Audrey Hepburn

SOMEBODY JUST SHUT ME OFF!

I feel like the oft-alluded to broken record that cranks out the same old same old, so I do apologize, but my great grandfather will have to wait till the weekend.

But I would like to tell you about one of the most beautiful women in the world. You might have seen her elegant face on the cover of some black and white or been awed by a sumptuous colour poster of her in some bar or restaurant. But few remember the darling Audrey Hepburn as a wife, mother, and humanitarian.

For my six birthday, I recieved video casette version of Roman Holiday. I fell in love that day. The onscreen Audrey was just so buoyant and charming, and with Gregory Peck to lead her on a series of adventures, it is still one of my all time favorite romantic movies (when I visited Rome a few summers ago, I even retraced most of the locations of the film). Of course, I immediately started reading up on her and was struck by her vigorous and driven off screen life.

Bay May 4th, 1929 to a British father and a Dutch baroness who later divorced, Audrey faced many trials in her life. With the onslaught of World War II, Audrey suffered through a period of deprivation and high-stress in occupied Holland. The painfully thin and pinched look that Audrey sometimes exhibited in her films has been linked back to period, as her near-starvation caused a life-long eating disorder. After the war, Audrey embarked on a movie career that took the world by storm, with such highlights as Roman Holiday (Academy Award for Best Actress), The Secret People, Gigi, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Charade, My Fair Lady, Sabrina, and Funny Face.

Often admired by co-actors and directors for her poise, warmth, dignity, and grace-- she had been trained as a ballerina for a short time-- Audrey married several times. Though her marriages ended unhappily, Audrey loved her two sons very deeply and was a very good mother. Even through her divorces, she managed to remain friends with her exs.

Audrey was also loved her fellow humans. She was a UNICEF ambassador and worked and travelled to promote the issues that rocked the third world. She continued working and travelling even as her health deteriorated due to the ignored symptoms of the colon cancer that would finally end her life.

Audrey's versatility in acting is the envy of many a Hollywood star this day, but Audrey's true magnetism stemmed from her exuberance and love for mankind, qualities which have enchanted me for almost a decade. In fact, she is the only movie star I have ever bought a biography or calendar of, and I only wish that I could have met her once in my life.
- Nilesh Murali

One of My People

photo credit: http://www.fabaudrey.com/