I can’t
even begin to explain how much I idolize Audrey Hepburn. She is my ultimate
icon in fashion, beauty, and personality. I may or may not own two Audrey
Hepburn calendars, a planner, and a giant poster… Okay, I do. As one of the
greatest actresses of all time she exuded class and beauty something I strive
to do myself. She was born in Brussels, Belgium, but moved all around Europe
growing up resulting in her becoming fluent in English, Dutch, French, Spanish,
and Italian.
At the age of 5, she began her ballet career and
studied ballet in London at the Ballet Rambert. She also did some modeling to
pay for her schooling, but when deciding on a career path, her height and
nutrition held her back from becoming a prima ballerina, so she pursued acting.
Before being cast in her breakout role as Princess Ann in Roman Holiday, she did theatre and received several small roles in
movies.
Her role in Roman
Holiday led to her Academy Award for Best Actress in 1953 increasing her
fame and popularity. She went on to star in the movie Sabrina and the Broadway musical
Ondine, where she won a Tony Award for Best Performance as a Leading
Actress in a Play. Other big performances of the time were in War and Peace, Funny Face, and Love in the
Afternoon. Her career soon became a balance of movies, musicals, and
fashion.
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| Oscar for Roman Holiday (Source) |
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| Princess Ann in Roman Holiday (Source) |
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| Givenchy dress from Sabrina (Source) |
In 1960, Hepburn starred in her most remembered
movie, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, as
Holly Golightly. This became her defining role by establishing her class and
sophistication in fashion with the unforgettable little black dresses in the
movie. The dress in the beginning of the movie is known to be the most iconic
dress in film history. It wasn’t long before Audrey Hepburn was a fashion icon
in the Golden Age of film. Her costuming was done in most movies by Givenchy,
her favorite designer. Givenchy is credited to forming Audrey’s elegant style,
but eventually she became the muse for many of his designs. Audrey had a
beautiful feminine style that oozed elegance and sophistication and that style
is a common goal for women today. She was awarded and recognized for her style
in the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1961.
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| The famous "little black dress" (Source) |
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| Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's (Source) |
She went on to play Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady in the stage musical.
Although she was not nominated for an Academy Award, her performance had rave
reviews. After her final projects, she decided to devote more of her time to
her family, specifically her two sons from two separate marriages, and acted less. Her first husband,
Mel Ferrer, died of heart failure which led to Hepburn’s remarriage to Andrea
Dotti.
Out of the many reasons I love Audrey Hepburn, her
inspiring humanitarian work proves to be the biggest. She worked with UNICEF
and was appointed Goodwill Ambassador. George H. W. Bush presented her with the
Presidential Medal of Freedom and she was awarded the Jean Hersholt
Humanitarian Award after she died from appendicular cancer in 1993. Now there
is even a U.S. Fund for UNICEF in her honor “The Audrey Hepburn Children’s
Fund.” She has left quite a legacy since her death being named the third
greatest female star of all time by the American Film Institute. She is one of
the few actresses who has won Emmy, Grammy, Tony, and Academy Awards. Through
her career and life Audrey carried herself with dignity, elegance, and grace,
and for that she will always be remembered. As she said herself, “elegance is the
only beauty that never fades.”
- Allison
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