Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; (1929-05-04)4 May 1929 – (1993-01-20)20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Born in Ixelles, Belgium, Hepburn spent her childhood chiefly in the Netherlands, including German-occupied Arnhem, Netherlands, during the Second World War. In Arnhem, she studied ballet before moving to London in 1948 where she continued to train in ballet while working as a photographer's model. Upon deciding to pursue a career in acting, she performed as a chorus girl in various West End musical theatre productions.

After appearing in several British films and starring in the 1951 Broadway play Gigi, Hepburn played the lead female role in Roman Holiday (1953) and gained instant Hollywood stardom. Later performing in Sabrina (1954), The Nun's Story (1959), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Charade (1963), My Fair Lady (1964) and Wait Until Dark (1967), Hepburn became one of the most successful film actresses in the world, receiving nominations for Academy Awards, Golden Globes and BAFTAs as well as winning a Tony Award for her performance in the 1954 play Ondine. Hepburn is one of few entertainers who have won Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony awards. In 1999, the American Film Institute placed her among the five greatest female stars in the history of American cinema. Although modest about her ability and acting technique, Hepburn remains one of the most beloved actresses of all time and is remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century. Redefining glamour with elfin features and a waif-like figure that inspired designs by Hubert de Givenchy, she was placed on the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1961.^[1]

Devoting much of her later life, time and energy to UNICEF, Hepburn's war-time struggles inspired her passion for humanitarian work and, although Hepburn had contributed to the organisation since the 1950s, she worked in some of the most profoundly disadvantaged communities of Africa, South America and Asia in the late eighties and early nineties. In 1992, Hepburn was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

Early life

Audrey Kathleen Ruston,^[2] although later double-barelled by her father to the surname Hepburn-Ruston,^[3] was born on Rue Keyenveld (or Keienveldstraat in Dutch) in Ixelles (or Elsene in Dutch), a municipality in Brussels, Belgium. Hepburn, the only child of Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston (1889–1980), an English banker of Irish descent,^[3] and his second wife Ella, baroness van Heemstra (1900–1984), a Dutch aristocrat, had two half-brothers: Jonkheer Arnoud Robert Alexander "Alex" Quarles van Ufford (1920–1979) and Jonkheer Ian Edgar Bruce Quarles van Ufford (born 1924), by her mother's first marriage.^[3] Although born in Belgium, Hepburn had British citizenship and attended school in England as a child.^{[citation needed]} Hepburn's father's job with a British insurance company meant that the family often travelled between Belgium, England, and the Netherlands. From 1935 to 1938, Hepburn was educated at Miss Rigden's School, an independent girls' school in the village of Elham, Kent, in the southeast of England.^[4][5]

Childhood and adolescence in World War II

Hepburn's parents, members of the British Union of Fascists in the mid-1930s (according to Unity Mitford, a friend of Ella van Heemstra and a follower of Adolf Hitler),^[6] divorced in 1935 when her father, a Nazi sympathiser,^[7] left the family. Her father's abandonment left her in a traumatic state. Years later, she located him in Dublin, Ireland through the Red Cross. Although he remained emotionally detached, Hepburn remained in contact and supported him financially until his death.^[8]

Moving to their grandfather's home in Arnhem, Netherlands in 1939, her mother relocated her and her two half-brothers in the belief that Netherlands would protect them from German attack. While in Arnhem, Hepburn attended the Arnhem Conservatory from 1939 to 1945 where she trained in ballet alongside the standard school curriculum. After the Germans invaded the Netherlands in 1940, Hepburn adopted the pseudonym Edda van Heemstra, a derivative of her mother's name "Ella,"^[9] modifying her mother's documents because an "English sounding" name was considered dangerous during the German occupation. Her mother also felt that the name Audrey may have indicated her British roots too strongly – an unwanted asset particularly as it could have attracted the attention of occupying German forces and resulted in confinement or deportation.

By 1944, Hepburn had become a proficient ballerina. She had secretly danced for groups of people to collect money for the Dutch resistance. She later said, "The best audience I ever had made not a single sound at the end of my performances."^[10] After the Allied landing on D-Day, living conditions grew worse and Arnhem was subsequently devastated by Allied artillery fire under Operation Market Garden. During the Dutch famine that followed in the winter of 1944, the Germans blocked the resupply routes of the Dutch's already-limited food and fuel supplies as retaliation in railway strikes hindered German occupation. People starved and froze to death in the streets; Hepburn and many others resorted to making flour out of tulip bulbs to bake cakes and biscuits.^[7][11] One way that Hepburn passed the time was by drawing; some of her childhood artwork can be seen today.^[12]

