Audrey Hepburn

 Born May 4, 1929, Brussels, Belgium
Deceased  January 20, 1993

Beautiful Women - A Poem By Audrey Hepburn

Audrey  was born to wealthy parents in Belgium, but her father walked out on the family when she was only six.  When her father abandoned Audrey and her mother, Audrey's emotional life was forever changed. She was forever insecure and unsure of relationships.

Audrey grew up in London, attending private schools.  

When World War II broke out, Audrey and her family were evacuated to Holland.  In her early teens Audrey worked for the Resistance by helping to raise funds and passing out anti-Nazi leaflets. 

During the war years she also began taking ballet lessons.  But by 1944 the family fell on hard times, food was scarce, and she was suffering from anemia, asthma, and chronic migraines. 

After the war she and her mother relocated to Amsterdam, where Audrey continued her dance training. 

When they moved to London in 1948, Audrey's grace and beauty started to bring her some modeling and acting jobs. 

At the age of 22  Audrey appeared on Broadway as the title character in Gigi. The show was a smash hit, and Audrey was a star. Just days after the show closed, she flew to Rome to film Roman Holiday, her first big screen movie, and the movie that would bring her an Oscar as Best Actress in 1954.

Audrey went on to star in many more excellent films, and won many more awards in her long acting career. But perhaps her greatest achievement of all, was her work with unicef.

In 1988, Audrey became UNICEF's international Goodwill Ambassador. 

For five years, until her death in 1993, Audrey devoted her energy to working with UNICEF. 

Her field trips were often physically and emotionally demanding and sometimes placed her at great personal risk. 

Audrey learned first hand about the plight of the poor and displaced children in countries all over the world. She personally made over fifty visits to UNICEF-assisted projects in Sudan, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand, Ethiopia, Sudan, Eritrea, and Somalia. . 

These trips enabled her to witness first-hand the distressing conditions of children living in war-torn and poverty stricken areas of the world. 

One of the first places she visited as ambassador was Ethiopia, where her main concern there was obtaining vitamins to help prevent blindness in the children

"Quote"
I myself was born with an enormous need for affection and a terrible need to give it. That's what I'd like to think maybe has been the appeal. People have recognized something in me they have themselves--the need to receive affection and the need to give it."--New York Times, April 22, 1991


In 1993, Sean H. Ferrer, Luca Dotti (Audrey's sons) and Robert Wolders (her companion) created The Audrey Hepburn Memorial Fund at the U.S. Fund for UNICEF to commemorate the humanitarian efforts she made as a UNICEF International Goodwill Ambassador.

To date, the Audrey Hepburn Memorial Fund at UNICEF has raised over $1 million dollars for educational programs in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Sudan and Somalia.

In 1994, the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund, a non-profit organization, was created in New York to continue Audrey's international appeals on behalf of ill-treated and suffering children around the world.

In 1998, the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund relocated to Los Angeles where it remains today.

Audrey Hepburn believed that, "Every child has the right to health, to tenderness, to life."

With her genuine caring and unfailing help we see all that Audrey accomplished, and as such she is certainly one of the most beautiful women of the world