Audrey Hepburn Timeline

Book Review - Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn

Good Copie

Donald Spoto as once again done a great job of connecting you to an amazing and inspiring person

Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn by Donald Spoto, published by Random House Inc., in 2006.

Donald Spoto is a professional American biographer who has written more then 20 books on several famous figures, such as Marilyn Monroe, Alfred Hitchcock, James Dean and Grace Kelly. He has also written biographies on religious figures like Jesus, and Saint Francis of Assisi.
Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn tells the story of her life from the very beginning, from her childhood years in Nazi-controlled Holland to her final years working for UNICEF.

The book describes all details, personal and professional and includes many quotes and photos. The photos included are from her childhood to the end of her life, showing you how she changed, and the quotes give you an inside look at her feelings.

When I read this book I felt more connected to Audrey and learned about her life that was not part of her career.The book is informative and useful to anyone needing it for research but is enjoying to read for fun. It is around 300 pages long, so it is a long read but it is very well written so it does not seem to stretch on forever.

Unicef

Audrey Hepburn: A Life in Pictures

Audrey and Mel Ferer, in her wedding dress
Audrey in my fair lady
Audrey auditioning for Gigi

Audrey at age 7

Writing-In-Role as Audrey Hepburn

A letter from Audrey to her Mother Ella van Heemstra

Dear Mother,
How are you? I’ve been good, I have amazing news! I’ve been chosen to star in a new play called Gigi! It’s very exciting! I was on the set of Roman Holiday when some French woman dressed elegantly (who I later found out was Sidonie-Gabrielle Collette) came and asked me to auditions for a movie she wrote. It all happened very fast, but I can’t wait. I’m a bit nervous to start Gigi because I have only been a main character in a play once, the only two other play I was in I was a chorus girl. What if I can’t remember my lines?
I would like to come and visit soon, in between Roman Holiday and Gigi, I will write again when I know what day is possible. If that is not possible maybe you could come visit me, it is beautiful in Rome, and we could visit all the tourist attractions that you would like. You could even meet the director of Roman Holiday and come on set to watch it being filmed. It would be very exciting! Do you have enough money to spare? If not, I could pay for it, I’ve been modeling some more and have saved most of the money I’ve earned. There is much here that I’d love to show you, so please consider it!
I will be in touch with you soon, and tell me if you are in need of money to pay for a trip to Rome.
Love, your daughter
Audrey

The Life of Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Kathleen Ruston was born on May 4, 1929 in Ixelles, Belgium. She lived with her mother in England until World War II began, she and her mother then moved to Holland to live with her grandparents.

Audrey Hepburn’s career in dance began in grade school; at the age of ten she had her first ballet recital. Later, at the age of seventeen she took ballet lessons with Sonia Gaskell, who then recommended her to Marie Rambert, the owner of the Ballet Rambert dance school. When she entered Ballet Rambert she changed her last name to Hepburn (her great grandmother’s maiden name).

Hepburn’s first acting job was in a comedy/educational film Dutch in 7 Lessons, she was also in a few other movies in which she had minor roles. Her first major role was in the movie Gigi, where she played the main character. The audience and critics loved her gazelle-like eyes, and the look of awareness always on her face. After her success in Gigi, she was in many other films including The Secret People, Roman Holiday, Sabrina, War and Peace, Funny Face, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, My Fair Lady, and Wait Until Dark.

In Hepburn’s later years she did charity work and was appointed a goodwill ambassador to UNICEF. She spent many of her last years in places such as Vietnam, Somalia, Bangladesh, El Salvador, Turkey, and Ecuador. She died on January 20, 1993 of appendicle cancer in her home in Switzerland.