You loved her in “Roman Holiday” and “My Fair Lady”. Her long black hand gloves and black gown remains an iconic emblem of fashion till today when she stole hearts and sang Moon River in Breakfast At Tiffany’s” but did you know the real tragic life of Audrey Hepburn? She became one of Hollywood’s most iconic and popular actresses of all time but it wasn’t an easy journey to Hollywood and some facts about her life will literally shock you in believing that she went through such experiences because more often than not, we tend to think every Hollywood star was born with silver spoons in their mouths. From eating only tulips to working for the resistance, this is the harsh path of Audrey Hepburn‘s journey to Hollywood.
Hepburn’s father Joseph was a fascist sympathizer who moves to England from their home in Brussels Belgium in 1935 and never kept in touch with her or her mother who was a Baroness was named Ella Von Heemstra.
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Her parents divorced in 1938 and after a brief stint in London, her mother and she moved to Arnhem in the Netherlands.
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She changed her named to Eeda Von Heemstra as he mother felt her name sounded too British. Audrey studied ballet which was her passion while living in Holland.
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Holland was eventually occupied by the Nazis and from then on Hepburn’s life took a turn for the worse.
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Executions, families packed off to concentration camps, museums looted of artifacts and paintings, Hepburn has seen it all under Nazi occupation. Even her family wasn’t spared.
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Her Uncle Otto was executed in front of her eyes for being suspected of helping resistance groups.
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Hepburn’s home was totally seized by the Nazis including the money, valuable items and jewellery. Their bank accounts were also sealed. This left the family with nothing.
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Hepburn’s mother started involving herself with the resistance offering to raise money for them in various ways.
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She performed ballet and dances behind closed doors where people could not even clap at her performance for fear of being detected.
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School children were never suspected of being carriers of the resistance and so Audrey became a messenger girl for the resistance.
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He was daring and even smuggled the notes and code messages in her socks passing unsuspected below the nose of Nazi officers.
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Food supplies son ran out and the family survived on tulip bulbs. Audrey would become habituated to drinking a lot of water to keep her stomach full.
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Malnutrition soon led to Audrey suffering Edema, jaundice and also anemia as well as respiratory problems. This was a common feature where scores of young women and children suffered sickness during WWII.
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Although Holland was liberated, Audrey’s ordeal because of the occupation left a huge impact on her.
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Her malnutrition stunted her growth which meant her goal to be a ballerina was squashed. It was impossible to continue ballet.
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Acting was a problem initially because she never got any roles despite of several auditions “I was asked to act when I couldn’t act and dance when I couldn’t dance and do all the things I wasn’t prepared for, then I tired like mad to cope with it”
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In her first major role in Roman Holiday, she won an Oscar for best-supporting actress.
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She is only one of 12 artists to have won a Grammy, Emmy Oscar and Tony.
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Her fashion style in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s has become an iconic symbol of style and sophistication and still very much in vogue today.
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Audrey Joined UN as an ambassador where she worked with malnourished children in countries like Somalia.
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Nothing is impossible. Audrey Hepburn has shown how life can get you down but if you try hard enough nothing is impossible. In her own words “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says I’m possible”. Audrey Hepburn passed away in her sleep at the age of 63 after fighting a rare form of abdominal cancer. Gregory Peck recited her favorite poem on camera after her death. It was “Unending love” by Rabindranath Tagore.
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