Audrey Hepburn Biography

Actress, philanthropist. Born on May 4, 1929, in Brussels, Belgium. A talented performer, Audrey Hepburn was known for her beauty, elegance, and grace. Often imitated, she remains one of Hollywood's greatest style icons. A native of Brussels, Hepburn spent part of her youth in England at a boarding school there. During much of World War II, she studied at the Arnhem Conservatory in The Netherlands. After the Nazis invaded the country, Hepburn and her mother struggled to survive. Audrey Hepburn reportedly helped the resistance movement by delivering messages, according to an article in The New York Times.

After the war, Hepburn continued to pursue an interest in dance. Audrey Hepburn studied ballet in Amsterdam and later in London. In 1948, Hepburn made her stage debut as a chorus girl in the musical High Button Shoes in London. More small parts on the British stage followed. Audrey Hepburn was a chorus girl in Sauce Tartare (1949), but was moved to a featured player in Sauce Piquante (1950).

That same year, Hepburn made her feature film debut in 1951's One Wild Oat in an uncredited role. Audrey Hepburn went on to parts in such films as Young Wives' Tales (1951) and The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) starring Alec Guiness. Audrey Hepburn next project on the New York stage introduced her to American audiences.

At the age of 22, Audrey Hepburn went to New York to star in the Broadway production of Gigi, based on the book by the French writer Colette. Set in Paris around 1900, the comedy focuses on the title character, a young teenage girl on the brink of adulthood. Audrey Hepburn relatives try to teach her ways of being a courtesan, to enjoy the benefits of being with a wealthy man without having to marry. They try to get a friend of the family, Gaston, to become her patron, but the young couple has other ideas.