Huff 1
Regan Huff
Mrs. Hall
English III
26 April 2013
The Life of Audrey Hepburn
Thesis: Although Audrey Hepburn went through her parents divorcing, then being sentboarding school at the age of 5, living through WWI, she still managed to dance, which
led her into her acting career; she starred in a plethora of well-known films,
yet in her last 25 years she still wanted to give back and be a part of UNICEF to help
those unfortunate in Africa and Latin America.
I. Audrey Hepburn’s childhood had a lot to do with her becoming the actress she was.
A. Hepburn lived with her mother, a Dutch baroness, and her father, an Enlgish
banker.
B. Her parents divorced when she was young and she was sent to a boarding
school in England.
C. WWI broke out when she was in Holland visiting her mother on a school
holiday.
D. Audrey Hepburn lived in a Nazi-occupied Arnhem; she attended a local school there and took ballet lessons at the Conservatory.
II. Hepburn’s background in ballet helped her get a scholarship at a school in London.
A. While Hepburn was studying ballet, she started getting into modeling.
B. Modeling led Hepburn into studying drama, there she met Felix Alyher.
C. Alyher helped Hepburn break into the world of acting with her first minute role
inOne Wild Oat.
D. Hepburn didn’t work much in her last 25 years.
III. In Audrey Hepburn’s Last 25 years, she devoted most of her time to charity and
helping under-developed countries in Africa and Latin America.
A. Hepburn made more than 50 trips, visiting all of her UNICEF projects.
B. Hepburn received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George
Bush as an actress and an ambassador for children’s rights.
Regan Huff
Mrs. Hall
English III
26 April 2013
The Life of Audrey Hepburn
If you ask Audrey Hepburn about her life, she’ll say she was born on the fourth of May 1929 and died three weeks later only to be revived by her mother, Ellavan Heemstra, slapping her on the back. Audrey Hepburn was an actress in the early fifties through the late sixties; with a few roles here and there after that time period.“Audrey Hepburn was more than an actress -- she was an icon of beauty, style and elegance.”(Mendoza).Hepburn’s career started as her being in college studying drama. She originally wanted to be a ballet dancer and she got a scholarship to a college in London for ballet, that’s where she got into her modeling, which led her to the path of studying drama. Although Audrey Hepburn went through her parents divorcing, then being sent to a boarding school at the age of five, living through WWI, she still managed to dance, which led her into her acting career; she starred in a plethora of well-known films, yet in her last twenty-five years she still wanted to give back and be apart of UNICEF to help those unfortunate in Africa and Latin America.
Brussels, Belguim was the country Audrey Hepburn was born. She lived with both her father, Joseph Ruston, and mother,Ella van Heemstra. “Her father was an English banker and her mother mother was a French baroness.” (Bergan). Hepburn was four when her parents divorced and they sent her to a boarding school in England where she could only see her mother on school holidays. “Hepburn’s father was not present much after that due to his alcoholism and irresponsibilty.” (Raphael). On one of these holidays, she was in Holland visiting her mother and WWII broke out.Hepburn suffered acute anaemia, depression, respiratory problems and edema, due to malnutrition. Her name was considered to be to English-sounding so for safety reasons they felt they needed to change it. Hepburn and her mother were separated shortly during the war due to all the danger zones.The two met back up shortly after in Holland and caught a plane and went England, they then lived in an Arnhem there.“Audrey Hepburn and her mother had to live in a Nazi-occupied Arnhem, where she attended a local school and took ballet lessons at the conservatory.” (Bergan). While they were in England, Hepburn started taking ballet lessons.Audrey then became abnormally obsessed with her ballet dancing; she took her lessons very seriously. Professionally, she thought it would benefit her in the long run.Her childhood helped her on her path of becoming an actress because if she didn’t have to deal with her father leaving her, Ella and her having to live in an Arnhem, and taking ballet lessons at the local conservatory, she might not have become the actress she did.
“She studied ballet at the conservatory which led her to get a scholarship at a ballet school in London.”(Baskin) There Hepburn picked up modeling and acting. Her acting coach was Felix Alyher. “Alyher helped her get her first jobs, which were minute parts, in the movies One Wild Oat (1951) and The Lavender Hill Mob. (1951)” (Bergan). She started to get bigger parts in movies like Young Wives Tale and Monte Carlo Baby. In the middle of shooting the latter, Hepburn met Colette, a French novelist. Colette insisted Hepburn play the role of ‘Gigi’on Broadway. She did so well that she got offered a role in the MGM version, but declined the request. That was Hepburn’s ticket to get into American movies. Her first real lead in a movie was when she starred in Roman Holiday. (1953). Shewon the Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture Actress - Drama, she also won: NYFCC, an Oscar, and the BAFTA film award. All these were for her performance in Roman Holiday. After Roman Holiday, Hepburn went back to the theatre world to be the lead in ‘Ondine’. She also well known for her performance in the movie Sabrina as Sabrina and got nominated for ‘Best Actress in a Leading Role’.
