| name | Audrey Hepburn |
|---|
| birth name | Audrey Kathleen Ruston |
|---|
| birth date | May 04, 1929 |
|---|
| birth place | |
|---|
| death date | January 20, 1993 |
|---|
| death place | |
|---|
| death cause | Appendiceal cancer |
|---|
| resting place | Tolochenaz Cemetery, Tolochenaz, Vaud, Switzerland |
|---|
| occupation | Actress, humanitarian |
|---|
| years active | 1948–92 |
|---|
| nationality | British |
|---|
| other names | |
|---|
| website | |
|---|
| spouse | |
|---|
| partner | |
|---|
| children | |
|---|
| parents | |
|---|
| awards | List of awards and honours
}} |
|---|
Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 192920 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, 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 inducted in the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame, and ranked, by the American Film Institute, as the third greatest female screen legend in the history of American cinema.
Born in Ixelles, Belgium, Hepburn spent her childhood chiefly in the Netherlands, including German-occupied Arnhem 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 gained instant Hollywood stardom for playing the Academy Award-winning lead role in ''Roman Holiday'' (1953). 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 great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age who received nominations for Academy Awards, Golden Globes and BAFTAs as well as winning a Tony Award for her theatrical performance in the 1954 Broadway play ''Ondine''. Hepburn remains one of few entertainers who have won Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards.
Although she appeared in fewer films as her life went on, Hepburn devoted much of her later life to UNICEF. Her 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. In 1993, Hepburn died of appendiceal cancer at her home in Switzerland, aged 63.
Early life
Audrey Kathleen Ruston, later double-barrelled by her father to the surname Hepburn-Ruston, 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, 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 (1924–2010), by her mother's first marriage. Although born in Belgium, Hepburn had
British citizenship and attended school in England as a child. 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.
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), divorced in 1935 when her father, a
Nazi sympathiser, 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.
Moving to their grandfather's home in Arnhem, the Netherlands, in 1939, her mother relocated her and her two half-brothers in the belief that the 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," 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." 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 Netherlands’ 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. One way that Hepburn passed the time was by drawing; some of her childhood artwork can be seen today.
Hepburn's half-brother, Ian van Ufford, spent time in a German labour camp. Suffering from malnutrition, Hepburn developed acute anæmia, respiratory problems, and œdema. 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."
When the country was liberated, United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration trucks followed. 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. Hepburn's war-time experiences sparked her devotion to UNICEF, an international humanitarian organisation, in her later career.
Career
Career beginnings and early roles
After the war ended in 1945, Hepburn left the Arnhem Conservatory and moved to
Amsterdam, where she took ballet lessons with Sonia Gaskell. Hepburn appeared as a stewardess in a short tourism film for
KLM, 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 the chance to excel. 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."
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." Her acting career began with the educational film ''Dutch in Seven Lessons'' (1948). As a London chorus girl, she played in the musical theatre productions ''High Button Shoes'' (1948) at the London Hippodrome and Cecil Landeau's musical revues ''Sauce Tartare'' (1949) and ''Sauce Piquante'' (1950) at the Cambridge Theatre in the West End. 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. Hepburn was spotted by a scout for Paramount Pictures during her work in the West End. She registered with the casting officers of British film studios while working in the West End to appear in small minor roles in the 1951 films ''One Wild Oat'', ''Laughter in Paradise'', ''Young Wives' Tale'' and ''The Lavender Hill Mob''.
During the filming of ''Monte Carlo Baby'' (1951), 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." Opening on 24 November 1951 at the Fulton Theatre, the play ran for 219 performances finishing on 31 May 1952. Hepburn's performance earned her a Theatre World Award. Hepburn's subsequent first significant film performance was in Thorold Dickinson's ''The Secret People'' (1952), in which, Hepburn played a prodigious ballerina; Hepburn performed all of her own dancing sequences.
''Roman Holiday'' and increased popularity
Hepburn's first starring role was in the Italian-set ''
Roman Holiday'' (1953) as Princess Ann, a "bored and sheltered" European princess who, after escaping her guardians, falls in love with American newsman
Gregory Peck. 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!'" Originally, the film was to have had only 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. Due to the instant celebrity that came with ''Roman Holiday'', Hepburn spawned what became known as the Audrey Hepburn "look" while her illustration was placed on the September 1953 cover of
''TIME'' magazine. Hepburn garnered critical and commercial acclaim for her portrayal of the incognito princess and supplemented her Academy Award win with her first
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama. 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." In allowing her to become a star, Hepburn later called ''Roman Holiday'' her dearest movie. Returning to the New York stage after filming ''Roman Holiday'' for four months, Hepburn 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.
