Audrey Hepburn's Impact On The World

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A little girl born on May 4th of 1929 in Brussels Belgium with a big impact on the world (Hepburn, Audrey). Her birth name was Edda van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston, her stage name, Audrey Hepburn (Zeff, Dan. “Hepburn, Audrey.”). Her father abandoned her family when she was six years old and didn’t reconnect with her until almost twenty years later. Because of this Audrey has stated she had always “strived for family.” In her later life she had two separate marriages her first with Mel Ferrer having a son named Sean. After fourteen years of marriage they were divorced and she married Italian Chef Andrea Dotti for thirteen years and had a son named Luca. Despite divorce both marriages were said to have very happy times ("Audrey Hepburn Biography.").…show more content…
“Hepburn, Audrey.”). Her iconic role prompted many awards to follow including the Theatre World Award in 1952 for “Gigi”, the Academy Award in 1954 for “Roman Holiday”, and the Screen Actors Guild Award. Julia Roberts stepped into for Hepburn to receive the Screen Actors Award as Hepburn had fallen ill ("Audrey Hepburn." Encyclopedia). Hepburn and Roberts had only met a few months before however she once stated that “Roberts would make a perfect Holly from Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” Reciting Hepburn’s words Roberts thanked everyone who “guided an unknown, insecure, inexperienced, skinny broad into a marketable commodity.” Shelley Levitt, a reporter from People magazine states that the actresses could’ve been speaking directly about herself as Roberts and Hepburn were multi-generational mirror images of each other (Levitt, Shelley). However Roberts was not the only present day star Hepburn affected and the Screen Actors Guild Award was not the only award she was nominated for. In her lifetime Hepburn had five Oscar nominations and won a Tony Award in 1954 for “Ondine” ("Hepburn, Audrey."). Summing up her life…show more content…
A reporter from the Interm stated “there’s no doubt that the ‘Holly’ created by Hepburn has become a feminist icon (McGinnis, Rick).” Many white working class women in the 1950s and 60s admired the “Hepburn Look.” Many used her look to “negotiate difficult or unfamiliar social situations” in the workplace and romance department, as well as to “experiment with less conventional feminine identities” while still being socially acceptable (Moseley, R.). Mcginnis also states in his article in the Interm that “no one in the fashion world will deny” that Hepburn’s costumes [in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”] have influenced how women dress ever since her “stepped out of her cab.” Even two co-founders of Ms. Magazine Gloria Steinem and Letty Cottin Pogredbin admit to copying “Hepburn’s Holly.” Gloria Steinem stated to the U.K.’s Guardian Newspaper that she copied Hepburn’s blonde streaks and “totally related to Hepburn’s ‘country bumpkin-turned-café society girl.’” Letty Cottin Pogredbin even went as far to say that she thought of “Holly” as her role model. She bought herself a little black dress, a scooter, rabbit, dog and duck- “the keys to ‘Holly’s’ charm (McGinnis, Rick).” Her style was not only relevant on-screen as off screen she often wore custom pieces by one of her lifelong friends, French designer Hubert de Givenchy, who also designed her gowns in the movie “Sabrina ("Audrey Hepburn."
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