Audrey Hepburn Biography
Graceful former dancer and model, a much-loved star in films from 1951. After small parts in European productions, Hepburn scored a key break when she was chosen by no less than Colette herself to star onstage in the author’s “Gigi” (1951). Shortly thereafter, the radiant young actress gained immediate prominence in Hollywood with the leading role in the feature romantic comedy, “Roman Holiday” (1953), which was followed by similarly enchanting performances in films such as the inspired fashion musical “Funny Face” (1957) and, as Holly Golightly, the warmly romantic “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (1961).
A spirited, incredibly chic gamine type famous for her waifish yet slightly tomboyish manner, thick eyebrows, bouncy bangs and Givenchy fashion flair, Hepburn proved a beautiful, elegant foil to fatherly older men Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart, Henry Fonda and Fred Astaire, as well as young leads George Peppard and Albert Finney. One of the most lovely and photographed of stars, the wistful, gentle-mannered Hepburn helped define one type of feminine beauty in her era (as opposed to the full-figured Marilyn Monroe-Jane Russell look at the opposite end of the spectrum). Her incredibly influential look also helped set the style for the slender, reed-like fashion model whose offshoots are still popular today.
Though not a prolific film actor, Hepburn had an extremely impressive string of fine movies and roles through the late 1950s, including Billy Wilder’s romantic comedy “Love in the Afternoon” (1957) and the absorbing drama “The Nun’s Story” (1959). The 1960s proved a thinner period, but besides “Tiffany’s”, Hepburn enjoyed notable success opposite Cary Grant in the light romantic mystery, “Charade” (1963). She had less success, however, in the title role of the ugly duckling turned beautiful swan in “My Fair Lady.” Her radiance was evident in the latter half of the film but Hepburn, the daughter of a Dutch baroness and an English banker, was unable to pull off the raffish guttersnipe of the film’s early sequences. She did rebound, however, as the blind heroine of the suspenseful thriller “Wait Until Dark” (1967), which netted Hepburn her fifth and final Oscar nomination.
After a nine-year absence from the screen Hepburn turned in a luminous “middle-aged” performance in “Robin and Marian” (1976), and continued to make occasional feature film appearances, such as her last, in Steven Spielberg’s “Always” (1989). From 1988 Hepburn served as a special ambassador for the UN Children’s Fund. Her untiring charitable work in this capacity, much of it in the field, had begun earning her worldwide admiration anew when she succumbed to colon cancer in 1993 at age 63. Her Jean Hersholt Award for humanitarian work was awarded posthumously by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
- Also Credited As:
Edda Hepburn, Edda van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston
- Born:
on 05/04/1929 in Brussels, Belgium
- Died:
20-JAN-93.
- Job Titles:
Actor, Dancer, Model
Family
- Father: Joseph Anthony Hepburn-Ruston. English
- Mother: Ella Hepburn-Ruston.
- Son: Luca Dotti. born 1970; father Andrea Dotti
- Son: Sean Ferrer. born 1960; father Mel Ferrer
Significant Others
- Husband: Andrea Dotti. married 1969, divorced; Italian
- Husband: Mel Ferrer. married 1954, divorced 1968
- Companion: Robert Wolders. Dutch; previously married to Merle Oberon
Milestones
- 1940 Trapped in the Netherlands when Nazis invaded
- 1948 First film appearance as a stewardess in semi-travelogue, “Nederland in Lessen/Dutch at the Double” (as Edda Hepburn)
- 1948 Moved to London on ballet scholarship to study with Marie Rambert; changed name to Audrey Hepburn
- 1949 London stage debut in chorus of “High Button Shoes”
- 1951 Broadway debut in title role of “Gigi”
- 1951 First British film, “One Wild Oat” (as extra)
- 1952 Made US TV debut in a guest spot on the “CBS Television Workshop” before she became a major star in this country
- 1953 First starring film role in “Roman Holiday”; becomes international star
- 1954 Returned to Broadway to star in “Ondine”
- 1957 Played leading role in film musical “Funny Face” opposite Fred Astaire
- 1957 TV debut in “Mayerling” (Producers Showcase) opposite then-husband Mel Ferrer
- 1964 Moved to Switzerland
- 1964 Played Eliza Doolittle in “My Fair Lady”, one of the biggest boxoffice hits of her film career, the adaptation of Lerner and Loewe’s Broadway musical hit revamp of George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion”
- 1967 Last film for nine years, “Wait Until Dark”
- 1970 Made a guest star appearance on the CBS Christmastime special saluting children worldwide, “A World of Love”, hosted by Shirley MacLaine and Bill Cosby
- 1976 Resumed acting after nine-year absence in “Robin and Marian”
- 1987 US TV-movie debut, “Love Among Thieves”, also starred Robert Wagner and Jerry Orbach; first US TV acting work in 30 years since adaptation of “Mayerling”
- 1988 Named official spokesperson for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
- 1989 Final film role as Hap, an angel, in Steven Spielberg’s “Always”
- 1991 Honored with a Gala Tribute by the Film Society of Lincoln Center
- 1992 Underwent surgery for colon cancer in Los Angeles
- 1993 Album entitled “Music from the Films of Audrey Hepburn” released
- 1993 Was the subject of a special commemorative issue of PEOPLE
- Acted as courier and performed in underground concerts to raise funds for the Dutch Resistance during WWII
- Grew up in England, moved to the Netherlands after her parents separated