Hepburn's half-brother Ian van Ufford, spent time in a German labour camp. Suffering from malnutrition, Hepburn developed acute anaemia, respiratory problems, and oedema.^[13] Hepburn, in 1991, commented, "I have memories. More than once I was at the station seeing trainloads of Jews being transported, seeing all these faces over the top of the wagon. I remember, very sharply, one little boy standing with his parents on the platform, very pale, very blond, wearing a coat that was much too big for him, and he stepped on to the train. I was a child observing a child."^[14]

When the country was liberated, United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration trucks followed.^[15] Hepburn said in an interview that she fell ill from putting too much sugar in her oatmeal and eating an entire can of condensed milk.^[16] Hepburn's war-time experiences sparked her devotion to UNICEF, an international humanitarian organisation, in her later career.^[7][11]

Acting career

Career beginnings and early roles

After the war had finished in 1945, Hepburn left the Arnhem Conservatory and moved to Amsterdam, where she took ballet lessons with Sonia Gaskell.^[17] Hepburn appeared as a stewardess in a short tourism film for KLM,^[18] before travelling with her mother to London. Gaskell provided an introduction to Marie Rambert, and Hepburn studied ballet at the Ballet Rambert, supporting herself with part-time work as a model. Hepburn eventually asked Rambert about her future; Rambert assured her that she could continue to work there and have a great career, but the fact that she was relatively tall (1.7m / 5 ft 7) coupled with her poor nutrition during the war would keep her from becoming a prima ballerina. Hepburn trusted Rambert's assessment and decided to pursue acting, a career in which she, at least, had chance to excel.^[19] After Hepburn became a star, Rambert said in an interview, "She was a wonderful learner. If she had wanted to persevere, she might have become an outstanding ballerina."^[20]

Hepburn's mother worked menial jobs in order to support them and Hepburn needed to find employment. Since she had trained to become a performer all her life, acting seemed a sensible career. She said, "I needed the money; it paid ₤3 more than ballet jobs."^[21] Her acting career began with the educational film Dutch in Seven Lessons (1948). As a London chorus girl, she played in musical theatre productions like High Button Shoes and Sauce Piquante in the West End while registering with the casting officers of British film studios to appear in small minor roles in films including One Wild Oat, Laughter in Paradise, Young Wives' Tale and The Lavender Hill Mob. Her theatre work, however, revealed that her voice was not strong and needed to be developed. Hepburn, therefore, took elocution lessons with the actor Felix Aylmer.^[22] Unbeknown to her, Hepburn was spotted by a scout for Paramount Pictures during her work in the West End.^[20]

During the filming of Monte Carlo Baby, French novelist Colette appeared on set, choosing Hepburn to play the title character in the Broadway play Gigi. Upon first sight of Hepburn, Colette whispered, "Voilà," indicating Hepburn, "there's your Gigi."^[20][23] Opening on 24 November 1951 at the Fulton Theatre, the play ran for 219 performances finishing on 31 May 1952.^[24] Hepburn's performance earned her a Theatre World Award.^[24] Hepburn's subsequent first significant film performance was in Thorold Dickinson's Secret People (1952), in which, Hepburn played a prodigious ballerina; Hepburn performed all of her own dancing sequences.

Roman Holiday and instant stardom

Hepburn's first starring role was as Princess Ann, a "bored and sheltered princess" who, after escaping her guardians, falls in love with American newsman, Gregory Peck, in the Italian-set Roman Holiday (1953). Producers initially wanted Elizabeth Taylor for the role but after Hepburn's screen test, director William Wyler was so impressed that he cast her in the lead. Following the screen test, the camera kept rolling while Hepburn, displaying her ability, candidly answered questions, relaxed and unaware that she was still being filmed. Wyler later commented, "She had everything I was looking for: charm, innocence and talent. She also was very funny. She was absolutely enchanting and we said, 'That's the girl!'"^[25] Originally, the film was to only have had Peck's name above its title in large font while she would receive "Introducing Audrey Hepburn" beneath. After filming had been completed and Hepburn had won the 1954 Academy Award for Best Actress for the role, Peck suggested to Wyler that he elevate her to equal billing so her name appeared before the title and in type as large as his.^[26] Due to the instant celebrity that came with Roman Holiday, Hepburn's illustration was placed on the September 1953 cover of TIME magazine.^[27] Hepburn's performance received much critical praise and supplemented her Oscar win with a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama and a New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress. A. H. Weiler noted in The New York Times that although "she is not precisely a newcomer to films, [Hepburn,] who is being starred for the first time as Princess Ann, is a slender, elfin and wistful beauty, alternately regal and childlike in her profound appreciation of newly found, simple pleasures and love. Although she bravely smiles her acknowledgement of the end of that affair, she remains a pitifully lonely figure facing a stuffy future."^[28] In allowing her to become a star, Hepburn later called Roman Holiday her dearest movie.

