Audrey Hepburn was born on May 4, 1929 in Brussels, Belgium. Her father was a wealthy English banker, and her mother, a Dutch baroness. Her parents divorced when she was young and Audrey went to London (and later the Netherlands) with her mother where she went to a private girls school.
While vacationing with her mother in Arnhem, Holland, Hitler's army took over the town. It was here that she fell on hard times during the Nazi occupation. She had witnessed Nazi soldiers publicly executing people in the streets and herding Jews onto railroad cars to be sent to the death camps.
Audrey suffered from depression and malnutrition. After the liberation, Audrey went to a ballet school in London on a scholarship and later began a modeling career. After being spotted modeling by a producer, she was signed to a bit part in the European film Nederlands in 7 lessen (1948) in 1948. Later, she got a speaking role in another film, but she wasn’t getting the parts she craved, so she headed to America to try her luck there.
Audrey gained immediate prominence in the US with her role in ‘Roman holiday’ in 1953. This film turned out to be a smashing success as she won an Oscar as Best Actress. This gained her enormous popularity and more plum roles. One of the reasons for her popularity was the fact that she was so elf like and had class, unlike the sex-goddesses of the time.
Roman Holiday was followed by another similarly wonderful performance in the 1957 classic ‘Funny Face’. In 1959, she received yet another nomination for her role in ‘A Nun's Story’. Audrey reached the pinnacle of her career when she played Holly Golightly in the delightful film, ‘Breakfast at Tiffany's’ (1961). For this she received another nomination. After a couple of other movies, she got another nomination in ‘Wait Until Dark’ (1967).
By the end of the sixties, Audrey decided to retire while she was on top. In 1988, Audrey became a special ambassador to the United Nations UNICEF fund helping children in Latin America and Africa, a position she retained until 1993. Audrey Hepburn died on January 20, 1993 in Tolochnaz, Switzerland, from colon cancer. She had made a total of 31 high quality movies. Her elegance and style will always be remembered in film history as evidenced by her being named to Empire magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time".
Audrey Hepburn was born on May 4, 1929 in Brussels, Belgium. Her father was a wealthy English banker, and her mother, a Dutch baroness. Her parents divorced when she was young and Audrey went to London (and later the Netherlands) with her mother where she went to a private girls school.