lead her throughout her life. Audrey was always ready to defend those less fortunate. Audrey died on January 20, 1993 from colon cancer. She left behind her iconic look, style, and kindness. People try to imitate her, but Audrey Hepburn was one of a kind.
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“How shall I sum up my life? I think that I’ve been particularly lucky.”
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Colophon References “Audrey Hepburn.” Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2014. Web. 21 Nov. 2014. http://www.audreyhepburn.com/menu/index.php Corliss, Richard. “Audrey Hepburn: Still the Fairest Lady.” Time. Time Inc., 20 Jan. 2007. Web. 21 Nov. 2014. Bartyzel, Monika. “Girls on Film: The Hidden Feminism of Audrey Hepburn.” The Week. The Week, 2 May 2014. Web. 21 Nov. 2014. Images courtesy of audreyhepburn.com and Google images Subheads: altered FifthAve, regular, 30 Body: Adobe Garamond, regular, 10/16 Page numbers: FifthAve, regular, 24/17
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