After filming Roman Holiday for four months, Hepburn returned to New York and performed in Gigi for eight months. The play was performed in Los Angeles and San Francisco in its last month. She was signed to a seven-picture contract with Paramount with twelve months in between films to allow her time for stage work.^[29]

Following Roman Holiday, she starred in Billy Wilder's romantic comedy Sabrina (1954) as the daughter of a family chauffeur turned rich-attractive-sophisticated woman who becomes involved in a love triangle between Humphrey Bogart and William Holden. For her performance, she was nominated for the 1955 Academy Award for Best Actress as well as winning the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress. During the shooting of the film, Hepburn was sent to the then-young-and-upcoming fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy to decide on her wardrobe for the film. Upon being told that "Miss Hepburn" was coming to see him, he was initially disappointed to see Audrey Hepburn in hope it would be Katharine Hepburn who had, at this time, a more established career. Givenchy told her that he had little time to spare but she asked for just a few minutes to pick out a few pieces for the film.^[26] Despite this, after their collaboration in Sabrina, Hepburn and Givenchy developed a lasting friendship; she was often a muse for many of his designs. They formed a lifelong friendship and partnership.

Returning to the stage, 1954 saw Hepburn play the water spirit in Ondine in performances alongside Mel Ferrer, whom she later married. Her performance won her the 1954 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play, the same year she won the Academy Award for Roman Holiday. Hepburn, therefore, stands as one of three actresses to receive the Academy and Tony Awards for Best Actress in the same year (the others being Shirley Booth and Ellen Burstyn).^[1]

By the mid-1950s, Hepburn was not only one of the biggest motion picture stars in Hollywood, but also a major fashion influence. Her gamine and elfin appearance and widely recognised sense of chic were both admired and imitated. In 1955, she was awarded the Golden Globe for World Film Favorite – Female.^[30] Having become one of Hollywood's most popular box-office attractions, Hepburn co-starred with actors such as Henry Fonda in War and Peace and Maurice Chevalier and Gary Cooper in Love in the Afternoon. Otto Frank even asked her to play his daughter Anne's onscreen counterpart in the 1959 film The Diary of Anne Frank,^{[citation needed]} but Hepburn, who was born the same year as Anne, was almost 30 years old, and felt too old to play a teenager. The role was eventually given to Millie Perkins.

Funny Face in 1957 was one of Hepburn's favourites because she got to dance with Fred Astaire.^{[citation needed]} Then in 1959's The Nun's Story came one of her most daring roles. Films in Review stated: "Her performance will forever silence those who have thought her less an actress than a symbol of the sophisticated child/woman. Her portrayal of Sister Luke is one of the great performances of the screen".^[31] She also starred with Anthony Perkins in the 1959 film Green Mansions.

Mainstream success

Hepburn as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Hepburn in a scene from the comic thriller Charade (1963)

In 1960, she starred alongside Burt Lancaster and Lillian Gish in The Unforgiven while 1961 saw her star with Shirley MacLaine and James Garner in The Children's Hour.

Playing alongside George Peppard, Hepburn's Holly Golightly in 1961's Breakfast at Tiffany's became an iconic character in American cinema. She called the role "the jazziest of my career".^[32] Asked about the acting challenge of the role, she replied, "I'm an introvert. Playing the extroverted girl was the hardest thing I ever did".^[33] In the film, she wore trendy clothing designed by herself and Givenchy, and added blonde streaks to her brown hair, a look that she would keep off-screen as well.

In 1963, Hepburn starred in Charade, her only film with Cary Grant, who had previously withdrawn from the starring roles in Roman Holiday and Sabrina. He was sensitive as to their age difference and requested a script change so that Hepburn's character would be the one to romantically pursue his.^{[citation needed]} Grant loved to humour her and once said, "All I want for Christmas is another picture with Audrey Hepburn".^[34]

Released after Charade was Paris When It Sizzles, a film that reteamed Hepburn with William Holden nearly ten years after Sabrina. The film, called "marshmallow-weight hokum",^[35] was "uniformly panned";^[36] Behind the scenes, the set was plagued with problems: Holden tried without success to rekindle a romance with the now-married actress; that, combined with his alcoholism made the situation a challenge. Hepburn did not help matters: after principal photography began, she demanded the dismissal of cinematographer Claude Renoir after seeing what she felt were unflattering dailies.^[36] Superstitious, she insisted on dressing room 55 because that was her lucky number (she had dressing room 55 for Roman Holiday and Breakfast at Tiffany’s). She insisted that Givenchy, her long-time designer, be given a credit in the film for her perfume.^[36]

