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Audrey Hepburn

by Frances from Miami

I was born with an enormous need for affection, and a terrible need to give it.~Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn as an actress. (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/audrey (Rachel Marie Stone))
Audrey Hepburn as an actress. (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/audrey (Rachel Marie Stone))

Audrey Hepburn was born on May 4, 1929, in Brussels, Belgium. Audrey Hepburn is a famous for her beauty, elegance, and grace. She is an inspirational role model for others and "she remains one of Hollywood's greatest style icons". As a child she lived during World War 2 and obtained many experiences from that time in her life and spoke later of her memories during that time. Audrey Hepburn spent a bit of her childhood learning in a boarding school in England. Then for a lot of World War II she studied at the Arnhem Conservatory in The Netherlands. After the Nazis invaded the country Audrey and her mother struggled to to make it out day to day. According to an article in The New York Times she reportedly helped the resistance movement by delivering messages.

Audrey UNICEF Amabassador (http://www.biography.com/people/audrey-hepburn-933 (Derek Hudson))
Audrey UNICEF Amabassador (http://www.biography.com/people/audrey-hepburn-933 (Derek Hudson))

After the war, Hepburn still wanted to pursue her interest for dance. She studied ballet in Amsterdam and then studied some more in London. When Audrey Hepburn was 22 she set out to New York so she could be able to star in the Broadway production "Gigi, based on the book by the French writer Colette". Then only two years later, she grabbed her shot for fame and success after acting in the film Roman Holiday. "Audiences and critics were wowed by her portrayal of Princess Ann. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for this performance. After, while acting in a Broadway show again she met actor Mel Ferrer. Hepburn and Ferrer got married on September 25, 1954, in Switzerland." But they later got divorced and she married an Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti in 1969, and the couple had a son, Luca, in 1970.

After she appeared in less films as her life went on and her children were born. Then later devoting much of her later life to UNICEF. Her childhood memories of World War 2 were what sparked her devotion to UNICEF, "a well known international humanitarian organization". After she became a UNICEF ambassador, Audrey went on a mission to help out in Ethiopia. Since many years of drought and civil strife had caused terrible famine she wanted to help however she could. After visiting UNICEF emergency operations she talked about the projects she had made and promoted UNICEF to the media in the United States. As well as "Canada and Europe over several weeks giving as many as 15 interviews a day." It was just one way she showed how much she cared about UNICEF and how committed she was.

"Although contributing to the organization since 1954, she worked in some of the most profoundly disadvantaged communities of Africa, South America and Asia between 1988 and 1992." She was awarded with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in late 1992. Then sadly a month later, Audrey Hepburn became very sick and died of Appendical cancer in her home in Switzerland in early 1993 at the age of 63.

But her work to help children around the world still continues on today. "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."

Page created on 1/29/2013 1:50:11 PM

Last edited 1/29/2013 1:50:11 PM

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