Audrey Hepburn By: Majeda Siddiqua

Early Life Audrey Kathleen Ruston was born in Brussels, Belgium on May 4, 1929 She was known for her beauty, elegance, and grace After Nazis invaded the country, Audrey and her mother struggled to survive After the war, Audrey continued to pursue an interest in dance She studied ballet in Amsterdam and later in London Audrey made her stage debut the same year she made her film debut (1948) Her next project on the New York Stage introduced her to American audiences

On Broadway At the age of 22, Audrey went to New York to star in the Broadway production of Gigi Only a few weeks after the play was premiered people indicated that she was being wooed by Hollywood 2 years later she took the world by surprise in the film Roman Holiday, critics were wowed by her acting She won the Academy Award for Best Actress Audrey then returned to Broadway to star in Ondine which won her a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play On the set of Ondine, she met her husband Mel Ferrer

Film Star Back on the big screen, Audrey made another worthy performance in Sabrina that won her another Academy Award Her dancing abilities came to play when she starred in the musical, Funny Face By this point in her life, critics were wowed by her stellar performance She had won many other Academy Awards In 1960 she welcomed her first child, Sean Hepburn Ferrer

Later Work For the rest of the 1960s, Audrey took a variety of roles She went through one of the most famous metamorphoses of all time In 1967, Audrey and her husband, Mel Ferrer, separated and later divorced She then went on to marry Andrea Dotti in 1969 In 1970, she welcomed her second son with Andrea named Luca Dotti Sean

Legacy In her later years, Audrey decided to devote her time to her family and work on the behalf of children In the late 1980s, she became a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) Audrey traveled around the world to try and raise awareness about children in need Making more than 50 trips, Audrey visited UNICEF projects in Asia, Africa, Central and South America Audrey died on January 20, 1993 after a battle with colon cancer Her work to help children around the world still continues today, her sons, Sean and Luca, and her companion, Robert Wolders, established the Audrey Hepburn Society

Reflection Audrey Hepburn influenced those around her with poise and elegance. She paved the way for contemporary and future actors and actresses and showed them that wealth isn’t everything. Audrey encouraged those around her and tried to make them aware about child hunger because she too knew what it was like to be hungry. She was the real definition of “beauty is nothing without brains.” Her contributions to UNICEF helped many children around the world and still continue to help them.

References https://www.biography.com/people/audrey-hepburn-9335788 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/actress-audrey-hepburn-dies https://www.unicef.org/people/people_audrey_hepburn.html