In 1964, Hepburn starred with Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady, which was said to be the most anticipated movie since Gone with the Wind.^[37] Hepburn was cast as Eliza Doolittle instead of Julie Andrews, who had originated the role on Broadway, but had no film experience as yet. The decision not to cast Andrews was made before Hepburn was chosen. Hepburn initially refused the role and asked Jack Warner to give it to Andrews, but when informed that it would either be her or Elizabeth Taylor, who was also vying for the part, she accepted the role.^{[citation needed]} Rex Harrison called Audrey Hepburn his favourite leading lady, although he initially felt she was badly miscast as Eliza (many accounts^[specify] indicate that she became great friends with British actress and dancer Kay Kendall, who was Harrison's wife). The casting of a non-singer in the lead role of a major musical proved to be very controversial. Several critics^[specify] felt that Hepburn was not believable as a Cockney flower girl, and that at 35 she was rather old for the part since Eliza was supposed to be about 20. However, according to an article in Soundstage magazine, "Everyone agreed that if Julie Andrews was not to be in the film, Audrey Hepburn was the perfect choice".^[37] Hepburn recorded vocals, but was later told that her vocals would be replaced by Marni Nixon. She walked off the set but returned early the next day to apologise for her "wicked" behaviour.^{[citation needed]} Footage of several songs with Hepburn's original vocals still exist and have been included in documentaries and the DVD release of the film, though to date, only Nixon's renditions have been released on LP and CD. Some of her original vocals remained in the film: a section of "Just You Wait", one line of a verse to "I Could Have Danced All Night" and the reprise of "Just You Wait". When asked about the dubbing of an actress with such distinctive vocal tones, Hepburn frowned and said, "You could tell, couldn't you? And there was Rex, recording all his songs as he acted ... next time —" She bit her lip to keep from saying any more.^[33] Aside from the dubbing, many critics agreed that Hepburn's performance was excellent. Gene Ringgold said, "Audrey Hepburn is magnificent. She is Eliza for the ages".^[37] The controversy over Hepburn's casting reached its height at the 1964–65 Academy Awards season, when Hepburn was not nominated for best actress while Andrews was, for Mary Poppins. The media tried to play up a rivalry between the two actresses as the ceremony approached, even though both women denied any such bad feelings existed and got along well. Andrews won the award.

In 1966, she starred alongside Peter O'Toole in How to Steal a Million. In 1967, she starred in two films: Two for the Road and Wait Until Dark. The former, a non-linear and innovative movie, tracing the course of a troubled marriage. Director Stanley Donen said that Hepburn was more free and happy than he had ever seen her, and he credited that to Albert Finney.^[38] The latter was a difficult film. It was an edgy thriller in which Hepburn played the part of a blind woman being terrorised. In addition, it was produced by Mel Ferrer and filmed on the brink of their divorce. Hepburn is said to have lost fifteen pounds under the stress. On the bright side, she found co-star Richard Crenna to be very funny, and she had a lot to laugh about with director Terence Young. They both joked that he had shelled his favourite star 23 years before; he had been a British Army tank commander during the Battle of Arnhem. Hepburn's performance was nominated for an Academy Award.

Final roles

From 1967 onward, after fifteen highly successful years in film, Hepburn decided to devote more time to her family and acted only occasionally. After her divorce from Ferrer, she married Italian psychiatrist Dr. Andrea Dotti and had a second son, Luca, in 1970. Hepburn endured a difficult pregnancy that required near-total bed rest. After her separation from Dotti, she attempted a comeback, co-starring with Sean Connery in the period piece Robin and Marian in 1976, which was moderately successful.

In 1979, Hepburn took the lead role of Elizabeth Roffe in the international production of Bloodline, re-teaming with director Terence Young (Wait Until Dark). She shared top billing with co-stars Ben Gazzara, James Mason and Romy Schneider. Author Sidney Sheldon revised his novel when it was reissued to tie into the film, making her character a much older woman to better match the actress' age. The film, an international intrigue amid the jet-set, was a critical and box office failure.

Hepburn's last starring role in a cinematic film was with Ben Gazzara in the 1981 comedy They All Laughed, directed by Peter Bogdanovich. The film was overshadowed by the murder of one of its stars, Bogdanovich's girlfriend, Dorothy Stratten; the film was released after Stratten's death but only in limited runs. In 1987, she co-starred with Robert Wagner in a tongue-in-cheek made-for-television caper film, Love Among Thieves, which borrowed elements from several of Hepburn's films, most notably Charade and How to Steal a Million.

