Audrey Hepburn


Actor
Audrey Hepburn

About

Also Known As
Edda Hepburn, Edda Van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston
Birth Place
Brussels, BE
Born
May 04, 1929
Died
January 20, 1993
Cause of Death
Colon Cancer

Biography

Audrey Hepburn's reign as Hollywood's storybook princess lasted 15 years, long enough for her to be made a paradigm of sparkling charisma and class. From a traumatic youth in Nazi-occupied Europe, Hepburn effortlessly charmed her way into the hearts of producers, directors, co-stars and movie-goers alike, earning no less than drama's highest-profile honor for her first major film outing,...

Photos & Videos

Sabrina - Movie Posters
The Nun's Story - Audrey Hepburn Publicity Stills
Roman Holiday - Movie Posters

Family & Companions

Mel Ferrer
Husband
Actor. Married 1954, divorced 1968.
Andrea Dotti
Husband
Psychiatrist. Married 1969, divorced; Italian.
Robert Wolders
Companion
Former actor. Dutch; previously married to Merle Oberon.

Bibliography

"Audrey Hepburn"
Barry Paris, G.P. Putnam's Sons (1996)

Notes

Received Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992

Hepburn was one of only eight individuals (Rita Moreno, Mel Brooks, Helen Hayes, John Gielgud, Richard Rodgers, Marvin Hamlisch and Mike Nichols are the others) to have won all four of the major entertainment awards (Oscar, Tony, Grammy and Emmy) in competition.

Biography

Audrey Hepburn's reign as Hollywood's storybook princess lasted 15 years, long enough for her to be made a paradigm of sparkling charisma and class. From a traumatic youth in Nazi-occupied Europe, Hepburn effortlessly charmed her way into the hearts of producers, directors, co-stars and movie-goers alike, earning no less than drama's highest-profile honor for her first major film outing, "Roman Holiday" (1953). She seemed to define irrepressible, from her "Sabrina" (1954) through her deceptively sweet call girl in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961) to her heartwarming rags-to-riches Eliza Doolittle in the film version of one of the last old school hit musicals, "My Fair Lady" (1964) to even late in her life when traveled the world as a high-profile spokeswoman for UNICEF. Her legacy on screen and off would be that of someone disarmingly defying her "place" and pedigree, transcending them, and in the process, becoming that rare movie star who men wanted to be with and women concurrently wanted to be.

She came from the blue blood whose vaunted elegance she would mythologize on film. Born Audrey Kathleen Ruston on May 4, 1929 in Ixelles, Belgium to noble parents who would hardly provide her an idyllic childhood, her mother, the former Ella Van Heemstra, was a Dutch baroness and her father, Anthony Joseph Ruston, was an insurance company executive. Both claimed descent from English and Scots royal houses - the surname of one he would soon add to the family moniker "Hepburn-Ruston" - and the family toggled its residences between Belgium, The Netherlands and the U.K., where both parents joined the ultra-right-wing British Union of Fascists. They also fought often, exacerbated by Joseph's drinking, prompting Ella to enroll a traumatized Audrey in an English boarding school, where she developed an affinity for ballet. Joseph walked out on the family in 1935, and four years later, with war looming over Europe, Ella moved Audrey and her two half-brothers out of harm's way to Arnhem in the ostensibly neutral Netherlands, where she enrolled her daughter in the Arnhem Conservatory. Ella instilled a rigid sense of aristocratic propriety in her daughter, but after Germany invaded The Netherlands in 1940 and she saw fascism in action, she shed her previous politics and joined the Dutch resistance.

The family suffered through bitter privation throughout the war, but Audrey continued to pursue her art and even danced at underground performances to raise money for the resistance. She also carried secret correspondence in her shoes, even though she witnessed the Germans execute two relatives and ship one of her half-brothers to a labor camp. When Germany surrendered, she found that the malnutrition and anemia that plagued her during the war limited her ballet prospects, and her distinctive, sprightly beauty helped her expand into modeling and acting, the latter beginning in 1948 with one line in the Dutch film "Nederlands in Sieben Lessen." Moving with her mother to London, she began earning some stage and minor film work, including one movie called "Monte Carlo Baby" (1951), which led to a fateful encounter with the renowned French novelist Colette. The 78-year-old author reportedly spotted Hepburn cavorting around in a hotel lobby in Monte Carlo and immediately recognized in the girl the look she wanted for an upcoming Broadway version of her book "Gigi," the story of a young girl training to be a courtesan in turn-of-the-century France. Hepburn journeyed to New York, still raw and insecure about her abilities, and upon seeing her name on a marquee for the first time, TIME reported in 1953, she said, "Oh, dear, and I've still got to learn how to act."

