Audrey: flair, intelligence, nobility

It’s not easy being an incredibly beautiful woman and a world-renowned actress to not be gossiped about. But there’s a name in history: this is Audrey Hepburn, the woman who lived the life of an angel on earth.

Death itself seemed to walk the streets, peering into the black eye-windows of half-destroyed houses and looking for new victims. Sometimes you could see a passer-by falling dead from hunger and cold. But there was also another life in Arnhem. In one of the bomb shelters, in a moldy and dark basement, someone who didn’t break his spirit dared to create a scene. Concerts, plays, even ballet. There are little girls in pointes and skirts-packs, like frightened stags, trying not to lose their musical accompaniment and not get entangled in their long and thin legs and hands from hunger.

In between performances, a 12-year-old girl passes the audience with a cardboard donation box. Her name is Edda van Heemstra. Edda’s real job is to discreetly get a little piece of paper to the right people, classified information for the Resistance. On the adjacent chairs, German soldiers speak loudly in their rough language. The girl’s uncle was shot dead by the fascists in front of her. What they’ll do to her if they see the encryption in her hands, Edda knows well… Returning home to the grandfather-baron’s family estate, who, after years of squabbling, had kindly taken them in with her mother, Edda removed the bloody pointes and fell on the bed with no strength. Thin as a straw, a hand reached for a pitcher of water on the nightstand. If you drink too much, you can fool hunger… And Edda also read a lot. The magical worlds of fairies, unicorns, gnomes, allowed her imagination to wander and briefly drown the rumble in her stomach.

The girl looked around the room. From a gilded frame portrait one of the noblemen of Van Hemström, whose ancient Dutch clan dates back to the early 16th century, looked at it. Yes, yes, her mother was a real baroness, but she married a second time to Joseph Hepburn-Raston, a man of an obscure profession, plus an Irishman sympathetic to fascists. The father did not forgive her daughter for making this choice, and disowned her until she kicked her husband out of the house and caught him in bed with a nanny. Edda did not judge her father. Even though the family has always had a lot of scandals, but the funny man, joker and entertainer, he was always kind to her. Not like a strict, demanding mother, obsessed with decency and etiquette.

Many years later, Edda, or Audrey, as she calls herself, will often be mistaken for a princess of blood – thanks to genes and ballet school. Actually, her real name was Audrey-Kathleen Raston, the name her father gave her. But in the current situation, in order not to stand out from the crowd, her mother told her to call herself Edda. Later she will have to be called another ten names. But she will go down in history as Audrey Hepburn, world-famous actress, model and style icon.

The girl looked at her watch at quarter to eight. Mother should be back soon – maybe today she was able to exchange gold jewelry for some food? “I wish it wasn’t potato peels, but bread and maybe a small slice of butter… or even sweetened condensed milk!” Edda dreamed. One day, her dream came true. Mother returned with a package of UNICEF humanitarian aid. Edda ate a jar of the sweetened condensed milk, and her starving body malfunctioned – the girl almost died. She was diagnosed with anaemia and many other diseases, which, however, could not be an obstacle to the goal.

Dancing was all Audrey lived for. Even then, in the occupied Dutch town to stay in shape, she stood at the loom for hours or jumped in the street with a jump rope until she fell on the sidewalk powerless. She dreamed, no, she lived in ballet! After the war, Audrey and her mother moved to Amsterdam, where they found work as nurses in a hospital. But her dream girl will not change – a modest salary will spend on private ballet lessons. She will then move to London and continue her studies with Wenceslaus Nijinsky.

Audrey’s success at ballet made her realize that when she was five-foot tall, she would never get into a good troupe, much less become a prima. In addition, frequent asthma attacks – the consequences of a prolonged hunger strike – will make you forget about the scene. And Audrey will take a decisive step: sign up for acting courses. “Being an actress is also good”, she will decide.

Exhausting work in musical theater, several episodic roles in film, finally starring in the Broadway production for which Audrey moved to New York. The talent of a graceful actress with big beautiful eyes could not go unnoticed in Hollywood. Hepburn was invited to play the main heroine in “Roman Holidays”. Good old Rome, Eternal City! For the sake of filming, Audrey even postponed her wedding to 28-year-old multimillionaire James Hanson, whom Audrey’s mother considered the best match for her daughter.

Hepburn returned from Italy quite differently: she suddenly realized that she was not born to be a housewife with a rich husband. To her mother’s displeasure, she informed James, who understood, and she and Audrey separated as friends. The film “Roman Holidays” brought Audrey world fame, the first Oscar and acquaintance with the future husband. Both the public and critics were more than happy to welcome the film. Gossip spread that the lead role played by a real princess of some little-known tiny European state – so convincing was the actress. Hollywood star Gregory Peck, Audrey’s partner in the film, had her name written at the beginning of the credits, as large as his own. He knew Audrey wasn’t just a pretty girl. Peck and Hepburn attributed the novel to which the actress responded with a smile:

“To play love, you need to be in love with your partner. But you don’t have to put your feelings beyond filming”.

