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Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn

Birthday: 1929-05-04 | Place of Birth: Ixelles, Belgium

Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century. Redefining glamour with "elfin" features and a waif-like figure that inspired designs by Hubert de Givenchy, she was inducted in the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame, and ranked by the American Film Institute as the third greatest female screen legend in the history of American cinema. Born in Ixelles, Belgium, Hepburn spent her childhood chiefly in the Netherlands, including German-occupied Arnhem during the Second World War. In Arnhem, she studied ballet before moving to London in 1948 where she continued to train in ballet while working as a photographer's model. Upon deciding to pursue a career in acting, she performed as a chorus girl in various West End musical theatre productions. After appearing in several British films and starring in the 1951 Broadway play Gigi, Hepburn gained instant Hollywood stardom for playing the Academy Award-winning lead female role in Roman Holiday (1953). Later performing in Sabrina (1954), The Nun's Story (1959), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Charade (1963), My Fair Lady (1964) and Wait Until Dark (1967), Hepburn became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age who received nominations for Academy Awards, Golden Globes and BAFTAs as well as winning a Tony Award for her theatrical performance in the 1954 Broadway play Ondine. Hepburn remains one of few entertainers who have won Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards. Devoting much of her later life to UNICEF, Hepburn's war-time struggles inspired her passion for humanitarian work and, although Hepburn had contributed to the organisation since the 1950s, she worked in some of the most profoundly disadvantaged communities of Africa, South America and Asia in the late eighties and early nineties. In 1992, Hepburn was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. At the age of 63, Hepburn died of appendiceal cancer at her home in Switzerland.

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

2014
Darcey Bussell's Looking for Audrey

as    Self / Various (archive footage)

2011
Bert Stern: Original Madman

as    Self (archive footage)

1989
Always

as    Hap

1981
They All Laughed

as    Angela Niotes

1979
Bloodline

as    Elizabeth Roffe

1978
Fear and Loathing on the Road to Hollywood

as    Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

1976
Robin and Marian

as    Lady Marian

1967
Two for the Road

as    Joanna Wallace

1967
Wait Until Dark

as    Susy Hendrix

1966
How to Steal a Million

as    Nicole Bonnet

1964
My Fair Lady

as    Eliza Doolittle

1964
Paris When It Sizzles

as    Gabrielle Simpson / Baby

1963
Charade

as    Regina Lampert

1961
Breakfast at Tiffany's

as    Holly Golightly

1961
The Children's Hour

as    Karen Wright

1960
The Unforgiven

as    Rachel Zachary

1959
Green Mansions

as    Rima

1959
The Nun's Story

as    Sister Luke

1957
Love in the Afternoon

as    Ariane Chavasse / Thin Girl

1957
Funny Face

as    Jo Stockton

1956
War and Peace

as    Natasha Rostova

1954
Sabrina

as    Sabrina Fairchild

1953
Roman Holiday

as    Princess Ann

1952
Secret People

as    Nora Brentano

1951
Young Wives' Tale

as    Eve Lester

1951
One Wild Oat

as    Hotel Receptionist

1951
Monte Carlo Baby

as    Melissa Walter

1948
Dutch in Seven Lessons

as    Stewardess / Girl with lute