Few agreed. The New York Times called Hepburn "spontaneous, lucid and captivating." Her "Gigi" top-billing also spurred the interest of filmmaker William Wyler, who delayed the Italian-location production of his upcoming project "Roman Holiday" until the play closed in early 1952, just to make her his female lead. She played a bona fide princess who sneaks away from her royal retinue to be a regular girl, spending a whirligig day in Rome with an American reporter (Gregory Peck), who plots a big scoop out of it but finds himself entranced. "That girl is going to be the biggest star in Hollywood," Wyler said at the end of production. Critics' reactions mirrored everyone who met her. TIME put Hepburn on its cover, declaring, "Paramount's new star sparkles and glows with the fire of a finely cut diamond." Her preternaturally youthful looks would make such May-October romances a hallmark of her work, as became evident in her next film, "Sabrina," in which she played the blossoming daughter of the chauffer of a wealthy family, returning from school to a love triangle with the family's two scions, played by Humphrey Bogart and William Holden. While a gruff Bogart notoriously bridled at working with such an inexperienced actor - in spite of the role earning her another Oscar nomination - Holden fell in love with Hepburn and they began an affair. He was married, however, and had undergone a vasectomy, which did not fit with her familial designs.

Peck later introduced her to Mel Ferrer, who convinced her to join him in an upcoming Broadway production, "Ondine," Hepburn playing the mythical water nymph who falls in love with a knight. The 1954 Academy Awards were scheduled to be in New York, and Hepburn showed up at the ceremony that March after the evening's "Ondine" performance in time to win the best actress Oscar for "Roman Holiday." Not long after she won the equivalent Tony Award for "Ondine," and after the play closed that summer, she and Ferrer wed. She soon found herself pregnant, but would suffer the first of a number of miscarriages. She and Ferrer nevertheless went forward with King Vidor's "War and Peace" (1956), a plodding cinematic version of the Tolstoy classic, which nevertheless paid her $350,000 - more than any actress had made per movie to date. She turned down a musical adaptation of "Gigi" (1957) to do another May-October romantic musical, "Funny Face" (1957), putting her song-and-dance skills on parade with no less than Fred Astaire in the Paris-set romance. She remained in France to shoot her next film, "Love in the Afternoon" (1957), another comedy, another Electra complex, this time opposite 56-year-old Gary Cooper. She turned down the lead role of the movie adaptation of "The Diary of Anne Frank" (1959), having been traumatized when she read the book - so close as it was to her own war experience - but she would nevertheless push her work outside her de rigueur contemporary-princess scenarios.

First Ferrer directed her in "Green Mansions" (1959), an offbeat film with Anthony Perkins as a young man fleeing civilization to the Amazon jungle, where he discovers a young woman (Hepburn) living in mystical harmony with nature. "A Nun's Story" (1959) followed her through the pathos and doubts of becoming a nun in Belgium to a mission in Africa. It was deemed "her most demanding film role," according to Variety, and her "finest performance," earning her another Oscar nomination. She did a Western with John Huston, "The Unforgiven" (1960), in which she played a Native American raised by Caucasian settlers, whose racism and that of their neighbors are exposed when they all learn her origins. With child again, she was injured when she fell off a horse during the production and spent six weeks laid up before the film could be completed. She suffered a miscarriage a few months later. Not long after the film's premiere, Hepburn became pregnant again and sequestered herself in her and Ferrer's Lucerne, Switzerland, home until she gave birth to a son, Sean, in early 1960. She would reunite with Wyler for "The Children's Hour" (1961), one of the first films to revolve around an alleged lesbian relationship, though with more frank discussions cut from the final print.

That same year began her signature Hepburn stride with "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961), "Paris When It Sizzles" (1963), "Charade" (1963) and "My Fair Lady" (1964). Author Truman Capote famously disagreed with her casting as Holly Golightly in "Tiffany's," having written the role with Marilyn Monroe in mind, but Hepburn would make the amoral, narcissistic latter-day courtesan her own, infectiously fun yet lonely and insecure amid all her garish trappings. Her performance won her another Oscar nomination. She next returned to Paris for successive comedic older-man couplings, first reteaming with Holden and playing a youthful spark who reignited the talents of his drunken screenwriter in "Paris," and creating a dazzling cosmopolitan combo with Cary Grant in "Charade." Off-screen, Holden fared worse than his character, pining openly for Hepburn, hitting the bottle to cope with it - one story has him climbing up a tree to get to her room and falling onto a car below - and at one point smashing up his car, delaying production and the release of the movie. "Charade," a sly, Hitchcockian outing by director Stanley Donen, set her as a young, discontented society wife whose husband is murdered, leaving her stunned to inherit his cryptic role in a twisting web of international intrigue, guided or perhaps manipulated by the ever-suave Grant. Her relationship with Ferrer was on the rocks as well, as he was rumored to be canoodling with ladies in Madrid while making a film there. Spurred by her mention of divorce in a letter, Ferrer joined her in Paris to patch things up (and make a cameo in "Charade").

