POSH ICON: AUDREY HEPBURN

She was once known as one of he most successful film stars in the world and was the first actress to recieve a 1 million dollar film contract! An inspiration to all aspiring actors, she is Audrey Hepburn.  Born May 4, 1929 in Ixelles, Belgium, Audrey Hepburn was meant to reach for the stars and catch one.. or two, and that is exactly what she did.

For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.

Today, many of Hepburns famous words can be found quoted online and in media. She, after all, was an icon. During her childhoold Audrey Hepburn spent her time drawing and experimenting with her creative juices, as she grew into a young woman she traveled around with her family while her father worked with a British Insurance Company, she was able to explore cities and countries and loved the culture and diversity she found amongst them.

In 1945, Hepburn left the Arnhem Conservatory and moved to Amsterdam, where she took ballet lessons with Sonia Gaskell. Hepburn appeared as a stewardess in a short tourism film for KLM, before travelling with her mother to London. Gaskell provided an introduction to Marie Rambert, and Hepburn studied ballet at the “Ballet Rambert”, supporting herself with part time work as a model.

She was beautiful and everyone was quickly noticing. Hepburn’s first role in a motion picture was in the British film One Wild Oat in which she played a hotel receptionist. She played several more minor roles in Young Wives’ Tale, Laughter in Paradise, The Lavender Hill Mob, and Monte Carlo Baby.

During the filming of Monte Carlo Baby Hepburn was chosen to play the lead character in the Broadway play Gigi, which opened on 24 November, 1951, at the Fulton Theatre and ran for 219 performances. The writer Colette, when she first saw Hepburn, reportedly said “voilà! There’s our Gigi!”  She won a Theatre World Award for her performance. Hepburn’s first significant film performance was in the Thorold Dickinson film Secret People (1952), in which she played a prodigious ballerina. Hepburn did all of her own dancing scenes.

The 2000 American made-for-television film, The Audrey Hepburn Story, starred Jennifer Love Hewitt in the title role. Hewitt also co-produced the film. The film concluded with footage of the real Audrey Hepburn, shot during one of her final missions for UNICEF. Several versions of the film exist; it was aired as a mini-series in some countries, and in a truncated version on America’s ABC television network, which is also the version released on DVD in North America.

In 2006, the Sustainable Style Foundation inaugurated the Style & Substance Award in Honor of Audrey Hepburn to recognize high profile individuals who work to improve the quality of life for children around the world. The first award was given to Hepburn posthumously and received by the Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund, a non-profit organization that was started in 1994 in New York and relocated to Los Angeles in 1998 where it remains today.

Her dedicated help to charitable organizations and extreme support with UNICEF allowed Hepburn to grow from on screen star to a philanthropic beauty who gives back to others.  She was a passionate and dedicated being who many people looked up to and still continue to remember today.  Her glorious image is used frequently in advertising campaigns across the world and everyone knows exactly who these images mimic.