Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn (1929 to 1993) was a leading lady of Hollywood cinema in the 1950s and 1960s and later a humanitarian. Born in Brussels as Audrey Kathleen Ruston, she spent her childhood between Belgium, England and the Netherlands, lived through the German occupation of Arnhem, and trained as a ballet dancer before poor wartime nutrition pushed her toward acting. Her breakthrough came on Broadway in Gigi and then in Roman Holiday, the American film opposite Gregory Peck that won her the 1953 Academy Award for Best Actress. She went on to star in Sabrina, Breakfast at Tiffany's, My Fair Lady, Two for the Road and Wait Until Dark, and she won a Tony Award for the stage play Ondine. Her long collaboration with the designer Hubert de Givenchy made her a lasting style icon. After stepping back from films she worked as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, and she received a posthumous Grammy Award for a children's story recording.