Following ''Roman Holiday'', she starred in Billy Wilder's romantic Cinderella-story comedy ''Sabrina'' (1954) where wealthy brothers (Humphrey Bogart and William Holden) compete for the affections of their chauffeur's innocent daughter (Hepburn). For her performance, she was nominated for the 1955 Academy Award for Best Actress while winning the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role the same year. The uncredited Hubert de Givenchy was responsible for many of Hepburn's outfits in the film. Initially disappointed, Givenchy noted that, upon being told that the actress would be"Miss Hepburn," he had expected Katharine Hepburn. When faced with this actress, he told Hepburn he had little time to spare. Nevertheless, she knew exactly how she wanted to look and asked to view his latest collection. Their collaboration in ''Sabrina'' developed into a life-long friendship and partnership; she was often a muse for many of his designs and her style became renowned internationally.
Hepburn also began another collaboration that year, this time with actor/writer/producer Mel Ferrer. After starring with him as the water spirit in ''Ondine'' on Broadway, Hepburn married Ferrer, and their sometimes tumultuous partnership would last for the better part of the next fifteen years. 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). 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. Hepburn was asked to play Anne Frank's counterpart in both the Broadway and film adaptations of Frank's life. Hepburn, however, who was born the same year as Frank, found herself "emotionally incapable" of the task, and at almost thirty years old, too old. The role was eventually given to Susan Strasberg and Millie Perkins in the play and film respectively.
Having become one of Hollywood's most popular box-office attractions, she went on to star in a series of successful films during the remainder of the decade, including her BAFTA- and Golden Globe-nominated role as Natasha Rostova in ''War and Peace'' (1956), an adaptation of the Tolstoy novel set during the Napoleonic wars with Mel Ferrer and Henry Fonda. The year 1957 saw her debut in musical film titled ''Funny Face'' which saw her perform alongside Fred Astaire; she also starred alongside Gary Cooper and Maurice Chevalier in the romantic comedy ''Love in the Afternoon''. ''The Nun's Story'' (1959), in which she starred alongside Peter Finch, accrued her third Academy Award nomination and earned her another BAFTA Award. ''Films in Review'' stated that 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." Reportedly, she spent hours in convents and with members of the Church to bring truth to her portrayal: "I gave more time, energy and thought to this than to any of my previous screen performances." Subsequently, she starred with Anthony Perkins in the romantic adventure ''Green Mansions'' (1959) where Perkins, a young man, meets "a girl of the forest" (Hepburn) and falls in love with her. In 1960, she appeared alongside Burt Lancaster and Lillian Gish in her only western film ''The Unforgiven'' for which she received lukewarm reception.
''Breakfast at Tiffany's'' and continued stardom
Three months after the birth of her son, Sean, in 1960, Hepburn began work on
Blake Edwards' ''
Breakfast at Tiffany's'' (1961), a film very loosely based on the
Truman Capote novella. The film was drastically changed from the original version.
Capote disapproved of many changes and proclaimed that Hepburn was "grossly miscast" as Holly Golightly, a quirky New York call girl, a role he had envisioned for
Marilyn Monroe. Hepburn's portrayal of Golightly was adapted from the original: "I can't play a hooker," she admitted to Marty Jurow, co-producer of the film. Despite the lack of sexual innuendo in her character, her portrayal was nominated for the 1962 Academy Award for Best Actress and became an iconic character in
American cinema. Often considered her defining role, Holly Golightly, Hepburn's high fashion style and sophistication within the film became
synonymous with her. She named the role "the jazziest of my career" yet admitted that, "I'm an introvert. Playing the extroverted girl was the hardest thing I ever did." The
little black dress which is worn by Hepburn in the beginning of the film is cited as one of the most iconic items of clothing in the history of the twentieth century and perhaps the most famous little black dress of all time.