Hepburn's last motion picture role, a cameo appearance, was as an angel in Steven Spielberg's Always, filmed in 1988. This film was only moderately successful. In the early 1990s, Hepburn completed two entertainment-related projects: In the spring and summer of 1990, she filmed her final performance before cameras, on location in seven countries, as host of the television documentary series entitled Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn. A one-hour special preceded the series, debuting on PBS in March 1991. The series' debut on PBS, for which she was posthumously awarded an Emmy, followed in 1993 the day after her death. In 1992, she recorded a spoken word album, Audrey Hepburn's Enchanted Tales featuring readings of classic children's stories, which would win her a posthumous Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children.

Final years

Contributions to UNICEF

Soon after Hepburn's final film role, she was appointed goodwill ambassador to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Grateful for her own good fortune after enduring the German occupation as a child, she dedicated the remainder of her life to helping impoverished children in the poorest nations. Hepburn's travels were made easier by her wide knowledge of languages; besides being naturally bilingual in English and Dutch, Audrey also was fluent in French, Italian, Spanish, and German.^[39]

Though she had done work for UNICEF in the 1950s, starting in 1954 with radio presentations, this was a much higher level of dedication. Those close to her^[who?] say that the thoughts of dying, helpless children consumed her for the rest of her life. Her first field mission was to Ethiopia in 1988. She visited an orphanage in Mek'ele that housed 500 starving children and had UNICEF send food. Of the trip, she said, "I have a broken heart. I feel desperate. I can't stand the idea that two million people are in imminent danger of starving to death, many of them children, [and] [sic] not because there isn't tons of food sitting in the northern port of Shoa. It can't be distributed. Last spring, Red Cross and UNICEF workers were ordered out of the northern provinces because of two simultaneous civil wars... I went into rebel country and saw mothers and their children who had walked for ten days, even three weeks, looking for food, settling onto the desert floor into makeshift camps where they may die. Horrible. That image is too much for me. The 'Third World' is a term I don't like very much, because we're all one world. I want people to know that the largest part of humanity is suffering".^[40]

In August 1988, Hepburn went to Turkey on an immunization campaign. She called Turkey "the loveliest example" of UNICEF's capabilities. Of the trip, she said, "the army gave us their trucks, the fishmongers gave their wagons for the vaccines, and once the date was set, it took ten days to vaccinate the whole country. Not bad".^{[citation needed]}

In October, Hepburn went to South America. In Venezuela and Ecuador, Hepburn told the United States Congress, "I saw tiny mountain communities, slums, and shantytowns receive water systems for the first time by some miracle – and the miracle is UNICEF. I watched boys build their own schoolhouse with bricks and cement provided by UNICEF".

Hepburn toured Central America in February 1989, and met with leaders in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. In April, Hepburn visited Sudan with Wolders as part of a mission called "Operation Lifeline". Because of civil war, food from aid agencies had been cut off. The mission was to ferry food to southern Sudan. Hepburn said, "I saw but one glaring truth: These are not natural disasters but man-made tragedies for which there is only one man-made solution – peace".^{[citation needed]}

In October, Hepburn and Wolders went to Bangladesh. John Isaac, a UN photographer, said, "Often the kids would have flies all over them, but she would just go hug them. I had never seen that. Other people had a certain amount of hesitation, but she would just grab them. Children would just come up to hold her hand, touch her – she was like the Pied Piper".

In October 1990, Hepburn went to Vietnam in an effort to collaborate with the government for national UNICEF-supported immunization and clean water programmes.

In September 1992, four months before she died, Hepburn went to Somalia. Hepburn called it "apocalyptic" and said, "I walked into a nightmare. I have seen famine in Ethiopia and Bangladesh, but I have seen nothing like this – so much worse than I could possibly have imagined. I wasn't prepared for this". "The earth is red – an extraordinary sight – that deep terracotta red. And you see the villages, displacement camps and compounds, and the earth is all rippled around them like an ocean bed. And those were the graves. There are graves everywhere. Along the road, around the paths that you take, along the riverbeds, near every camp – there are graves everywhere".^{[citation needed]}

Though scarred by what she had seen, Hepburn still had hope. "Taking care of children has nothing to do with politics. I think perhaps with time, instead of there being a politicization of humanitarian aid, there will be a humanization of politics". "Anyone who doesn't believe in miracles is not a realist. I have seen the miracle of water which UNICEF has helped to make a reality. Where for centuries young girls and women had to walk for miles to get water, now they have clean drinking water near their homes. Water is life, and clean water now means health for the children of this village". "People in these places don't know Audrey Hepburn, but they recognize the name UNICEF. When they see UNICEF their faces light up, because they know that something is happening. In the Sudan, for example, they call a water pump UNICEF".