She was suddenly loved, all at once. Nobody could resist Audrey’s avalanche of charm. From all corners of the world letters and telegrams with confessions of love and offers of a hand and heart flew to her. Audrey conquered everyone with her naturalness, refinement and modesty.

She’s only 24 years old, and she’s declared a style icon. “Wait a little, said Audrey of the jubilant mother, – soon they will all make sure that I am a worthless actress, and forget my name”. Later in the film-graphic Audrey will enter immortal films – “Funny face”, “Breakfast at Tiffany”, “Charade”, “How to steal a million”, “My beautiful lady” and many others.

The star disease virus will never hit Audrey. Anyone who spends a week in a wet basement with rats, saving five apples and half a loaf of bread, will never be arrogant, even if he eats caviar and oysters from silver dishes.

However, Audrey Hepburn did not immediately become a style icon. At the beginning of her career, Hollywood stylists and costumers were horrified by the sight of her tall, skinny figure with flat breasts and feet of a size 40. Audrey was persuaded by her makeup artists to pluck her thick eyebrows, but she stubbornly refused. As a result, a year later all the beauties tried to grow eyebrows, “like Hepburn”.

Audrey’s real couture pygmalion was the beginner French stylist Hubert Givenchy – he, at the insistence of the actress, became the costumer for the next famous film “Sabrina”. Tandem Givenchy-Hepburn created a new type of beauty that turned the whole of Hollywood, in which before that were fashionable very different parameters of women, mostly busty blonde. Audrey became Givenchy’s muse, and he not only her personal costumer and stylist, but also her friend. At the beginning of their acquaintance Hubert made a mannequin for Audrey’s figure and for almost 40 years did not change it: the actress looked after her figure and all her life weighed 46 kg.

At the party in honor of the premiere of the “Roman Holidays” Audrey met the actor and director Mel Ferrer, who was 12 years older and had three failed marriages, four children and a not very successful career. Instead of singing Audrey’s praises, Mel began to criticize and give her advice. His protruding ego, naive Audrey, mistook for his increased attention to himself.

13 years of marriage brought her only suffering: a lot of roles not played and completely destroyed faith in herself. Many years later, the long-awaited son Sean was born, he did not save his parents’ marriage.

After the divorce, Audrey became so depressed that she started seeing a psychiatrist. The Italian doctor Andrea Dotty, the conqueror of women’s hearts, was not only beautiful and gentle, but also incredibly polite and even affectionate. And again, Audrey took notice of love. She trusted the man again because she wanted so much family and peace! A year later, Audrey married Dottie and went to Rome with him. Her second son Luke was born there.

She’s 40 years old, she’s a successful actress, a loving mother and wife. Dreams came true! Audrey convinced herself for a while. But more and more she came across the Italian newspapers, with pictures of Dr Dottie hugging young maidens – mostly easy behavior. God, this is humiliating! Audrey once got divorced, took the kids, and went to Switzerland. She’ll never be married again.

In the resort town of Morge in the west of Switzerland many beautiful places. One of them was a small chocolate shop. One summer afternoon a bell rang on her door, and an older, but unusually elegant woman with glasses and a wide-brimmed hat entered the hall. The owner himself came out to greet her. On the purest French lady ordered 200 grams of raspberry truffles. As if wishing to test the gracious merchant, the woman took off her glasses and hat.

The man fascinated by her charm could not recognize the famous actress Audrey Hepburn. Then she breathed freely and asked for a cup of tea. When I was a kid, I was replaced by my parents, who were constantly fighting, said the visitor with a sad smile. I’ve loved chocolate ever since. He alone has never betrayed me. It became a ritual: every Wednesday, Audrey would go to the pastry shop, and by the time she got there, she would have a package written “For Mrs Walders”. She was known by that name here in Switzerland.

Although Audrey never married her last beloved one, the Dutch actor Robert Walders, she finally found the quiet female happiness of her life. She no longer had to live up to anyone’s expectations, no one told her what to do. Walders just loved her for being her. And when Sean and Luke’s sons came to visit, Audrey was happy forever. Huge family dinners and hours of conversations took place. The rest of the time, Audrey, as an ordinary Swiss housewife, wore rubber gloves and trimmed rosebushes in the garden.

After her last film in 1989, actress Audrey Hepburn was named UNICEF Ambassador. Her mastery of French, English, Spanish, Italian and Dutch made the job easier.

A new biography of Audrey Hepburn began: she visited many countries. In 1992, President George Bush awarded Audrey Hepburn the Medal of Liberty in recognition of her work within UNICEF, and Audrey Hepburn was awarded the American Academy of Film Arts Humanitarian Award by Jean Hersholt for her contribution to humankind. It was given posthumously to her son.