The reconciled couple bought a Swiss villa called La Paisible outside Lausanne, in the village of Tolochenaz-sur-Morges, and he helped her deal with an issue that had long weighed on her: the fate of her father. Ferrer worked through the Red Cross to track down Hepburn-Ruston in Ireland and set up a meeting in a Dublin hotel. Though it proved awkward and her father was aloof to her affections, she would send him money every month until he died. Also that year, Warner Bros. came calling with "My Fair Lady," a musical remake of "Pygmalion." The Broadway play's lead Julie Andrews had balked at auditioning for the film role, so the studio now offered Hepburn $1 million to assume it. She trained with a singing coach for her turn as a scrappy flower-girl who becomes a "lady." Early on director George Cukor told her that her songs would be overdubbed by voiceover artist Marni Nixon, prompting Hepburn to storm off the set, only to return the next day apologetic. The movie hit big that October, and racked up 12 Oscar nominations a few months later, sans one for Hepburn. Andrews won the award that year for her turn in "Mary Poppins" (1964). Hepburn made another comedy caper for Wyler, this time flirting with Peter O'Toole in "How to Steal a Million" (1966), but that year she would also suffer another miscarriage. Depressed and with her marriage still in the rough, she threw herself into another outing for Donen, "Two for the Road" (1967), opposite up-and-comer Albert Finney, with whom she began an affair. Gossip followed the relationship and, worried about custody of her son, she ended it and attempted again to reconcile with Ferrer. He produced her last film, the taut, claustrophobic thriller "Wait Until Dark" (1967), which featured her as a blind woman given a doll used to smuggle heroin in, who is then stalked by criminals seeking to steal it back. It would earn her a last Oscar nomination.After another miscarriage, she and Ferrer divorced in 1968 and she effectively retired from show business to raise Sean. Just a year later, she married Dr. Andrea Dotti, a psychiatrist and playboy who was hoping to change his ways, but not long into the marriage it become obvious he could not. Still, she bore Dotti a son, Luca, and abided his philandering until the end of the decade. Hepburn came out of retirement in 1976 for the revisionist Robin Hood film "Robin and Marian" opposite Sean Connery, looking in on the fabled characters in their later years. She incomprehensibly agreed to a 1979 all-star thriller, "Bloodline," which was reviled by critics and moviegoers alike, though, with both their marriages crumbling, she and co-star Ben Gazzara fell into a brief relationship. They reunited with a less ambitious project, 1981's "They All Laughed," a light comedy directed by Peter Bogdanovich. She bowed out of films again, taking up with a new companion, the Dutch actor Robert Wolders, and, in 1987, assuming a goodwill ambassador role for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), becoming the face of its fundraising efforts and traveling the world over to bring attention to poverty-wracked communities. She did a final role for director Steven Spielberg in his 1989 release "Always," a brief appearance as an angel helping a dying hero pass over to his afterlife. To the shock of fans around the world, she died of colon cancer at her Swiss home in 1993.

by Matthew Grimm

Filmography

 

Cast (Feature Film)

The Fred Astaire Songbook (1991)
Always (1989)
Gregory Peck: His Own Man (1988)
Love Among Thieves (1987)
Caroline Dulac
They All Laughed (1981)
Bloodline (1979)
Robin And Marian (1976)
Two for the Road (1967)
Joanna Wallace
Wait Until Dark (1967)
Susy Hendrix
How to Steal a Million (1966)
Nicole Bonnet
Paris When It Sizzles (1964)
Gabrielle Simpson
My Fair Lady (1964)
Eliza Doolittle
Charade (1963)
Reggie Lambert
The Children's Hour (1961)
Karen Wright
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
Holly Golightly
The Unforgiven (1960)
Rachel Zachary
The Nun's Story (1959)
Gabrielle "Gaby" Van der Mal, also known as Sister Luke
Green Mansions (1959)
Rima
Funny Face (1957)
Jo Stockton
Love in the Afternoon (1957)
Ariane Chavasse
War and Peace (1956)
Natasha Rostova
Sabrina (1954)
Sabrina Fairchild
Roman Holiday (1953)
Princess Anne, also known as Anya "Smitty" Smith
We Go to Monte Carlo (1953)
The Secret People (1952)
The Lavender Hill Mob (1952)
Chiquita
One Wild Oat (1951)
Baby Beats the Band (1951)
Young Wives' Tale (1951)
Eve Lester
Laughter in Paradise (1951)
Cigarette Girl