In 1992, United States President George H. W. Bush presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work with UNICEF, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded her The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for her contribution to humanity. This was awarded posthumously, with her son accepting on her behalf.

Death

In 1992, when Hepburn returned to Switzerland from her visit to Somalia, she began to feel abdominal pains. She went to specialists and received inconclusive results, so she decided to have herself examined while on a trip to Los Angeles in October.

On 1 November, Hepburn checked in with her family to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Doctors performed a laparoscopy and discovered abdominal cancer that had spread from her appendix.^[41] It had grown slowly over several years, and metastasised not as a tumour, but as a thin coating over her small intestine. The doctors performed surgery and then put Hepburn through 5-fluorouracil Leucovorin chemotherapy.^[42] A few days later, she had an obstruction. Medication was not enough to dull the pain, so on 1 December she underwent surgery a second time. After one hour, the surgeon decided that the cancer had spread too far and could not be removed.

Because Hepburn was unable to fly on a commercial aircraft, Givenchy arranged for Rachel Lambert "Bunny" Mellon to send her private Gulfstream jet, filled with flowers, to take Hepburn from California to Switzerland.^[43] Hepburn died in her sleep of cancer, on the evening of ( 1993-01-20)20 January 1993, in Tolochenaz, Vaud, Switzerland, and was interred there. After her death, Gregory Peck went on camera and tearfully recited her favourite poem, "Unending Love" by Rabindranath Tagore.^[44]

At the time of her death, she was involved with Robert Wolders, a Dutch actor who was the widower of film star Merle Oberon. She had met Wolders through a friend, in the later stage of her marriage to Dotti. After Hepburn's divorce was final, she and Wolders started their lives together, although they never married. In 1989, after nine years with him, she called them the happiest years of her life. "Took me long enough," she said in an interview with Barbara Walters. Walters then asked why they never married. Hepburn replied that they were married, just not formally.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Style

Hepburn in Sabrina (top) and Charade (bottom), both dressed Givenchy

Hepburn's stardom created her status as a fashion icon. She appeared on the covers of Vogue and Harper's Bazaaer and exercised fashion in her time and continues to influence fashion today. Her style was partially the result of the meeting with the couturier Hubert de Givenchy, during the filming of Sabrina in 1954. Givenchy designed her dresses for the film which although winning the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, credit was rewarded to costume designer Edith Head. Givenchy remained Hepburn's friend, his muse and ambassador throughout her life who always amazed, even after many years of collaboration: "Her measurements have not changed an inch in thirty-five years."^[45] To which Audrey replied, "I have many things in common with Hubert. We like the same things."^[46] She agreed to model again, on occasions, to present the creations of her friend. In 1988, when he came to Paris to present his summer collection, she said, "Wherever I am in the world, he is still there. For a bouquet, a telegram [...] he is a man who does not disperse into worldliness. He has time for those he loves."^[47] The designer drew her outfits for many films and subsequently created a perfume for her, The Forbidden. The films in which he dressed Hepburn include Funny Face, Love in the Afternoon, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Paris When It Sizzles, Charade and How to Steal a Million. Hepburn later revealed that, "He gave me a look, a kind, a silhouette." She furthered, "He has always been the best and he stayed the best. Because he kept the spare style that I love. What is more beautiful than a simple sheath made an extraordinary way in a special fabric, and just two earrings?"^[48]

Fashion experts have said that Hepburn's longevity as a style icon was because she stuck with a look that suited her – "clean lines, simple yet bold accessories, minimalist palette."^[49] Voted the "most beautiful woman of all time" in a poll of beauty experts by Evian,^[50][51] Hepburn's fashion styles continue to be popular among women today.^[52] Contrary to her image, although Hepburn did enjoy fashion, she did not place much importance on it; she preferred casual and comfortable clothes.^[53] In addition, she never considered herself to be attractive. She stated in a 1959 interview, "you can even say that I hated myself at certain periods. I was too fat, or maybe too tall, or maybe just plain too ugly... you can say my definiteness stems from underlying feelings of insecurity and inferiority. I couldn't conquer these feelings by acting indecisive. I found the only way to get the better of them was by adopting a forceful, concentrated drive."^[54]

