Audrey Hepburn was born on May 4, 1929 in Brussels, Belgium. His father was Joseph Hepburn, an English banker, and his mother was descended from dutch aristocracy.
Audrey hepburn
The beautiful princess of Hollywood
Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993), a rare gem in the world film world, her appearance is beautiful, not vulgar, and attractive. Her figure is slender and slender, and her temperament is always so elegant and pure.
Audrey Hepburn was one of the most admired and imitated women of the 20th century, and she encouraged women to discover and emphasize their own strengths, not only changing the way women dressed, but also changing women's views on themselves. Ever since meeting French fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy during the fitting of Dragon and Phoenix, Hepburn has become Givenchy's "muse" and source of inspiration.
The process of growing up
Hepburn began studying at an aristocratic boarding school in London, England, at the age of 6, but soon suffered a family change - his parents divorced. Hepburn left England to live with his mother and returned to the Netherlands.
At the age of 10, he entered the Anheng Conservatory of Music to study ballet. Due to the outbreak of World War II, the declared neutral Netherlands was occupied by the Nazis. When the Nazis invaded Anheng, because of rumors that their mother's family had Jewish ancestry, they were regarded as enemies of the Empire, and not only were their property confiscated by the occupying forces, but Hepburn's uncle was also arrested in concentration camps, and the mother and daughter were forced to live in poverty. During the famine of the war, Hepburn often fed his stomach with tulip bulbs and "green bread" made from baked grass, and drank a lot of water to fill his stomach. Nevertheless, Hepburn kept dancing his favorite ballet, even if he was too poor to wear the most difficult wooden dancing shoes.
In 1944, at the age of 16, Audrey became a volunteer nurse. During the battle, many wounded Allied soldiers were taken to Hepburn's hospital, and one of the wounded British paratroopers recovered with the help and care of Hepburn and other nurses, the future director Terrence Young, who directed Hepburn's "Blind Girl Horror" in 1967.
After the Second World War, Hepburn and his mother moved to London, England, with the £100 saved. She works here while looking for opportunities for further education. In 1948, Hepburn entered the prestigious Mary Lambert Ballet School to study ballet. During this period, he returned to the Netherlands because he did not have money to pay tuition fees, and played a flight attendant in a Dutch film "Seven Lessons in the Netherlands", a role in running a dragon suit. After months of training, Hepburn was told she was not suitable to be a ballet dancer. In order to face the financial pressure of her family, she turned to a part-time model and participated in the song and dance troupe. In the same year, Hepburn defeated most of the recruits and became a choir member of the musical "High Heel Button Shoes".
In 1951, Hepburn made his debut in the British film Heaven's Laughter, officially becoming a film actor and playing a lesser role in some films. She then performed her dance skills in the movie "Double Sisters" and took on another film, "Monte Carlo Baby". In order to shoot the latter's French remake of "Forward, Monte Carlo", Audrey went to France to go on location, during which the performance was unexpectedly recognized by the famous French female writer Mrs. Gowlett sitting on the stage as the embodiment of the role of "Ji Ji" in her work "Gold Powder World", so she invited her to Hollywood in New York to star as the heroine of the musical "Gold Powder World", which opened the opportunity for Hepburn to develop in the United States; at the same time, she was also recommended to William Wheeler by the director of "Double Sisters" and participated in the audition for her new film "Roman Holiday". Received very good acclaim and thus got the heroine role of this movie.
In 1952, Audrey Hepburn went to the United States to officially participate in the stage play "Gold Powder World". She was so outstanding and popular that she won the World Theatre Award for Best Actress. But in order to rush to make "Roman Holiday", her performance in "Gold Powder World" was forced to end after an 8-month tour.
The road to film and television superstardom
In 1953, she starred in the film "Roman Holiday" starring with the famous Hollywood film star Gregory Pike, which quickly swept the world after screening due to the successful portrayal of the plot.
Hepburn played the charming Princess Anne in the film, showing the princess's noble and elegant atmosphere, beautiful appearance, light and slim posture, a short black hair, in the era of blonde sexy girls, suddenly attracted the attention of the audience. In particular, the innocence of the hepburn head cut made her successfully win the admiration of the majority, and the "Hepburn head" suddenly became an international popular hairstyle. For a time, Hepburn became an international celebrity, the whole world was broadcasting her newsreels, and television stations praised her in prime time.
A large number of newspapers were ecstatic to praise her beauty, vitality, charm, and elegance, and people praised her as the best actress after Garbo and Bergman. Many newspaper reviews praised Hepburn, saying: "A new garbo is born!" It is said that Ingrid Bergman was watching "Roman Holiday" in Italy when she let out a scream, and her husband Rossellini asked her: "Why are you shouting?" Bergman said: "I was deeply touched by Audrey Hepburn. ”
Hepburn not only captured the hearts of hundreds of millions of teenagers around the world, but even critics were unconsciously attracted to her. For starring in "Roman Holiday", Hepburn was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for the first time. According to the usual practice, all nominees of the award are required to attend the final award ceremony of the award. The ceremony was held on March 25, 1954, in los Angeles and New York. The National Broadcasting Corporation Television Network unites the two places into an organic whole. General Motors paid $270,000 for the right to make television during the awards ceremony.
On this day, Hepburn had just finished performing "The Mermaid" in New York, and when the curtain was over, she got into a taxi. Escorted by a policeman, he went straight to the awards ceremony site, the Century Theater. She felt physically exhausted, and with hope, hope, anxiety, and fear, everything that night seemed to her as if it were a dream, and all impressions were vague.