Cast (Special)

The 64th Annual Academy Awards Presentation (1992)
Presenter
Danny Kaye's International Children's Awards For UNICEF (1992)
Host
The Concert For Peace From Oslo (1991)
A Chance to Live! (1991)
Gardens of the World With Audrey Hepburn (1991)
The 45th Annual Tony Awards (1991)
Performer
The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (1991)
Performer
Earth '90: Children and the Environment (1990)
Ooh-La-La -- It's Bob Hope's Fun Birthday Spectacular From Paris' Bicentennial (1989)
47th Annual Golden Globes (1989)
Performer
The American Film Institute Salute to Gregory Peck (1989)
Host
The 60th Annual Academy Awards Presentation (1988)
Performer
Lerner & Loewe: Broadway's Last Romantics (1988)
Directed By William Wyler (1986)
Herself
The 58th Annual Academy Awards Presentation (1986)
Presenter
The American Film Institute Salute to Billy Wilder (1986)
Performer
The American Film Institute Salute to Fred Astaire (1981)
Performer

Misc. Crew (Special)

Directed By William Wyler (1986)
Other

Life Events

1940

Trapped in the Netherlands when Nazis invaded

1948

First film appearance as a stewardess in semi-travelogue, "Nederland in Lessen/Dutch at the Double" (as Edda Hepburn)

1948

Moved to London on ballet scholarship to study with Marie Rambert; changed name to Audrey Hepburn

1949

London stage debut in chorus of "High Button Shoes"

1951

Broadway debut in title role of "Gigi"

1951

First British film, "One Wild Oat" (as extra)

1952

Made US TV debut in a guest spot on the "CBS Television Workshop" before she became a major star in this country

1953

First starring film role in "Roman Holiday"; becomes international star

1954

Returned to Broadway to star in "Ondine"

1957

TV debut in "Mayerling" (Producers Showcase) opposite then-husband Mel Ferrer

1957

Played leading role in film musical "Funny Face" opposite Fred Astaire

1964

Played Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady", one of the biggest boxoffice hits of her film career, the adaptation of Lerner and Loewe's Broadway musical hit revamp of George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion"

1964

Moved to Switzerland

1967

Last film for nine years, "Wait Until Dark"

1970

Made a guest star appearance on the CBS Christmastime special saluting children worldwide, "A World of Love", hosted by Shirley MacLaine and Bill Cosby

1976

Resumed acting after nine-year absence in "Robin and Marian"

1987

US TV-movie debut, "Love Among Thieves", also starred Robert Wagner and Jerry Orbach; first US TV acting work in 30 years since adaptation of "Mayerling"

1988

Named official spokesperson for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

1989

Final film role as Hap, an angel, in Steven Spielberg's "Always"