Romances, marriages, children and miscarriages

In 1952, she was engaged to the young James Hanson.^[55] She called it "love at first sight;" however, after having her wedding dress fitted and the date set, she decided the marriage would not work, because the demands of their careers would keep them apart most of the time.^[56] In the early 1950s, she dated future Hair producer Michael Butler.^[57] Hepburn and Gregory Peck bonded during the filming of Roman Holiday and there were rumours that they were romantically involved; both denied it. Hepburn, however, added, "Actually, you have to be a little bit in love with your leading man and vice versa. If you're going to portray love, you have to feel it. You can't do it any other way. But you don't carry it beyond the set."^[58] They did however become lifelong friends. During the filming of Sabrina, Hepburn and the already-married Holden became romantically involved. She hoped to marry him and have children. She broke off the relationship when Holden revealed that he had undergone a vasectomy.^[59][60] A common perception of the time was that Bogart and Hepburn did not get along; however, Hepburn has been quoted as saying, "Sometimes it's the so-called 'tough guys' that are the most tender hearted, as Bogey was with me."^[61]

Hepburn met Mel Ferrer at a party hosted by Gregory Peck. She had seen him in the film Lili and was captivated by his performance.^[62] Ferrer later sent Hepburn the script for the play Ondine and Hepburn agreed to play the role. Rehearsals started in January 1954 and Hepburn and Ferrer were married on 24 September.^[63] Before having their son, Hepburn had two miscarriages: the first in March 1955.^{[citation needed]} The second, in 1959, occurred when filming The Unforgiven where she broke her back after falling off a horse onto a rock. She spent weeks in hospital and later had a miscarriage induced by physical and mental stress. In 1960, they had a son together called Sean whose godfather was the novelist A. J. Cronin, who resided near Hepburn in Lucerne. Hepburn claimed that she and Ferrer were inseparable and were very happy together, despite the insistence from gossip columns that the marriage would not last. She did, however, admit that he had a bad temper.^[64] Ferrer was rumoured to be too controlling of Hepburn and had been referred to by others as being her Svengali--an accusation that Hepburn laughed off.,^[65] William Holden was quoted as saying, "I think Audrey allows Mel to think he influences her". The marriage to Ferrer lasted 14 years, until 5 December 1968; their son was quoted as saying that Hepburn had stayed in the marriage too long. The couple separated before divorcing. Mel Ferrer died of heart failure in June 2008 at the age of ninety.

She met Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti on a cruise and fell in love with him on a trip to some Greek ruins. She believed she would have more children, and possibly stop working. She married him on 18 January 1969 and gave birth to their son Luca in 1970. When pregnant with Luca in 1969, Hepburn was more careful, resting for months and passing the time by painting before delivering him by caesarean section. Hepburn had her final miscarriage in 1974.^[66] Although Dotti loved Hepburn and was well-liked by Sean, who called him "fun", he began having affairs with younger women. The marriage lasted thirteen years and ended in 1982, when Hepburn felt Luca and Sean were old enough to handle life with a single mother.^{[citation needed]} Though Hepburn broke off all contact with Ferrer (she would only speak to him twice in the remainder of her life), she remained in touch with Dotti for the benefit of Luca. Andrea Dotti died in October 2007 from complications of a colonoscopy.

From 1980 until her death, she lived with the actor Robert Wolders. She died of appendiceal cancer at her home in Switzerland at the age of 63.^[67][68][69]

Pets

While resting at home from her first miscarriage, Mel Ferrer brought her the fawn from the movie Green Mansions to keep as a pet. They called him Ip (short for Pippin). Hepburn had several pets, including a Yorkshire Terrier named Mr. Famous, who was hit by a car and killed. To cheer her up, Mel Ferrer got her another Yorkshire named Assam of Assam. She also kept Ip; they made a bed for him out of a bathtub. Her son Sean also had a Cocker Spaniel named Cokey. When Hepburn was older, she had two Jack Russell Terriers.

Miscellaneous

One year after Marilyn Monroe sang "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to President John F. Kennedy, Hepburn, the President's favourite actress, sang "Happy Birthday, Dear Jack" to him, on what turned out to be his final birthday (29 May 1963).^[70] Hepburn is associated with the poem "Time-Tested Beauty Tips" (although the author is humourist Sam Levenson),^[71] which she used to recite to her sons. The poem includes verses such as, "For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day", and, "For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry".

Legacy

Hepburn's legacy as an actress and a personality has endured long after her death. The American Film Institute named Hepburn third among the Greatest Female Stars of All Time. She has been the subject of many biographies since her death and the 2000 dramatisation of her life titled The Audrey Hepburn Story which starred Jennifer Love Hewitt and Emmy Rossum as the older and younger Hepburn respectively.^[72] The film concludes with footage of the real Audrey Hepburn, shot during one of her final missions for UNICEF.

