Audrey Hepburn is probably the most recognized and admired Hollywood actresses of all time. She was born in 1929 in Belgium to a British father and a Dutch noblewoman mother. This led to her spending much of her childhood between Belgium, her mother’s birthplace of The Netherlands and England where she held British citizenship. We all know her to be one of Hollywood’s beloved leading ladies, but there are some things you may not know about her:
1. Her real name is actually Audrey Kathleen Ruston. She only changed her name in 1948 when her father found documents of some of his ancestors with the name Hepburn. He then changed his name to Hepburn-Ruston, which prompted Audrey to do the same.
2. Hepburn was a polyglot. Due to the fact that she came from an Anglo-Dutch home, she spoke English and Dutch fluently. She later learned French, Italian and Spanish and spoke all of them fluently as well.
3. Hepburn’s father abruptly left his family in Belgium to go to England where he got increasingly involved in fascist activities. In 1938, her parents separated and a year later, after Britain declared war on Germany, Hepburn’s mother relocated her family to the Netherlands. Thinking it would be safe from war, the Nazis inevitably invaded and occupied The Netherlands for 5 years. Nevertheless, she survived the whole terrifying ordeal.
4. Audrey Hepburn was actually a very skilled ballet dancer. She started dancing at a young age where she secretly performed to raise money for the Dutch Resistance during World War II.
5. At the height of her career, Hepburn joined a very exclusive club for people who’ve won 4 major awards in their lifetime: an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony. This elite club is known as the EGOT club.
6. She was an avid smoker and she loved it. Of course, everyone in the 60’s smoked, but she was known to go through three packs a day!
7. Hepburn valued her alone time and actually considered herself to be an introvert. This may come as a surprise to some since she was always in the spotlight, but she cherished her personal time away from the big screen.
Even though we may think we know everything about our favorite stars, there are always some things that come as a shock to us. If you enjoyed learning about the great Audrey Hepburn, perhaps you could learn a bit more in Peter Bogdanovich’s Who the Hell Is In It?. In this riveting book, the author writes about his encounters with many of Hollywood’s finest. Find this and more on www.greatess.com and get to know some of the classics.
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