By Amandine M.
Audrey Hepburn was born an average girl— not rich, not
popular, not being fawned over by servants and paparazzi. She didn’t consider
herself particularly special, nor did she even predict what her future would
turn out to be. And yet, this movie legend’s name and legacy will be remembered
for many years to come.
Audrey Kathleen Ruston was born on May 4, 1929, to Ella and
Joseph Ruston. Audrey was the couple’s first and only child together, although
Ella had given birth to two sons while married to her former husband. Audrey
lived with her family in Belgium until she was sent to a boarding school in
England. She was only five years old and
almost completely separated from her family for the very first time. Her mother
signed her up for dance classes, which Audrey was very active in until 1939. At
that time, England had just declared war on Germany.
Audrey returned overseas, this time to Holland, which at
that time was still neutral in the war. But on the tenth of May in 1940, only
six days after her eleventh birthday, Holland was invaded by Germany, and one
of Audrey’s brothers was captured. The family did not see him again for a very
long time. Audrey gave ballet classes in her grandfather’s house and performed
whenever possible, but by 1944 as the importing of food into the country
stopped, she was too weak to dance.
Times were better the next year. On her sixteenth birthday,
her two brothers returned, both alive and well. Eventually, Ella and Audrey went
to Amsterdam to study with a recommended teacher until the studio closed in
1948. They then went to London, Audrey having received a partial scholarship to
study with one of the world’s greatest teachers at that time.
Unfortunately, Audrey was unable to fulfill her dreams of
dancing, as she was told that she was too physically deprived from the war. She
instead went into acting, receiving numerous small parts in movies. She then
was cast in the film “Monte Carlo Baby,” which was shot in English and French.
She was lucky enough to have crossed paths with Colette, a writer who was
looking for an actress to star in her Broadway show. Colette found Audrey, and the gears began
turning.
When the show opened, fantastic reviews poured in,
complimenting Audrey’s performance. She starred in her first Hollywood movie
soon after and won an Oscar for Best Actress. She was offered job after job,
and while she won many awards, her most famous project was “Breakfast at
Tiffany’s.”
With Audrey in the starring role and directed by Blake
Edwards, the movie was a smash hit, earning 2 Academy Awards and 2 Golden Globe
Awards, among others. It was released on November 4, 1961, and was Audrey’s
most famous project. Although she starred in other movies after this, it was
and is what she is most well-known for.
While Audrey Hepburn is gone now, her legacy will live on
forever as people around the country celebrate what would have been her 85th
birthday. Though she went through hard times during World War II, she lived on
to become an acting legend.
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