|
 There are
cases when the person comes from the aristocratic family though their actions
and life style have nothing to do with the elite refinement. And on the
contrary, people whose ancestors come from medium class or even the marginal
but the person proves to belong to the high class of the society with all they
do and feel. And again, we face people who are lucky enough to be born to the reputed
and ancient nobility and who appear to be the genuine aristocrats. They treat evenly favorably to people from various levels of society.
They are willing to give a hand
to those who are in need and act as the model of worthy behavior to follow. Yet,
we are blessed to enjoy such a talented and unique actress and a beautiful
woman as Audrey Hepburn.
Audrey Kathleen Ruston was born on May 4, 1929 in Brussels.
Her mother, the baroness Ella van
Heemstra, originated from the mixed blood of Dutch, French and English aristocrats
and John Ruston, the British gentleman who was believed to be the banker, on one
hand and the adventurer, by the other sources. Several years after their
daughter was born, John Ruston changed his surname for Ruston-Hepburn and thus
Audrey is known exactly with this surname. Her parents divorced sooner and a
little girl was left with her mother since she was six to live in Holland. They lived there
during World War II when Holland
was occupied by the Nazi.
Those
several years they spent in occupation were both horrible and happy for
Audrey.
Thehorrible moment was the threat of repression for her family. Her
mother’s folks were repressed for collaboration
with the Resistance movement; besides the last one year and a half were
hungry
and cold for her. She felt happy, though, since she lived her childhood
and
teenage period then, and that period of life is always considered as the
most
valuable and daring for every person, however difficult the period was.
That was the time when Audrey gained the most
significant and valuable experience for the rest of her life which
impacted her
personality which was never spoilt then when the fame came to her with
enormous
money. Audrey Hepburn always remembered what it meant when you were
hungry and hadno enough sleep; when you suffered from diseases because
of thirst and hunger and shealways had problems with metabolism system.
And there are rare celebrities who perceivethe problems of others and
give their hands to those who really need help for particularreasons.
And she is the one who is very comprehensive. Audrey has sober attitude
to material
values and luxury items: she has been seriously immunized against
worship for the
material benefits during her childhood period.
Audrey went
for casting for actresses when she was in financial need but not for the vainglorious
willing to get famous which is the triggering point for most actors and other
celebrities. Audrey and her mother found themselves in misery and all their
material aristocratic wealth disappeared during war time. So in 1948 Audrey debuted
in the Dutch educational film to teach the rudiments of the Dutch language to
the concerned foreign people and then till 1953 she featured in several more
movies. The year 1953 was crucial and triumphal for Audrey since she played a
leading female role in the legendary romantic comedy Roman Holiday, and which
made her one of Hollywood symbols. The role was
crucial to be awarded Oscar for the best female role and the prize was the one
and the only for later on Audrey was only nominated. In the soonest time Audrey
enjoyed her long and splendid career in cinematography though with considerable
intervals and later Audrey Hepburn was acknowledged as the third significant
actress in the history of cinematography.
In spite of
the fact that the young actress started her career only for the purpose of
money, Hepburn never assigned the paramount importance to her fees. In the meantime,
within ‘50s and ’60 she was one of the highest paid Hollywood
celebrities. For her first movies she was given some money which was not high: $12500
USD for Roman Holiday and $15 thousand USD for Sabrina. Since the middle of ‘50s
when the real revolution occurred in HollywoodThe
Nun's Story movie was favorable to earn $250 and 10 percents from the box-office
receipts. The legendary film Breakfast at Tiffany’s from 1961 was famous for
the original scenario by Capote and the fascinating performance of Moon River
by Audrey. Her fee totaled $750 thousand USD. For Audrey Hepburn the year 1964 was marked with
the climbing the grand master's threshold of $1 million USD for the movie and
she earned them to star in My Fair Lady. Further on, the majority of movies
with Audrey Hepburn as a leading star brought her $750 thousand USD at least
and more often she was offered the amount over a million with the interest from
the good box-office, as a bonus.
thanks to Marilyn Monroe, the issue of salary for actors and actress was
re-considered. Audrey Hepburn had the benefit of other money than before. For the
role of Natasha Rostova in the screen version of War and Peace by Tolstoy in 1956
Audrey received $350 thousand dollars.
Nevertheless,
Audrey donated significant part of her income for the charity purposes. And that
was not that official tendency to donate for the charity action as it is for
the celebrities of our times who deduct some money to numerous charity funds
for the good image. Audrey was involved in the real active charity action where
Audrey took long and frequent trips to those parts of the world where help was
needed and she rendered her assistance everywhere it was necessary. She spent several
last years of her life traveling along Africa for
philanthropic objectives. And that was in Africa when Audrey felt an acute pain
in her stomach which appeared to be inoperable cancer as it was revealed by the
medical examination when she was back home. Audrey Hepburn, the aristocrat by
heart and birth, the grand actress and a great woman of her time, died on
January 28, 1993.
|
