Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn, actress and humanitarian, was born on May 4, 1929 as Audrey van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston in Brussels, Belgium.

Her father, Joseph Hepburn-Ruston, was a banker, and her mother, Ella Van Heemstra, was a Dutch baroness. Her parents divorced when she was young.

Hepburn and her mother later suffered from malnutrition and oppression during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands during World War II. She confessed to eating tulip bulbs and tried to bake grass into bread during the hard days of World War II.

Following the war, Hepburn moved with her mother to London and began studying dance there. When she was twenty-one, she was working as a model. She got her break into show business when she was noticed by the French novelist, Collette, who cast her in her new play, Gigi.

Hepburn's career as an actress had a tremendous start when she won an Academy Award for her film debut in the movie Roman Holiday. Throughout her career she received four more Academy Award nominations for her roles in Sabrina, The Nun's Story, Breakfast At Tiffany's and Wait Until Dark.

Hepburn had an illustrious film career and became known for her grace and beauty. She married twice and had two sons.

In 1988, she became a special ambassador to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and spent the rest of her life working to improve the conditions of needy children.

She died of colon cancer at the age of 63.

Audrey Hepburn was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award posthumously for her work with UNICEF.