Playing opposite Shirley MacLaine and James Garner, her next role was in William Wyler's lesbian-themed drama ''The Children's Hour'' (1961) which saw Hepburn and MacLaine play teachers whose lives become troubled after a student accuses them of being lesbians. The film was one of Hollywood's earliest treatments of the subject of lesbianism, and perhaps due to this and the illiberal state of society, the film and Hepburn's performance went seemingly unnoticed both critically and commercially. Bosley Crowther of ''The New York Times'', however, noted that "it is not too well acted" with the exception of Hepburn who "gives the impression of being sensitive and pure" of its "muted theme" while ''Variety'' magazine also complemented Hepburn's "soft sensitivity, marvellous projection and emotional understatement" adding that Hepburn and MacLaine "beautifully complement each other."
Her only film with Cary Grant came in the comic thriller ''Charade'' (1963). Hepburn, who plays Regina Lampert, finds herself pursued by several men (including Grant) who chase the fortune her murdered husband had stolen. The role earned her third and final competitive BAFTA Award and accrued another Golden Globe nomination. Grant (59 years old at the time), who had previously withdrawn from the starring male lead roles in ''Roman Holiday'' and ''Sabrina'', was sensitive about the age difference between Hepburn (at age 34) and him, making him uncomfortable about the romantic interplay. To satisfy his concerns, the filmmakers agreed to change the screenplay so that Hepburn's character would be the one to romantically pursue his. Grant, however, loved to humour Hepburn and once said, "All I want for Christmas is another picture with Audrey Hepburn."
''Paris When It Sizzles'' (1964) reteamed Hepburn with William Holden nearly ten years after ''Sabrina''. The screwball comedy set in Paris saw Hepburn as Gabrielle Simpson, the young assistant of a Hollywood screenwriter (Holden) who aids his writer's block by acting out his fantasies of possible plots. The film, called "marshmallow-weight hokum", was "uniformly panned"; 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. 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.
''My Fair Lady''
"Not since ''
Gone with the Wind'' has a motion picture created such universal excitement as ''
My Fair Lady''", wrote ''Soundstage'' magazine in 1964, yet Hepburn's landing the role of Eliza Doolittle in the 1964
George Cukor film adaptation of the
stage musical sparked controversy. Firstly, by producer
Jack Warner, the decision had been made to cast someone other than
Julie Andrews, who had originated the role on Broadway, for fear that Andrews's then-limited film experience would prevent the film's success. Initially refusing, Hepburn asked Warner to give it to Andrews, but when informed that it was either her or
Elizabeth Taylor who would receive the part, she accepted the role. Secondly, the casting of Hepburn, a non-singer, in a major musical created further friction. Deemed below par, Hepburn's originally recorded vocals were replaced with those of
Marni Nixon. Upset, she reportedly stormed off the set, yet returned early the next day to apologise for her "wicked" behaviour. In the finished film, Hepburn's only singing vocals remain in one line in the song "I Could Have Danced All Night," on a section of the song "Just You Wait" and in the entirety of its reprise. Footage of several songs with Hepburn's original vocals still exist and have been included in documentaries and the recent releases of the film, yet only Nixon's renditions have been released on LP and CD. 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 prevent her saying more. The controversy reached its height during the
1964–65 Academy Awards season, when despite the film's accumulation of eight out of a possible twelve awards, Hepburn was left nomination-less in the Best Actress category while Andrews was nominated for ''
Mary Poppins'' (1964), and won it. The media tried to play up a rivalry between the two actresses, even though both women denied any such bad feelings existed and got along well. Despite such strife, many critics greatly applauded Hepburn's performance. "The happiest thing about [''My Fair Lady'']," wrote Bosley Crowther in The New York Times "is that Audrey Hepburn superbly justifies the decision of Jack Warner to get her to play the title role." Gene Ringgold of ''Soundstage'' also commented that "Audrey Hepburn is magnificent. She is Eliza for the ages" while adding, "Everyone agreed that if Julie Andrews was not to be in the film, Audrey Hepburn was the perfect choice." Although initially feeling that she was badly miscast, her co-star
Rex Harrison, as Higgins, also called Hepburn his favourite leading lady.
In the heist comedy ''How to Steal a Million'' (1966), she played Nicole, the daughter of a famous art collector whose collection consists entirely of forgeries. Fearing her father's exposure, Nicole sets out to steal one of his priceless statues with the help of Simon Dermott (Peter O'Toole). In 1967, she starred in two films: ''Two for the Road'' and ''Wait Until Dark''. The former, a non-linear and innovative British comedy drama, traces 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.
