Audrey Hepburn was born on May 4, 1929, to the Baroness Ella Van Heemstra and Joseph Hepburn-Ruston. Her given name was Edda Van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston, but her mother called her Audrey instead. Her parents divorced when she was a child. She grew up during the time of World War II. Her mother, to protect Audrey, decided to leave their native country of Austria and flee to Holland. The Nazis came to Holland, where Audrey and her mother's possessions were seized. Audrey and her mother, resistors of the Nazis, secretly raised funds for the anti-Nazi causes. During this time, hunger became a daily part of Audrey's life. It led to a life long battle with anorexia.
Audrey did have a source of escape from the Nazis and her own hunger. Her passion for dance fueled her, when everything else, including her strained relationship with her mother, seemed to mount against her. Over time, it became evident that the 5'9" young woman was too tall for dance, and, though dedicated to ballet, was not trained enough to be a professional dancer. Dreams crushed, Audrey sought out another alternative to her desire to perform. Her next option was acting.
After the war, the future seemed to get brighter. Audrey appeared in a few small theater roles, like Sauce Tartare and Sauce Piquante (performed in London). She landed small film roles as well, in movies like Young Wives' Tales, The Secret People, and The Lavender Hill Mob. These roles caught the eye of French female playwright Colette, who desired a tomboyish young woman to play the lead role in Gigi. Colette took one look at Audrey, and she knew she had her Gigi. Audrey wowed theatre critics in the play. Her fresh and vibrant presence gave the Broadway play a wonderfully appropriate spin. Audrey's star was beginning to rise.
During the time Audrey performed in Gigi, she was engaged to James Hanson, an heir to a Yorkshire truck-building company. After Gigi, Audrey immediately began to work on the film Roman Holiday. In it, she costarred with Gregory Peck and Ed Albert. She portrayed a princess, who falls in love with an American journalist, who is bent on using her for a cover story, until he falls in love with her. (I won't reveal the ending, but believe me, you'll love it.) While filming Roman Holiday, she ended her engagement to Hanson. But, despite the hurt of a broken heart, Audrey kept working, and soon appeared in Sabrina.
In Sabrina, Audrey is the daughter of a chauffeur of a Rockefeller-esque family, the Larabees. She loves the family's playboy son, David, though he doesn't know it. She goes to France, a young lady, to learn to be a chef, and surprises everyone when she comes back a sophisticated woman. David immediately falls for her, despite the fact that he is already engaged to be married. His conservative brother, Linus, in an attempt to prevent David from breaking the engagement, diverts Sabrina's attention away from David. |