She ended up marrying her co-star, Mel Ferrer. Mel Ferrer had already been married three times before; this was Hepburn’s first marriage. Hepburn and Ferrer divorced in 1967 and not a year later Hepburn married Dr. AndreaDotti. She had a single child with each of them. “Although Hepburn and Dotti divorced in 1982, she and Woldersnerver married; they didn’t feel as if they had to.” (Fiori). Hepburn had also had four miscarriages throughout all of her relations with her significant others.
She was nominated and won the New York Critic’s Award for her film The Nun’s Story. She was nominated for the Oscar, but lost is to Simone Signoret for her performance in Room at the Top.
She also starred in the popular movie, Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Many people associate the two together, for example if someone says, “Have you seen Breakfast at Tiffany’s?”, someone’s first thought might be, “Doesn’t Audrey Hepburn star in that?” The fashion world also changed in many ways after that movie came out, now every girl is in search of that ‘perfect black dress.’ “Her style was glamorous and terribly new, because it was hers alone” (Ginsberg) “Hepburn is one of the few actresses to win an Emmy, Tony, Grammy, and Academy Award”(Fiori). Hepburn’s last film was Always, she was the angel, Hap.
Audrey Hepburn still had some roles in movies in her later years, but she mainly devoted to her kids, Sean and Luca. She also took off the last twenty-five years to dedicate her life to her UNICEF projects. She made over fifty trips to help with those projects. She traveled to under-developed countries like Africa and Latin America. “Shirley MacLaine says, “If there was a cross between the salt of the earth and a regal queen, then she was it.”” (Encyclopedia of World Biography).
Pamela Flora states in her article All About Audrey:
She applied to be an International Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. In her application, she explained how she had never forgotten the deprivations of wartime that she and her family had suffered in Holland after the German invasion and she remembered clearly the relief provided by the Red Cross and UNRRA (the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, a forerunner of UNICEF) (Fiori)
Audrey Hepburn received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which the highest civilian award, from President George Bush as an actress and an ambassador for children’s rights.
The company Audrey Hepburn was involved in (UNICEF) has an article about her:
“Soon after becoming a UNICEF ambassador, Hepburn went on a mission to
Ethiopia, where years of drought and civil strife had caused terrible famine.
After visiting UNICEF emergency operations, she talked about the projects to the
media in the United States, Canada and Europe over several weeks, giving as
many as 15 interviews a day. It set a precedent for her commitment to the
organization.” (Graeff)
Even when Hepburn could not be on a trip, she still worked endlessly at her home working to make the company grow and testifying in congress for The World Summit for Children. Even when she was gone, her kids carried on her legacy. “Her sons, Sean Ferrer and Luca Dotti, along with her companion Robert Wolders, established the Audrey Hepburn Memorial Fund to continue Hepburn's humanitarian work in 1994. It is now known as the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund.” (Pak)
The life of Audrey Hepburn had its ups and downs, but she is an inspiration to so many people. Not only did she overcome a difficult life at home and get through WWII alive and still got to pursue her dream as a ballet dancer shows people that anything is possible. Even though she didn’t continue with ballet, if it wasn’t for her getting a scholarship for ballet to the school in London, she wouldn’t have met Felix Alyher and she may not have become an actress. Her whole life was leading up to what she really wanted to do, which was give back to her community and help the less fortunate and travel to give to kids in under-developed countries. All her work in the UNICEF really did make a diference and it influenced other people to get out there and help.
Works Cited
"Audrey Hepburn." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Student Resources
In Context.Web. 26 Apr. 2013.
Baskin, Barbara. "Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn." Booklist 1 Jan. 2007: 128.
Student Edition.Web. 26 Apr. 2013
Bergan, Ronald. The Movie Stars Story. West Germany: Octopus Books Limited, 1984. Print. Fiori, Pamela. "All about Audrey."Harper's Bazaar Feb. 2013: 200+. Student Resources In
Context.Web. 26 Apr. 2013.
Ginsberg, Merle. "Audrey unguarded: at home, in love, at work: a new book on the woman who
created a unique style emulated the world over reveals rarely seen photos of the iconic
actress at ease." Hollywood Reporter 23 Mar. 2012: 72+. Student Resources In Context. Web. 26 Apr. 2013.
Graeff, Judith A. "UNICEF People." UNICEF. UNICEF, 19 June 2003. Web. 03 May 2013.
Mendoza, N.F. "'Audrey Hepburn Story'."Hollywood Reporter 27 Mar. 2000: 20. Student
Resources In Context. Web. 3 May 2013.
Pak,Eudie. "Audrey Hepburn Biography."Bio.True Story. A+E Television Networks, LLC.,
n.d. Web. 03 May 2013.
Raphael, Frederic. "Her own worst admirer."Spectator 24 June 2006. Student Resources
In Context.Web. 3 May 2013.