Born:
May 04, 1929
in
Brussels, Belgium
Best Known For:
Being a Hollywood actress and a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
Early-life:
Born Audrey Kathleen Ruston on May 4, 1929 in Brussels, Belgium to a British father, Joseph, and an Austrian mother, Anna. Audrey spent her childhood between Belgium, England and the Netherlands. She moved to London in 1948 to study ballet and perform as a chorus girl in West End musicals. In the early 1950s, she had small parts in a number of British films, including The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), and played the lead role in the original 1951 Broadway production of Gigi. Audrey's first starring role in a Hollyood film was opposite Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday (1953), for which she won an Academy Award. The same year, she won a Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Play for Ondine.
Career:
Hepburn went on to star in a number of successful films, including Funny Face (1957), Love in the Afternoon (1957), The Children's Hour (1961), Charade (1963) and My Fair Lady (1964). She picked up Academy Award nominations for her roles in Sabrina (1954), The Nun's Story (1959), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) and Wait Until Dark (1967). Hepburn acted only occasionally after 1967 after deciding to devote more time to her family. Her last film role was a cameo appearance in Steven Spielberg's Always (1988). In 1989, she was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and spent the reminder of her life helping children in poor nations. In November 1992, Hepburn was diagnosed with a rare form of abdominal cancer. She died at her home in Switzerland on January 20, 1993. She was 63. She was posthumously awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 1993 Academy Awards.
Quote:
"The most important thing is to enjoy your life - to be happy - it's all that matters."
Trivia:
Hepburn was fluent in English, French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish and German. She was very self-conscious about her size-10 feet.