Resurrection of Audrey Hepburn

Article by Emma Johnston

Note: The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of RetoxMagazine.com

Audrey Hepburn Resurrected

Recently, Audrey Hepburn has been brought back to life…to sell chocolate.

The CGI technology makes the Galaxy advert footage seem new, while the Audrey Hepburn scenes are actually plucked from the film Roman Holiday (1953), directed by William Wyler. As a result, the Audrey-theme has influenced a lot of opportunists who rushed to produce Audrey-themed artwork, events, new memorabilia and anything else. Audrey is now the current trend on the block. Audrey related events like the photography exhibition in London by a photographer who seems to have brushed shoulders with Audrey Hepburn for just an hour, at some point in 1964, is just one of such examples.

But how much do we really know about Audrey? Here is a little bit more about her...

Audrey Hepburn was born on the 4th May 1929 in Belgium. Through her childhood she moved between there, England and the Netherlands. This was because her parents were members of the British Union of Fascists. In an even more surprising twist to her childhood, her father ultimately became a major Nazi sympathiser during the Second World War. The parents separated by the time the war broke out, when her father was caught in bed with the family nanny. After thus, Audrey and her mother relocated to Kent. As the Second World War erupted, Audrey and her family moved back to Belgium, as her mother believed Belgium would remain neutral during the war. This was not the case and she witnessed Germans removing Jewish people on many occasions.

Young Audrey

After the war ended, the family moved to Amsterdam where she began to train at an advanced level of ballet dancing. Her mother worked low paid, dead end jobs in order to support her family. Money was still tight, so Audrey had to find work. This led her into small acting roles and modelling jobs. She was considered too tall to be a professional ballerina, so this led her into acting. She worked in the West End on stage and also signed to a British film studio. By 1951 she has appeared in several minor roles, with her first major role occurring in 1952 when she played a ballerina in The Secret People (1952). This led to a bigger role in the film Monte Carlo Baby (1952), during which she was offered her breakthrough role of Gigi on Broadway. The play was performed over 200 times and Audrey received a Theatre World Award. She also reappeared in the play several times when it toured America.

Slightly Older Audrey

Her next notable film was Roman Holiday alongside rumoured fling Gregory Peck, she won a Best Actress Academy Award for this role. Further accolade came for Audrey when she also won a Tony for her leading role in the play Odine. She also eventually married the play's lead actor Mel Ferrer in 1954. By this point Audrey was a world wide star. Not only was she recognised for her acting but also her fashion choices. As is the case today, she was seen as the number one example for classy and stylish outfits. She starred in many box office hits over the next few years such as War and Peace (1956), Funny Face (1957) and Green Mansions (1959).

Adult Audrey

In 1961 Audrey Hepburn had given birth to her son after two miscarriages, and was cast in Breakfast At Tiffany's (1961), this role has since became one of her most recognisable roles ever. It is still what she is most recognised for and is a sign of modern pop culture. In the following years she starred alongside big stars such as Cary Grant in Charade (1963) and Shirley MacLaine in The Children's Hour (1961). Following these productions she starred in the panned Paris When It Sizzles, but since then it has achieved a large cult following in modern times. Audrey starred in the famous musical My Fair Lady (1964) in 1964. Controversially she only sung 10% of her songs used in the final cut. The film won many awards but there were no nominations for Audrey Hepburn. This is considered her last major film. Over the next 10 years she starred in films such as How To Steal A Million (1966) and Wait Until Dark (1967). After 1967 Audrey decided to step away from the acting profession in order to spend more time with her family. Occasionally she would star in plays and minor roles in films.

Audrey and Mel were married for 14 years, divorcing in 1968. She met her future husband Andrea Dotti, a successful psychiatrist and aged 40 she gave birth to their son Luca in 1970. Both Audrey and Andrea had a series of affairs during their 13 year marriage, eventually divorcing in 1982 when the children were older. After this Audrey Hepburn was romantically linked to a dutch actor Robert Wolders. She met him through her ex husband and was recorded as saying, her final years with him were perfect. They never married but remained together until her death in 1993.

Later Audrey

Not only was Audrey Hepburn an award winning actress but she was also a humanitarian, she was appointed Goodwill Ambassador of UNICEF. This took her travelling all around the world looking after those less fortunate. She dedicated a large chunk of her life to the poor people of the world. She carried on her traveling up until a few months before her death in 1993.

Audrey Hepburn died in her sleep at her home in Switzerland from inoperable intestinal cancer. Fans all over the world mourned her death. Posthumously she has need named one of the greatest female stars ever as well as making it into the best-dressed list.