Country of Birth
Belgium
Industry
Entertainment
Top Achievements
Audrey Hepburn was a Belgian-born, British actress who became one of the most enduring and best-loved screen icons of the 20th century. Renowned for her talent, beauty, and style, in her later years she also became a tireless crusader for children’s rights.
Early Life and Education
Audrey Kathleen Hepburn-Rushton was born on May 4, 1929, in Brussels, Belgium. Her British father was an English financier, and her mother was a Dutch baroness. Because of her father’s job, Hepburn’s early childhood was spent between England, Belgium and the Netherlands, until in 1937 when she was sent to a private boarding school in Kent, England – her parents divorced a year later. With the onset of World War II in 1939, Hepburn’s mother moved her back to the Netherlands, believing it to be safer than England.
During the 5-year German occupation of the Netherlands, Hepburn suffered from malnutrition but still managed to attend school and began to take ballet lessons. She also reportedly delivered the Dutch resistance movement newspaper and took messages and food to downed Allied pilots in hiding.
Early Career
In 1945, Hepburn moved to London, where she had won a scholarship with the Ballet Rambert company. In 1948, she began performing as a chorus girl in West End musical theatre productions, took acting classes and won some minor roles in British television and film.
In 1951 she was selected by French novelist Colette to play the title role in the Broadway stage adaptation of her novel, Gigi. Despite her inexperience, Hepburn earned rave reviews and a Theatre World Award for her performance. Her Hollywood breakthrough came with a starring role in Roman Holiday (1953) – a huge box-office success which also earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress, a BAFTA Award for Best British Actress in a Leading Role, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama.
Achievements in Her Field
Hepburn returned to the Broadway stage to star in Ondine (1954), winning a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance. Her impressive screen career includes films such as The Nun’s Story (1960), Breakfast At Tiffany’s (1961), Charade (1963), My Fair Lady (1964) and How To Steal A Million (1966).
After 1967 Hepburn chose to dedicate more time to her personal life, acting only occasionally until her final role – a cameo appearance as an angel in Steven Spielberg’s Always (1989).
Recognition
Hepburn is one of few entertainers who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards. In 1999, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend of all time in American film history.
In recognition of her humanitarian work, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992, while UNICEF honored her legacy by unveiling a statue, The Spirit of Audrey, at its New York headquarters.
Additional Facts
Hepburn’s first field mission for UNICEF was to Ethiopia in 1988, and she was officially appointed a Goodwill Ambassador of UNICEF in 1989. Until just four months before her death she continued to visit refugee camps and orphanages in some of the most poverty-stricken and violently war-torn areas of the world.
Hepburn died from a rare form of abdominal cancer on January 20, 1993.