The latter was an edgy thriller in which Hepburn demonstrated her acting range by playing the part of a terrorised blind woman. It was a difficult film, but despite its being produced by Mel Ferrer, filmed on the brink of their divorce, and losing fifteen pounds under the stress, Hepburn earned a fifth Academy Award nomination. 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 twenty-three years before; he had been a British Army tank commander during the Battle of Arnhem.
Departure from cinema and final entertainment-related projects
From 1967 onward, after fifteen highly successful years in film, Hepburn decided to devote more time to her family and acted only occasionally.
She attempted a comeback in 1976, co-starring with Sean Connery, in the period piece ''Robin and Marian'', 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's 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''.
After finishing her last role in a motion picture in 1988, a cameo appearance as an angel in Steven Spielberg's ''Always'', Hepburn completed only two more entertainment-related projects, both critically acclaimed. ''Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn'' was a PBS documentary television series, her final performance before cameras filmed on location in seven countries in the spring and summer of 1990. A one-hour special preceded the series, debuting in March 1991, while the series commenced the day after her death (21 January 1993). For the series's debut, Hepburn was posthumously awarded the 1993 Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement – Informational Programming. Recorded in 1992, her spoken word album, ''Audrey Hepburn's Enchanted Tales'', features readings of classic children's stories and earned her a posthumous Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children. She remains one of the few entertainers to win Grammy and Emmy Awards posthumously.
Contributions to UNICEF
Just after filming the cameo appearance for ''Always'' (1989), Hepburn was appointed
Goodwill Ambassador of 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.
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 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".
In August 1988, Hepburn went to Turkey on an immunisation 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". 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". 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 immunisation 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". 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 politicisation of humanitarian aid, there will be a humanisation 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 recognise 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.
Personal life
Romances, marriages, children and miscarriages
In 1952, Hepburn was engaged to the young
James Hanson, whom she had known since her London dancing days. 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. She issued a statement about her decision, saying, "When I get married, I want to be ''really'' married." In the early 1950s, she also dated future ''
Hair'' producer
Michael Butler. Hepburn and Gregory Peck bonded during the filming of ''Roman Holiday'' (1953) 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." They did however become lifelong friends. During the filming of ''Sabrina'' (1954), Hepburn and the already-married William Holden became romantically involved. She hoped to marry him and have children, but she broke off the relationship when Holden revealed that he had undergone a
vasectomy. Although a common perception that Bogart and Hepburn (both starred in ''Sabrina'' together) did not get along, Hepburn commented that, "Sometimes it's the so-called 'tough guys' that are the most tender hearted, as Bogey was with me."
At a cocktail party hosted by Gregory Peck, Hepburn met American actor Mel Ferrer. Ferrer recalled that, "We began talking about theatre; she knew all about the La Jolla Playhouse Summer Theatre, where Greg Peck and I had been co-producing plays. She also said she'd seen me three times in the movie ''Lili''. Finally, she said she'd like to do a play with me, and she asked me to send her a likely play if I found one."
Ferrer, vying for Hepburn to take the title role, sent her the script for the play ''Ondine''. She agreed and rehearsals started in January 1954. Eight months later, on 24 September 1954, after meeting, working together and falling in love, the pair were married while preparing to star together in the film ''War and Peace'' (1955). Before having their only son, Hepburn had two miscarriages in March 1955 and in 1959. The latter occurred when filming ''The Unforgiven'' (1960) where breaking her back after falling off a horse and onto a rock resulted in hospital stay and miscarriage induced by physical and mental stress. Hepburn, therefore, took a year off work in order to successfully have a child. Sean Hepburn Ferrer, their son, whose godfather was the novelist A. J. Cronin who resided near Hepburn in Lucerne, was born on 17 July 1960. Despite the insistence from gossip columns that the marriage would not last, Hepburn claimed that she and her husband were inseparable and very happy together yet admitting that he had a bad temper. 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. William Holden was quoted as saying, "I think Audrey allows Mel to think he influences her". Despite their marriage of 14 years, the pair lasted until 5 December 1968, separated and divorced. Their son believed that Hepburn had stayed in the marriage too long. In June 2008, Mel Ferrer died of heart failure at the age of ninety.