As Hepburn walked into the venue, the TV screen was playing the list of best actress nominations for best actress, broadcast by host Jalai Cooper, who was far away in Mexico. Hepburn found a place to sit down, and then saw Cooper open an envelope, pull out a note that had nothing to write, and make the appearance of reading out the winners, Hepburn was pounding her heart, and she clenched her nails, nervously expecting the final result. The emcee of the Century Theater stepped onto the stage and announced, "Winner: Audrey Hepburn." ”
Hepburn barely believed his ears. In the midst of cheers, she jumped up from her seat and ran to the flank of the stage, due to excessive excitement, she should have gone to the right, but she ran to the left, and the emcee quickly beckoned her to the center of the stage, and when she grabbed the prize, she almost collided with the emcee. She took the golden statue and said, "This is really a bit unbearable." After a few more official words of gratitude, she fled the stage.
Then there's the press conference. Hepburn was so dazed that he lost the golden statue. She remembered where it came from, but no one could find it. In this way, she can't hold the gold medal when she takes pictures. Someone took out another one for her to hold. Finally, her one was found in the women's restroom. Unfortunately, one day 10 years later, during a rehearsal in a foreign country, Hepburn sneaked into her home and stole the golden statue.
Audrey Hepburn's marriage
In 1954, she starred with Humphrey Bogart and William Horton in Billy Wilder's romance film Dragon and Phoenix. Due to the performance of "The Mermaid" and the excessive smoking, Hepburn went to Switzerland to recuperate on the advice of a doctor. Soon after, they accepted the marriage proposal of actor Mel Feller, who was also involved in the performance of "The Mermaid", and the two walked the red carpet on September 24.
In 1955, Audrey Hepburn was again nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, but unfortunately did not win. In the following years, her starring films such as "War and Peace", "Sweet Sister", and "Twilight Love" received good reviews, and the momentum soared. But her husband, Mel's acting, suffered setbacks and gradually turned to the background.
In the winter of 1980, Hepburn met Robert Wards, a man she would later call "soul mate" who influenced Hepburn's already crisis marriage. After Hepburn and André Dotty divorced, the two eventually became permanent life partners.
Before the premiere, Hepburn also had to fly to Hollywood as soon as possible to speak at a ceremony in which the American Film Academy recognized William Wheeler for accepting the Lifetime Honor Award. She read a poem she had written, which won a lot of applause, which surprised and delighted her. She then flew to New York for the premiere. The premiere was held at the Broadcast City Concert Hall, and when Hepburn arrived, about 6,000 people cheered her on, singing in unison: "We love you, Audrey!" ”
Hepburn was completely unprepared for this, and she was moved to tears by the enthusiasm of the people.
She then flew to Hollywood to attend the film's premiere in the West and served as the recipient at the Academy Awards ceremony. This is a special honor for movie stars. This time, she presented the award for the 48th Best Picture "Flying Over the Madhouse" that year. Hepburn has been filming for 7 years, and she is deeply touched, but her most memorable thing is that Hollywood has not forgotten her, the movie has not forgotten her, and the general audience has not forgotten her.
Glory lasts a lifetime
Although she has been in the film for many years, her acting skills are not inferior. Following Robin Hood and Marianne, she starred in Bloodline (1979), Laughter (1981) and Forever (1989). However, since the 1970s, women's liberation movements in Europe and the United States have been on the rise. Women are no longer content to be men's playthings and vassals. They go out of the family, go out into society, and work and struggle like men. In recent years, many actresses have successfully created this new woman's image, which is very popular. In contrast, Hepburn still can't jump out of the innocent, lively and kind girl image after her comeback, which can't help but give people a feeling of backwardness and nostalgia, which makes people feel lamented and regretted, which is one of the main reasons why the four films she made after returning to the film world are not very popular.
In any case, Audrey Hepburn's life was a glorious life, and the screen image she created in the Golden Age, like herself, left a good impression on people too strongly. The unique page she occupies in the history of cinema will not be erased by the years. On April 22, 1991, the Lincoln Center Film Society awarded Hepburn the Gala Honor award, which has been awarded annually since 1972 to the world's most respected artists, including Chaplin, Lawrence Oliver, Elizabeth Taylor, James Stewart and other film superstars, which is a high praise for Hepburn's film career and extraordinary acting skills.
On January 20, 1993, Hepburn completed the last steps of his life at home in Switzerland. Hepburn left more than 20 classic screen images in his lifetime, and won the love of the world with his huge personality charm. Throughout her life, she maintained a humble and gentle, elegant and noble character, and responded to the whole world with a heart of love. In his later years, Hepburn faded out of the film world as a UNICEF Ambassador, committed to philanthropy, and repeatedly went to Africa to contribute to war-torn children despite serious illness. At the turn of the century, authoritative magazines voted the most perfect actress of the 20th century, and Hepburn topped the list. Hepburn's legend transcends the shackles of time and space and moves toward eternity.
The famous director Billy Wilder said: "There has not been such a character since Garbo: the director can't help but take close-ups of her again and again when he sees her — to shoot her big demure eyes, to photograph her seductive and sweet smile, to photograph her lively demeanor, to photograph her fiery feelings." You leave the theater, but her voice and smile appear in front of your eyes all the time, lingering and unforgettable. ”