Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn (May 4, 1929 – January 20, 1993) was an Anglo-Dutch actress, fashion model, and humanitarian. Born Audrey Kathleen Ruston in Brussels, Belgium, she was the only child of Joseph Anthony Ruston, a Slovakian-born Anglo-Irish banker, and Baroness Ella van Heemstra, a Dutch aristocrat descended from French and English kings. Her father appended the name Hepburn to his surname, and Audrey became Audrey Hepburn-Ruston at the same time. She had two half-brothers, Alexander and Ian Quarles van Ufford, by her mother's first marriage to a Dutch nobleman.

Marriages and Death

Hepburn married twice, to the American actor Mel Ferrer and to an Italian doctor, Andrea Dotti, and had two sons - one, Sean, by Ferrer and one, Luca, by Dotti. In the early 50's she was engaged to a wealthy man named James Hanson, whom she was deeply infatuated with. However, after having the wedding dress fitted and the date set, she called off the wedding. She had the wedding dress given to a poor Italian couple who still have it today. Audrey met Mel Ferrer at a party hosted by Gregory Peck, and soon after fell in love with him. After Sabrina, Audrey went back to the stage, this time with Ferrer in a play called Ondine in which she played a water sprite. Ferrer was rumored to be perhaps too controlling of Audrey, but in William Holden's words, "I think Audrey allows Mel to think he influences her." After their marriage fell apart, Audrey immediately met Andrea Dotti on a cruise and fell in love with him on a trip to Greek ruins. She believed this marriage to be it, that she would have many kids and possibly stop working. It didn't turn out as well. Dotti is rumored to have had affairs and the marriage ended after the children were old enough to handle it.

Related Topics:
Mel Ferrer - Sabrina

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At the time of her death she was the companion of Robert Wolders, a Dutch actor who was the widower of film star Merle Oberon. She met Wolders in the later stage of her marriage with Dotti through a friend. Six months later, they met again for a drink, which turned into dinner. They fell in love and after the divorce from Dotti was final, Audrey and Robert Wolders started their lives together. In 1989, after nine years with him, she called them the happiest years of her life. "Took me long enough," she said. She considered herself married to him, although they were not officially married. At that point in her life, she did not believe a marriage ceremony to be important.

Related Topics:
Robert Wolders - Merle Oberon

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hepburn and Wolders planned the UNICEF trips together. At every one of her moving speeches, Wolders would watch and sometimes shed tears.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Audrey began to feel pains in her stomach which she thought might be due to a virus she caught in Africa. It was later found out to be cancer. According to Hepburn's son, Sean Ferrer, Hepburn's cancer was very rare and originated in the appendix. Audrey had surgery in a Los Angeles hospital but the cancer continued to spread. She was disappointed that the doctors could not do another surgery, and she apparently refused chemotherapy.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hepburn died of colorectal cancer on January 20, 1993, in Tolochenaz, Vaud, Switzerland at the age of 63, and was interred there.

Related Topics:
January 20 - 1993 - Tolochenaz - Vaud - Switzerland

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~