She met Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti on a cruise and fell in love with him on a trip to Greek ruins. She believed she would have more children, and possibly stop working. She married him on 18 January 1969 and aged 40, she gave birth to their son Luca Dotti on 8 February 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. 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. Although Hepburn broke off all contact with Ferrer (she only spoke to him twice more in the remainder of her life), she remained in touch with Dotti for the benefit of Luca. In October 2007, Andrea Dotti died from complications of a colonoscopy.
From 1980 until her death, Hepburn lived and was romantically involved with Dutch actor Robert Wolders who was the widower of actress Merle Oberon. She had met Wolders through a friend, in the later stage of her marriage to Dotti. After Hepburn's divorce from Dotti was final, Wolders and she started their lives together, although they never married. In 1989, she called the nine years she had spent him the happiest years of her life. "Took me long enough," she said in an interview with American journalist Barbara Walters. Walters then asked why they never married; Hepburn replied that they were married, just not formally.
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). Hepburn is associated with the poem "Time-Tested Beauty Tips" (although the author is humourist
Sam Levenson), which she used to recite to her sons. The poem includes verses such as, "For beautiful hair, let a child run his fingers through it once a day", and, "For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry".
Death
Upon return from Somalia to Switzerland in the autumn of 1992, Hepburn began suffering from
abdominal pains. She went to specialists and received inconclusive results, so decided to have herself examined while on a trip to Los Angeles, California in October. On 1 November, Hepburn checked in at
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with her family. Doctors performed a
laparoscopy and discovered abdominal cancer that had spread
from her appendix, a very rare form of cancer belonging to a group of cancers known as
pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP). Having grown slowly over several years, the cancer had
metastasised, not as a tumour, but as a thin coating over her
small intestine. After performing surgery, the doctors put Hepburn through
5-fluorouracil Leucovorin chemotherapy. A few days later, she had an
obstruction and medication was not enough to dull the pain. She underwent further surgery on 1 December. After one hour, the surgeon decided that the cancer had spread too far to be removed fully.
After coming to terms with the gravity of Hepburn's illness, her family decided to return home to Switzerland in order to celebrate her last Christmas. Because Hepburn was unable to fly on commercial aircraft, Hubert de Givenchy arranged for Rachel Lambert "Bunny" Mellon to send her private Gulfstream jet, filled with flowers, to take Hepburn from Los Angeles to Geneva. Hepburn died in her sleep of appendiceal cancer, on the evening of 20 January 1993, at her home in Tolochenaz, Vaud, Switzerland. After her death, Gregory Peck went on camera and tearfully recited her favourite poem, "Unending Love" by Rabindranath Tagore.
Funeral services were held at the village church of Tolochenaz, Switzerland, on 24 January 1993. Maurice Eindiguer, the same pastor who wed Hepburn and Mel Ferrer and baptised her son Sean in 1960, presided over her funeral while Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, of UNICEF, delivered a eulogy. Many family members and friends attended the funeral, including her sons, partner Robert Wolders, brother Ian Quarles von Ufford, ex-husbands Andrea Dotti and Mel Ferrer, Hubert de Givenchy, executives of UNICEF, and fellow actors Alain Delon and Roger Moore. The same day as her funeral, Hepburn was interred at the Tolochenaz Cemetery, a small cemetery that sits atop a hill overlooking the village.
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. Even in her last years, she remained a visible presence in the film world. She received a tribute from the
Film Society of Lincoln Center in 1991 and was a frequent presenter at the Academy Awards. She was the recipient of four posthumous awards including the 1993
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and competitive Grammy and Emmy Awards. 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. The film concludes with footage of the real Audrey Hepburn, shot during one of her final missions for UNICEF.
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 7 September 2006, to 5 October 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.
Hepburn has been considered a gay icon.
Style
Hepburn's stardom created her status as a fashion icon, exercising fashion both in her lifetime while continuing to influence fashion today. She appeared on the covers of ''
Vogue'' and ''
Harper's Bazaar''. Her style was partially the result of the meeting with the couturier
Hubert de Givenchy during the filming of ''Sabrina'' in 1954 who designed her dresses for the film. Givenchy remained Hepburn's friend and ambassador, and she his muse throughout her life. He was always amazed that, even after many years of collaboration: "Her measurements have not changed an inch in thirty-five years." To which Audrey replied, "I have many things in common with Hubert. We like the same things." She agreed to model again, on occasions, to present the creations of her friend. In 1988, when he presented his summer collection in Paris, 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." The designer drew her outfits for many films and subsequently created a perfume for her titled
L'Interdit (French for "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''. In the latter, actor Peter O'Toole tells Hepburn's character to "give Givenchy the night off", persuading her to dress as a cleaning lady. It would appear, from the chic cleaning lady's costume that she wears, that she did not take his advice. Hepburn later revealed that, "[Givenchy] 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?"
