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Biography
'Audrey Hepburn' (qv) was born on May 4, 1929 in Brussels, Belgium.
She really was blue-blood from the beginning with her father, a
wealthy English banker, and her mother, a Dutch baroness. After her
parents divorced, Audrey went to London with her mother where she
went to a private girls school. Later, when her mother moved back
to the Netherlands, she attended private schools as well. 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. 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. As a model, she was
graceful and, it seemed, she had found her niche in life--until the
film producers came calling. After being spotted modeling by a
producer, she was signed to a bit part in the European film
_Nederlands in 7 lessen (1948)_ (qv) in 1948. Later, she had a
speaking role in the 1951 film, _Young Wives' Tale (1951)_ (qv) as
Eve Lester. The part still wasn't much, so she headed to America to
try her luck there. Audrey gained immediate prominence in the US
with her role in _Roman Holiday (1953)_ (qv) 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 (1957)_ (qv). 0047437, in 1954, for
which she received another Academy nomination, and _Love in the
Afternoon (1957)_ (qv), in 1957, also garnered rave reviews. In
1959, she received yet another nomination for her role in _Nun's
Story (1959). Audrey reached the pinnacle of her career when she
played Holly Golightly in the delightful film, _Breakfast at
Tiffany's (1961)_ (qv) in 1961. For this she received another
nomination. One of Audrey's most radiant roles was in the fine
production of _My Fair Lady (1964)_ (qv), in 1964. Her co-star 'Rex
Harrison' (qv) once was asked to identify his favorite leading
lady. Without hesitation, he replied, "Audrey Hepburn in MY FAIR
LADY". After a couple of other movies, she hit pay dirt and another
nomination in 1967's _Wait Until Dark (1967)_ (qv). By the end of
the sixties, after her divorce from actor 'Mel Ferrer' (qv), Audrey
decided to retire while she was on top. Later she married Dr.
Andrea Dotti. From time to time, she would appear on the silver
screen. One film of note was _Robin and Marian (1976)_ (qv) with
'Sean Connery' (qv) in 1976. 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. She
was named to People's magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful
people in the world. Her last film was _Always (1989)_ (qv) in
1989. 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".
Biography courtesy of the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com).
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Audrey Hepburn