The "little black dress" from Breakfast at Tiffany's, designed by Givenchy, was sold at a Christie's auction on 5 December 2006 for £467,200 (approximately $920,000), almost seven times its £70,000 pre-sale estimate. This is the highest price paid for a dress from a film.^[73] The proceeds went to the City of Joy Aid charity to aid underprivileged children in India. The head of the charity said, "there are tears in my eyes. I am absolutely dumbfounded to believe that a piece of cloth which belonged to such a magical actress will now enable me to buy bricks and cement to put the most destitute children in the world into schools".^[74] However, the dress auctioned by Christie's was not the one that Hepburn wore in the film.^[75] Of the two dresses that Hepburn did wear, one is held in the Givenchy archives while the other is displayed in the Museum of Costume in Madrid.^[74] A subsequent London auction of Hepburn's film wardrobe in December 2009 raised £270,200 ($437,000), including £60,000 for the black Chantilly lace cocktail gown from How to Steal a Million. Half the proceeds were donated to All Children in School, a joint venture of The Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund and UNICEF.^[76]

Hepburn's image is widely used in advertising campaigns across the world. In Japan, a series of commercials used colourised and digitally enhanced clips of Hepburn in Roman Holiday to advertise Kirin black tea. In the United States, Hepburn was featured in a Gap commercial which ran from September 7, 2006, to October 5, 2006. It used clips of her dancing from Funny Face, set to AC/DC's "Back in Black", with the tagline "It's Back – The Skinny Black Pant". To celebrate its "Keep it Simple" campaign, the Gap made a sizeable donation to the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund.^[77]

Credits in film, television and theatre

Awards and honours

Awards

Hepburn won the 1953 Academy Award for Best Actress for Roman Holiday and was nominated a further four times for Sabrina, The Nun's Story, Breakfast at Tiffany's and Wait Until Dark. Although considered some of her most acclaimed roles, Hepburn was not nominated for an Academy Award for her portrayal of Eliza Doolittle in 1964 muscal My Fair Lady or Joanna Wallace in 1967 comedy Two for the Road (for her 1967 nomination, however, the Academy chose her performance in Wait Until Dark over Two for the Road). Posthumously awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for her humanitarian work and many other awards including a Grammy Award for her spoken-word recording Audrey Hepburn's Enchanted Tales and an Emmy for Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn, Hepburn stands as one of few entertainers who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy and Tony awards.

Honours

She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1652 Vine Street.

In 2003, the United States Postal Service issued a stamp illustrated by Michael J. Deas^[81] 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. As well, in 2008, Canada Post issued a series of pre-paid postcards based on the work of Yousuf Karsh, one of which was a portrait of Hepburn.^[82]

Hepburn was one of only two people to wear the Tiffany Diamond,^[83] the other being Mrs. Sheldon Whitehouse at the 1957 Tiffany Ball. Hepburn was a member of the International Best Dressed List and elevated into its Hall of Fame in 1961.

In 2006, the Sustainable Style Foundation inaugurated the Style & Substance Award in Honor of Audrey Hepburn to recognise high profile individuals who work to improve the quality of life for children around the world. The first award was given to Hepburn posthumously and received by the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund, a non-profit organization that was started in 1994 in New York and relocated to Los Angeles in 1998 where it remains today.

See also

• List of persons who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards

References

Further reading

• Brizel, Scott. Audrey Hepburn: International Cover Girl. (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2009).
• Cheshire, Ellen. Audrey Hepburn (London: Pocket Essentials, 2003).
• Ferrer, Sean Hepburn Ferrer. Audrey Hepburn, An Elegant Spirit: A Son Remembers (New York: Atria, 2003).
• Keogh, Pamela Clarke. Audrey Style (London: Aurum Press, 2009).
• Maychick, Diana Maychick. Audrey Hepburn: An Intimate Portrait (Citadel Press, 1996).
• Paris, Barry. Audrey Hepburn (New York: Putnam, 1996).
• Spoto, Donald. Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn (Harmony Press, 2006).
• Walker, Alexander. Audrey: Her Real Story (London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1994).
• Woodward, Ian. Audrey Hepburn (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1984). Paperback edition 1986.

External links

• Official website of Hepburn and the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund
• "Audrey Hepburn". Find a Grave. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
• Audrey Hepburn at the Internet Broadway Database
• Audrey Hepburn at AllMovie
• Audrey Hepburn at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com person
• Audrey Hepburn at the TCM Movie Database

Template:Persondata

Template:Link GA Template:Link FA Template:Link FA Template:Link FA Template:Link FA