Audrey Hepburn was born on May 4， 1929 in Brussels， Belgium. She really was blue-blood① from the beginning with her father， a wealthy English banker， and her mother， a Dutch baroness. After her parents divorced， Audrey went to London with her mother where she went to a private girls school.
Later， when her mother moved back to the Netherlands， she attended private schools as well. While vacationing with her mother in Arnhem， Holland， Hitler’s army suddenly took over the town. It was here that she fell on hard times. Audrey suffered from depression② and malnutrition③. After the liberation， Audrey went to a ballet school in London on a scholarship and later began a modeling career. As a model， she was graceful and， it seemed， she had found her niche④ in life until the film producers came calling. She had a speaking role in the 1951 film， Young Wives’ Tale (1951) as Eve Lester. The part still wasn’t much， so she headed to America to try her luck there.
Audrey gained immediate prominence⑤ in the US with her role in Roman Holiday in 1953. This film turned out to be a smashing⑥ success as she won an Oscar as Best Actress. This gained her enormous popularity and more plum⑦ roles. Audrey reached the pinnacle⑧ of her career when she played Holly Golightly in the delightful film， Breakfast at Tiffany’s in 1961. For this she received another nomination⑨. One of Audrey’s most radiant roles was in the fine production of My Fair Lady in 1964. Her co-star Rex Harrison once was asked to identify his favorite leading lady. Without hesitation， he replied， “Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady.” After a couple of other movies， she hit pay dirt and another nomination in 1967’s Wait Until Dark.
By the end of the sixties， after her divorce from actor Mel Ferrer， Audrey decided to retire while she was on top. Later she married again. From time to time， she would appear on the silver screen. In 1988， Audrey became a special ambassador to the United Nations UNICEF fund helping children in Latin America and Africa， a position she retained until 1993. She was named to People’s magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. Her last film was Always in 1989. Audrey Hepburn died on January 20， 1993 in Tolochnaz， Switzerland， from colon cancer. She had made a total of 31 high quality movies. Her elegance and style will always be remembered in film history as evidenced by her being named to Empire magazine’s “The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time”.
① blue-bloodn. 贵族（或王族，名门）出身；贵族，王族，名门望族
② depressionn. 不景气，萧条(期)
③ malnutritionn. 营养不良
④ nichen. 合适的职务或地位
⑤ prominencen. 突起，凸出；显著，杰出，卓越，声望
⑥ Smashingadj. 非凡的
⑦ plumn. 紫红色，青紫色；最好的东西，令人垂涎的东西；意外收获
⑧ pinnacle n. 高峰，山峰；顶峰，极点，顶点
⑨ nominationn. 提名，任命
奥黛丽·赫本
1929年5月4日，奥黛丽·赫本出生于比利时首都布鲁塞尔。奥黛丽·赫本是地道的贵族血统，而这则要源于她的父亲，一位英国富有的银行家，而她的母亲，则是丹麦男爵夫人。在父母亲离婚以后，奥黛丽·赫本和其母亲去了伦敦，在那里，她去了一所私人女子学校就读。
之后，当她的母亲搬回荷兰时，她则继续于女子学校就读。而当她正与母亲在荷兰的阿尔海姆度假的时候，希特勒的军队占领了这座城镇。那个时候，也正是在那里，她陷入了人生中艰苦的阶段。奥黛丽承受着抑郁愁苦和营养不良的痛苦。在解放以后，奥黛丽在取得奖学金的基础上，去了伦敦的一所芭蕾舞学校，而后便开始了模特生涯。作为一名模特，她体态优雅，而且，直到电影制片找到她的时候，她感到似乎已经找到适合自己一生的合适位置了。在1951年的一部电影《小妇人》中，她扮演了一个可圈可点的角色，饰演伊芙·莱斯特。但是，对她来说，这个角色还不够，于是她去往美国，试图在那里碰碰运气。
1953年，奥黛丽在《罗马假日》中的精彩演出，立即为她赢得了卓越的声望。这部影片取得了巨大的成功，因此，她获得了奥斯卡最佳女主角金像奖。这使她获得了巨大的知名度，以及更多的重要角色。奥黛丽·赫本在1961年的精彩影片《蒂凡尼早餐》中扮演的郝丽·格来特丽使她达到了事业的顶点。为此，她赢得了又一项提名。奥黛丽最耀眼的一个角色就是1964年的经典影片《窈窕淑女》中的形象。曾经有人问她的合作搭档雷克斯·哈里森谁是他最喜欢的女主角之时，哈里森毫不犹豫的回答：“是《窈窕淑女》中的奥黛丽·赫本。”在许多的其他部影片之后，1967年她的身价达到了高峰，同时在又一部影片《盲女惊魂记》中获得了又一项提名奖。
在六十年代末，在与男演员梅尔·费拉离婚以后，奥黛丽决定退出银幕，而那时正是她的事业达到顶峰之时。不久后，她再次结婚。不时地，她还会经常于银幕中出现。在1988年，奥黛丽成为联合国儿童基金会特使，去帮助拉丁美洲和非洲的孩子们，这一职务她一直担任直到1993年。她被《人物》杂志命名为世界上最漂亮的50位人物之一。她的最后一部影片是1989年的《直到永远》。1993年1月2日，奥黛丽·赫本在瑞士洛桑死于结肠癌。她以上之中共计出演了31部高质量的电影。她的优雅和风格一直为电影历史铭记，《帝国杂志》经她命名为“永远怀念的100位最佳电影明星”就是一个最好的证明。
