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Audrey Hepburn's birth
Audrey was born on May 4th, 1929 in Brussels, Belgium. Her mom Ella Van Heemstra and her father Joseph Hepburn got a divorce when she was six and soon after, Audrey and her mother left for England. Since Mrs. Hepburn was part of the British Union of Fascists they were able to become British citizens, and Audrey was taught at a private all girls school. It was a scary time for Audrey and her mom, because when her dad left, the Nazis had just invaded Poland. -
Suffering Hardships Young
When Audrey was 11 years old she was brought to the Netherlands after her parents had been separated, and was impacted greatly by World War Two. The Nazis killed two of her family members, her older brother fighting in the Dutch army and her younger brother joined the resistance. Audrey also experienced malnutrition, the article explains, "By the end of the war, with no water or electricity in their home in Arnhem, she said, she and her family were eating tulip bulbs to stay alive" (Riding). -
Suffering Hardships Young (continued 2)
She was able to overcome her past and move onto the future. Of course she will always have that pain in the back of her head but she learned to persevere through it and become someone else. The inference made is that Audrey Hepburn is a strong women who is capable of letting go. She also doesn't let her malnutrition affect her. -
Suffering Hardships young (Continued)
Audrey dealt with severe depression going through World War Two and after the war. Audrey was hiding out at a relatives house in Arnhem, Holland (Netherlands) while the Nazis rushed through the town and killed and captured numerous amounts of people. Since she was always interested in ballet, during the war she performed to raise money for the Dutch war efforts. While she was learning in England after the war, she took her mother's name to hide her identity. -
Ballet School
Ballet was one of her passions in life but she always thought she wasn't good enough and couldn't accomplish her dreams. She wanted to perform in Convent Garden in London she stated, "but I never thought I'd make it. I was too tall and I was far behind because of the war". The war was what really made her believe she wasn't able to dance. She thought it was too late and that she could never get as good as the other dancers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-pxY90Y9z4 (start at 1:46 end at 2:56) -
Ballet School (continued)
"After the war, when she was 16, she won a scholarship at the Rambert Ballet School in London" (Riding). Following that, she received lessons to improve her dancing skills. When she got into the ballet school, she supported her mother and herself by having small parts in films, and other jobs.
Even though she went through a lot of things as a child and fell "behind", she didn't let that effect her. She kept dancing and pursued her passion. -
Modeling
While she was dancing, she started to take up different modeling opportunities. She was in numerous magazines showing not only her dancing but her style. She was soon featured on the covers of Time, Life, Look, Vogue, People, and Cosmopolitan. Her fashion aspect came in around this time period as well. She started taking up fashion projects for different plays, musicals, and movies. She was always updated with trendy but classy looks which made people look up to her. -
Modeling (continued)
It can be inferred that Audrey may have been a little stuck up. At this point in her life, she is getting a lot of attention which she isn't used to. Maybe she got a little too self absorbed during this time period. -
Acting
Beginning in small parts of English movies, Audrey was on the rise to becoming a star. While on a beach one day in in the French Riviera, she was suddenly noticed by a novelist named Colette. She was writing a book called Gigi. She projected his book to a broadway musical and thought that Audrey would be the perfect person for the role. Then her big outbreak, Gregory Peck cast her in Roman Holiday. From the movie, she won best actress in the Academy Awards. -
Acting Continued
Audrey was on a role. She played parts in "Breakfast at Tiffany's", "Charade", "My Fair Lady", "Two For the Road", "Funny Face", and many other well-known classics. Audrey then retired from her acting career in 1966.
It's inferred that once she got the role in Roman Holiday she wasn't very experienced in the acting world. She only had one role in the Broadway play "Gigi" before Roman Holiday. She isn't perfect, and that's something she probably learned while she was practicing her role. -
Changing Children's Lives
Audrey was an actress, a model, a dancer, a World War Two survivor, and in her late years presents involvement in UNICEF. Unicef is an organization that is in place to assist children and mothers in developing countries. Audrey not only donated, and got involved, but she herself "can testify to what UNICEF means to children, because I was among those who received food and medical relief right after WorldWarII" Audrey stated. She was first given the position of being a Special Ambassador, -
Changing Children's Lives (continued)
She then was appointed the Goodwill Ambassador in 1989 which is where she used her talent and popularity to attract people to this organization. She reached out to many countries and helped to build a love and caring community for all children and mothers. In March of 1988, she went over to Ethiopia after their humongous drought, and raised almost $22 million to help the affected country. With that, they built new forests, bought food and water for the country, and terracing and sheep breeding. -
Changing Children's Lives (continued 2)
She made huge efforts in Ethiopia, but also in Ecuador, Turkey, Venezuela, Guatemala, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico, and Sudan. She said, "There is just no question that there is a moral obligation for those who have, to give to those who have nothing". She promotes giving to the people who are suffering.
It is inferred that Audrey loves helping not only children but the whole country that is involved. She is very caring and is a mother figure to many besides her two sons. -
End of Audrey's Life
Audrey died on January 21st, 1993 due to colon cancer in her home in Switzerland. Unicef broke out the bad news to the world since that was such a huge part of her life. During her lifetime she accomplished many things but also went through some very rough times like Nazi occupation in World War Two, supporting herself and her mom in her ballet career, and being diagnosed with colon cancer. She was represented in 31 movies in her lifetime, and will be remembered not only for her acting aspect.