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." Voted the "most beautiful woman of all time" in a poll of beauty experts by Evian, Hepburn's fashion styles continue to be popular among women today. Contrary to her image, although Hepburn did enjoy fashion, she did not place much importance on it; she preferred casual and comfortable clothes. 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."
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. 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". However, the dress auctioned by Christie's was not the one that Hepburn wore in the film. 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. 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.
Credits
Awards
See also
List of persons who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards
Little black Givenchy dress of Audrey Hepburn (''Breakfast at Tiffany's'', 1961)
White floral Givenchy dress of Audrey Hepburn (Academy Awards, 1954)
References
Further reading
External links
of Hepburn (and the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund)
Category:1929 births
Category:1993 deaths
Category:20th-century actors
Category:Academy Honorary Award recipients
Category:Anti-poverty advocates
Category:BAFTA winners (people)
Category:Best Actress Academy Award winners
Category:Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (film) winners
Category:British expatriates in Switzerland
Category:Cancer deaths in Switzerland
Category:Deaths from colorectal cancer
Category:Dutch nobility
Category:Emmy Award winners
Category:English expatriates in the United States
Category:English film actors
Category:English humanitarians
Category:English musical theatre actors
Category:English people of Dutch descent
Category:English people of Irish descent
Category:English stage actors
Category:Grammy Award winners
Category:Barons of Heemstra
Category:Miscarriage victims
Category:People from Arnhem
Category:People from Brussels
Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Category:Tony Award winners
Category:UNICEF people
af:Audrey Hepburn
ar:أودري هيبورن
an:Audrey Hepburn
az:Odri Hepbern
bn:অড্রে হেপবার্ন
zh-min-nan:Audrey Hepburn
bcl:Audrey Hepburn
bs:Audrey Hepburn
br:Audrey Hepburn
bg:Одри Хепбърн
ca:Audrey Hepburn
cv:Хепбёрн Одри
cs:Audrey Hepburnová
co:Audrey Hepburn
cy:Audrey Hepburn
da:Audrey Hepburn
de:Audrey Hepburn
et:Audrey Hepburn
el:Όντρεϊ Χέπμπορν
es:Audrey Hepburn
eo:Audrey Hepburn
eu:Audrey Hepburn
fa:آدری هپبورن
fr:Audrey Hepburn
ga:Audrey Hepburn
gd:Audrey Hepburn
ko:오드리 헵번
hi:आड्री हेपबर्न
hsb:Audrey Hepburn
hr:Audrey Hepburn
io:Audrey Hepburn
ilo:Audrey Hepburn
id:Audrey Hepburn
it:Audrey Hepburn
he:אודרי הפבורן
kn:ಆಡ್ರಿ ಹೆಪ್ಬರ್ನ್
ka:ოდრი ჰეპბერნი
la:Etheldreda Hepburn
lv:Odrija Hepberna
lt:Audrey Hepburn
hu:Audrey Hepburn
mk:Одри Хепберн
mr:ऑड्रे हेपबर्न
nl:Audrey Hepburn
ja:オードリー・ヘプバーン
no:Audrey Hepburn
nn:Audrey Hepburn
oc:Audrey Hepburn
pl:Audrey Hepburn
pt:Audrey Hepburn
ro:Audrey Hepburn
qu:Audrey Hepburn
ru:Хепбёрн, Одри
sq:Audrey Hepburn
simple:Audrey Hepburn
sk:Audrey Hepburnová
sl:Audrey Hepburn
sr:Одри Хепберн
sh:Audrey Hepburn
fi:Audrey Hepburn
sv:Audrey Hepburn
tl:Audrey Hepburn
ta:ஆட்ரி ஹெப்பர்ன்
th:ออเดรย์ เฮปเบิร์น
tg:Аудрей Ҳепбурн
tr:Audrey Hepburn
uk:Одрі Гепберн
vi:Audrey Hepburn
yo:Audrey Hepburn
zh:奥黛丽·赫本