1991

Honored with a Gala Tribute by the Film Society of Lincoln Center

1992

Underwent surgery for colon cancer in Los Angeles

1993

Was the subject of a special commemorative issue of PEOPLE

1993

Album entitled "Music from the Films of Audrey Hepburn" released

Photo Collections

Sabrina - Movie Posters
Here are a few original-release movie posters from Billy Wilder's Sabrina (1954), starring Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, and William Holden.
The Nun's Story - Audrey Hepburn Publicity Stills
The Nun's Story - Audrey Hepburn Publicity Stills
Roman Holiday - Movie Posters
Here are a few original release American movie posters for William Wyler's Roman Holiday (1953), starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck.
Robin and Marian - Movie Posters
Robin and Marian - Movie Posters
Green Mansions - Scene Stills
Here are some scene stills from MGM's Green Mansions (1959), starring Audrey Hepburn and Anthony Perkins.
Green Mansions - Movie Poster
Here is the American one-sheet movie poster for Green Mansions (1959). One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.
Love in the Afternoon - Lobby Card
Here is a lobby card from Billy Wilder's Love in the Afternoon (1957), starring Audrey Hepburn and Gary Cooper. Lobby Cards were 11" x 14" posters that came in sets of 8. As the name implies, they were most often displayed in movie theater lobbies, to advertise current or coming attractions.
My Fair Lady - Movie Poster
Here is the American one-sheet movie poster for My Fair Lady (1964), starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison. One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters. This iconic artwork is by noted illustrator Bob Peak.
Breakfast at Tiffany's - Movie Poster
Here is the American One-Sheet Movie Poster from Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), starring Audrey Hepburn. One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters. This particular poster is one of the most iconic images of the early 1960s and is highly prized by collectors.
The Children's Hour - Movie Poster
Here is the American one-sheet movie poster for The Children's Hour (1962), directed by William Wyler. One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.
Funny Face - Movie Poster
Here is the American One-Sheet Movie Poster for Funny Face (1957). One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.

Videos

Movie Clip

Roman Holiday (1953) -- (Movie Clip) Care To Make A Statement? The ending of the escape from official guest quarters by visiting Princess Anne (Audrey Hepburn), only beginning to feel the effect of a sleep medication, and the introduction of reporter Joe (Gregory Peck) and buds, especially cameraman Irving (Eddie Albert), in William Wyler's Roman Holiday. 1953.
Roman Holiday (1953) -- (Movie Clip) Open, No Sign Of The Strain Following credits confirming the all-location shooting in Rome, Audrey Hepburn in her de-facto debut, the princess of a pointedly not-named country, beginning her Academy Award-winning performance, opening William Wyler's Roman Holiday, 1953, co-starring Gregory Peck.
Roman Holiday (1953) -- (Movie Clip) Did You Bring Me Here By Force? American reporter Joe (Gregory Peck) awakens Princess Anne (Audrey Hepburn), whose minders consider missing, but whom he in fact rescued, roaming the city while on sleep medication, not revealing that he knows who she is, in Roman Holiday, 1953.
Funny Face (1957) -- (Movie Clip) I Rather Feel Like Expressing Myself (Basal Metabolism) Continuing their philosophical dispute, now in a Paris cafe, Fred Astaire as fashion photographer Dick and Audrey Hepburn as bookish recruited model Jo introduce her solo dance, with contributions from Astaire, director Stanley Donen and choreographer Eugene Loring, in Funny Face, 1957.
Funny Face (1957) -- (Movie Clip) Let's Kiss And Make Up After a minor dispute, in Paris, between Fred Astaire as photographer Dick and Audrey Hepburn as reluctant model Jo, director Stanley Donen finishes the song by George & Ira Gershwin and Fred solos, in Paramount’s Funny Face, 1957.
Funny Face (1957) -- (Movie Clip) You're Anna Karenina Photographer Dick (Fred Astaire) has finally got his model (Audrey Hepburn as literature-oriented Jo) to Paris and begins coaching her, director Stanley Donen shooting on location at Gare du Nord, Opera Garnier, the Seine and Latona Fountain, Versailles, in Funny Face, 1957.
Laughter In Paradise (1951) -- (Movie Clip) I'm Not On Hello Terms All of Audrey Hepburn's bit, as a cigarette girl, in a complex comedy in which Guy Middleton as "Simon Russell" is running a con, which his brother Alastair Sim knows about but his mark "Lucille" (Beatrice Campbell) doesn't, in director Mario Zampi's 1951 hit Laughter In Paradise.
Children's Hour, The (1961) -- (Movie Clip) I Killed All The Patients Doctor Joe (James Garner) has been tangling with Martha (Shirley MacLaine). the partner of his fiancee` Karen (Audrey Hepburn) in a boarding school, and is tired of delaying the wedding, early in The Children's Hour, 1963, directed by William Wyler from Lillian Hellman's play.
Children's Hour, The (1961) -- (Movie Clip) I Only Want the Best... Much foreshadowing as Karen (Audrey Hepburn) delivers exciting news to teaching-partner Martha (Shirley MacLaine), unaware of the diabolical Mary (Karen Balkin) eavesdropping in The Children's Hour, 1961, from Lillian Hellman's play.
Two For The Road (1967) -- (Movie Clip) How Can You Be So Callous? Joanna (Audrey Hepburn) has narrated a leap back to the European trip when she and Mark (Albert Finney) first met, her traveling with a singing troupe fronted by dazzling Jackie (Jacqueline Bisset), him a footloose young architect, in Stanley Donen’s Two For The Road, 1967.
Two For The Road (1967) -- (Movie Clip) Quite Happy In The MG Having leapt back in time maybe seven years, to an earlier trip from England to France, in the old MG they remember, Mark amd Joanna (Albert Finney, Audrey Hepburn) relatively friendly, except for a jump back to the current trip in the Mercedes, in Stanley Donen’s Two For The Road, 1967.
My Fair Lady (1964) -- (Movie Clip) Wouldn't It Be Loverly? Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle performs Wouldn't It Be Loverly? (vocal by Marni Nixon) early in the Best Picture-winning Lerner and Loewe musical, directed by George Cukor, My Fair Lady, 1964.

