Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn
Paramount Pictures

Stars

Audrey Hepburn
Film: East side of the 1600 block of Vine Street
Actress
Born Audrey Kathleen Ruston on May 4, 1929 in Brussels, Belgium
Died Jan. 20, 1993 of colon cancer in Tolochenaz, Switzerland

Audrey Hepburn was a slender, doe-eyed Oscar-winning actress who enchanted moviegoers in such films as "Roman Holiday" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and in later years dedicated herself to feeding the world's hungry.

If Hepburn sometimes found herself in Cinderella roles, the shoe fit. The sickly, scrawny teenager who suffered from malnutrition during World War II in Nazi-occupied Holland emerged in the 1950s as one of Hollywood's premier leading ladies, known for a persona that somehow blended sleek European sophistication and a vulnerable, waif-like innocence.

Her versatility as an actress was tested by such diverse roles as Natasha in "War and Peace" (1956), opposite then-husband Mel Ferrer; as Rima the Bird Girl in "Green Mansions" (1959), an ethereal work directed by Ferrer; in the title role in "The Nun's Story" (1959), a true tale of a sister who renounces her vows while nursing in the Congo during World War II and returns to Belgium to work for the Resistance; as kooky female gigolo Holly Golightly in Blake Edwards' quirky "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961); and as a blind woman terrorized by criminals in the thriller "Wait Until Dark" (1967). After that film, she went into semi-retirement, taking only one leading part, opposite Sean Connery in "Robin and Marian" (1976), as the aging couple of the Robin Hood story.

Hepburn also distinguished herself from other actresses of her era by becoming an icon of haute couture and a regular on the best-dressed lists, modeling evening gowns by designer Hubert de Givenchy.

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    Academy Awards

    Year Category Work
    1953 Best Actress Roman Holiday Win
    1954 Best Actress Sabrina Nomination
    1959 Best Actress The Nun's Story Nomination
    1961 Best Actress Breakfast at Tiffany's Nomination
    1967 Best Actress Wait Until Dark Nomination
    1992 Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award Win

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