Biography of Audrey Hepburn

Although her film career came to an end in the late 1980’s, Audrey Hepburn is considered to be one of the most long-lasting on-screen icons of all time. During her 41 year acting career, Hepburn won several awards including an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1953, and was ranked third on the American Film Institute 's list, “50 Greatest Screen Legends” (Jackson). In addition, Hepburn has been widely acknowledged as a timeless beauty and fashion icon. Several years after her death, her image continues to be used in advertising campaigns. Most recently, a clip of Hepburn dancing from the film “Funny Face” was used in a 2006 Gap commercial to advertise the company’s black pant (Msnbc). However, it is undeniably the actress’s later work with UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, that has had the greatest impact on society. Audrey Hepburn was born in Brussels, Belgium on May 4, 1929. Although she experienced great success later in her life, Hepburn faced much adversity as a child growing up in Europe during World War II. In 1939, four years after her father’s abandonment, Hepburn, her mother, and her two half-brothers moved to the Netherlands as the threat of a Nazi attack continued to increase (Pettinger). However, one year later, Germany gained control of the country and the living conditions of its people began to deteriorate rapidly. During the Dutch Famine of 1944, in which much of the country’s food and fuel was confiscated by the Germans, Hepburn, along with many other people, suffered from severe malnutrition and faced starvation. “Hepburn and many others resorted to making flour out of tulip bulbs to bake cakes and biscuits” (Wikipedia). Adding to her suffering, Hepburn witnessed the brutality of the Nazi’s first-hand on several occasions. Most traumatic was the shooting of her uncle and cousin for their participation in the Resistance of the Nazi party. She also witnessed the murders of several strangers by the Nazi’s, as well as the collection of

Cited: “Audrey Hepburn Biography (1929-93).” Biography.com. 1996-2000. Accessed 3 April 2008. http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9335788 Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund. “Audrey Hepburn: The UNICEF Years.” 2006. Accessed 3 April 2008. http://www.audreyhepburn.com/html/unicef/index.html “Audrey Hepburn Falls into The Gap.” Msnbc.msn.com. 4 Oct. 2006. Accessed 3 April 2008. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14854161/ Jackson, Denny. “Biography for Audrey Hepburn.” The Internet Movie Database. 1990- 2008. Accessed 2 April 2008. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000030/bio Nichols, Mark. “Audrey Hepburn Goes Back to the Bar.” Accessed 3 April 2008. http://www.audreyhepburnlibrary.com/50s/images/coronet11-56pg1.jpg Sally & Clara. “Audrey Hepburn: A Tribute to her Humanitarian Work.” 2006. Accessed 3 April 2008. http://www.ahepburn.com/index.html Pettinger, Tejvan. “Audrey Hepburn Biography.” Biography Online. 24 March 2007. Accessed 3 April 2008. http://www.biographyonline.net/humanitarian/audrey_hepburn.html Wikipedia. “Audrey Hepburn.” 30 March 2008. Accessed 3 April 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audrey_Hepburn#cite_note-CBSsundaymorning-4