Trailer

Wait Until Dark - (Original Trailer) A blind woman (Audrey Hepburn) fights against drug smugglers who've invaded her home in Wait Until Dark (1967).
Unforgiven, The - (Original Trailer) Audrey Hepburn and Burt Lancaster star in John Huston's western The Unforgiven (1960) about a rancher's adopted daughter torn between two worlds.
Breakfast at Tiffany's - (Original Trailer) Audrey Hepburn is Truman Capote's Holly Golightly, the New York sophisticate who spends Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961).
Roman Holiday - (Original Trailer) A runaway princess (Audrey Hepburn) in Rome finds love with a reporter (Gregory Peck) who knows her true identity in Roman Holiday (1953).
Robin And Marian - (Original Trailer) Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn play a middle-aged Robin Hood and Maid Marian called back to action and romance.
War And Peace (1956) - (Original Trailer) Audrey Hepburn and Henry Fonda star in King Vidor's massive adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's classic War And Peace (1956).
How To Steal a Million - (Original Trailer) Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole learn How to Steal a Million (1966) in William Wyler's heist comedy.
Green Mansions - (Original Trailer) Audrey Hepburn is Rima, the Bird Woman of the Amazon rain forest in the romantic adventure Green Mansions (1959) co-starring Anthony Perkins.
Nun's Story, The - (Original Trailer) A headstrong girl (Audrey Hepburn) fights the strictures of the Catholic Church in Europe and the Belgian Congo in The Nun's Story (1959), directed by Fred Zinnemann and nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture.
Love In The Afternoon - (Original Trailer) An aging American tycoon (Gary Cooper) courts a young Parisian (Audrey Hepburn) in Billy Wilder's Love In The Afternoon, 1957, also starring Maurice Chevalier.
Sabrina (1954) - (Original Trailer) When a wealthy playboy falls in love with his chauffeur's daughter (Audrey Hepburn) his staid older brother pretends to pursue her himself in Sabrina (1954).
Charade - (Original Trailer) Audrey Hepburn's husband is murdered and now the killers are after her. Is Cary Grant on her side or is it all a Charade (1963).

Promo

Family

Joseph Anthony Hepburn-Ruston
Father
Banker. English.
Ella Hepburn-Ruston
Mother
Dutch baroness.
Sean Ferrer
Son
Actor, producer. Born 1960; father Mel Ferrer.
Luca Dotti
Son
Art student. Born 1970; father Andrea Dotti.

Companions

Mel Ferrer
Husband
Actor. Married 1954, divorced 1968.
Andrea Dotti
Husband
Psychiatrist. Married 1969, divorced; Italian.
Robert Wolders
Companion
Former actor. Dutch; previously married to Merle Oberon.

Bibliography

"Audrey Hepburn"
Barry Paris, G.P. Putnam's Sons (1996)

Notes

Received Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992

Hepburn was one of only eight individuals (Rita Moreno, Mel Brooks, Helen Hayes, John Gielgud, Richard Rodgers, Marvin Hamlisch and Mike Nichols are the others) to have won all four of the major entertainment awards (Oscar, Tony, Grammy and Emmy) in competition.

"I myself was born with an enormous need for affection and a terrible need to give it. That's what I'd like to think maybe has been the appeal. People have recognized something in me they have themselves--the need to receive affection and the need to give it." --Audrey Hepburn, from The New York Times, April 22, 1991.

"It was no accident that Miss Hepburn so often played Cinderella. That fairy tale suited her own life, as a child of Belgian, Dutch and English heritage (hence the distinctive, unidentifiable accent) who emerged from the Nazi-coccupied Netherlands to become a dancer, model and bit player. The writer Colette was the fairy godmother who saw in this radiant ingenue the makings of her own heroine, Gigi, and insisted Miss Hepburn play the role on stage. For the first of many times, she was transformed ever so appropriately from duckling to swan." --Janet Maslin in The New York Times, April 21, 1991.