About Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn was born Audrey Kathleen Ruston on 4 May 1929 and was a British actress and humanitarian with an estimated net worth of $50 million. Hepburn was active during Hollywood’s Golden Age, a film and fashion icon. Being born in Belgium she spent some of her childhood there before being sent to a boarding school in England. After World War II, she followed her dreams of dance, studying ballet in Amsterdam and London. She worked her way up as a chorus girl, then later began to ply her talents as a stage actress on Broadway. Her transition to film was in the 1950s, when she was in her early 20s.
Her first major role was in 1953’s Roman Holiday with Gregory Peck. For which she won an Oscar. Atypical to say the least. In 1954, she played the title role in the classic Sabrina with Humphrey Bogart and William Holden. Hepburn earned another Academy Award nomination for the film, she didn’t win it this time, but by that point she had also already won a Tony Award.
Hepburn displayed her dancing skills and taste for style in 1957’s Funny Face with Fred Astaire. Her roles was that of a beatnik who gets discovered by a fashion photographer and becomes a model.
In the films War and Peace, The Nun’s Story and The Unforgiven and co-starred with the top male actors of the day, including Henry Fonda and Burt Lancaster she earned more critical acclaim. However, her most famous role is 1961’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s. She played the role of the tortured soul Holly Golightly. The movie has become iconic, it has more than a cult following it has become popular with movie buffs of almost all genres.
Hepburn continued to appear in films like My Fair Lady, however she began to make less frequent appearances and they became ever more sporadic throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Her last screen role was 1989’s Always, directed by Steven Spielberg.
In December 1992, she received the US Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
Hepburn had become a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF in the late ’80s to raise awareness for children in need. During her life she made more than 50 trips visiting Asia, Africa and more and won a special Academy Award for her humanitarian work in 1993. However she died on January 20th of that same year and the award was presented posthumously. She passed away from cancer at age 63. At the time of her death, Audrey Hepburn’s net worth was an estimated $50 million.
Hepburn’s legacy lived on. She had two sons from two marriages who helped establish a fund in her honor to continue her humanitarian work. Her classic movies and great roles continue to influence today’s youth, and her style have become in vogue many numerous different times over the last few decades.
