Audrey Hepburn Academy Award winning actress and fashion icon Audrey Kathleen Ruston, known to the world as Audrey Hepburn, was born May 4, 1929, in Brussels. Hepburn’s parents were Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston and Ella van Heemstra van Ufford Ruston, a Baroness. Her father, believed to be a Nazi sympathizer, left the family in 1935 when her parents divorced. By 1939, her mother relocated the family to Arnhem, where she believed they would be safe from the Nazi threat. Educated at the Arnhem Conservatory, Hepburn originally trained as a ballerina. When the Nazi regime invaded their town, Hepburn was forced to assume the less English sounding name Edda Van Heemstra, although this was never legally her name. Devoted to the anti-Nazi movement, Hepburn would secretly perform for sympathetic audiences and raise money for the Resistance. As the political situation worsened, so too did Hepburn’s. She even witnessed the execution of her uncle and cousin, while her half-brother was sent to a German labor camp. Hepburn herself suffered malnutrition and consequent anemia, edema, and respiratory difficulties.
Eventually the country was liberated, and the gratitude led Hepburn to become heavily involved with UNICEF in the years to follow. After the war, Hepburn moved to Amsterdam with her mother where they worked as nurses. She continued to pursue dancing but was told her height, five feet seven inches, would bar her from becoming a prima ballerina. At that moment, Hepburn decided to pursue acting instead. Starting out in musical theater, Hepburn eventually broke into film with minor roles such as in The Lavender Hill Mob in 1951, with Alec Guinness. She also won the lead in the Broadway production of Gigi. For her performance, she won a Theatre World Award. Just two short years later, Hepburn appeared in Roman Holiday opposite Gregory Peck. The role was initially slotted for Elizabeth Taylor, but the director was so charmed and impressed by Hepburn, he decided he simply had to give her the role. As predicted by her costar Peck, she walked away with the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role. After this film, it seemed everything she touched was gold. She starred in Sabrina beside Humphrey Bogart, War and Peace beside Henry Fonda, and Funny Face with Fred Astaire.
But it was her role as iconic Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s that most people will always equate with Hepburn. She will also forever be immortalized for her work in the 1964 film My Fair Lady. Later in her career she had a memorable turn as Marian in Robin and Marian (1976). She co-starred with Sean Connery and Richard Harris. Hepburn’s last film was Always. Directed by Steven Spielberg in 1989, Hepburn died just four years later. The film also starred Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter, and John Goodman. Hepburn married twice. Her first marriage was to fellow actor Mel Ferrer, her War and Peace costar, from 1954 to 1968. They had one child together. After their divorce, Hepburn married Andrea Dotti from January 1969 until 1982. They also had one child together, but the marriage ultimately dissolved in divorce. Hepburn died January 20, 1993, in Tolochenaz, from colon cancer. She left behind a legacy of films, philanthropy, and charm. YUDDY | 
