Audrey Hepburn. The name is synonymous with effortless beauty thanks to the classic film Breakfast at Tiffany’s. As today’s woman of the week, we honor her not for her effortless elegance and acting, but for her humanitarian work. Born Audrey Kathleen Ruston in 4 May 1929, in Belgium. By the time she was a teenager, she was an accomplished ballet dancer. During the Nazi occupation of Arnhem (in the Netherlands), she honed in her dance skills to raise money for the Dutch Resistance through a series of ballet performances called The Black Performances and even transported messages in her ballet attire. Her budding career during Hollywood’s Golden Age through the 50s and 60s makes her one of only 12 people to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, a Tony and an Oscar. In the late 60s, she decided to devote her life to family and humanitarian work—most notably UNICEF. Her love affair with UNICEF began in 1964. In 1988, with her sons grown up and her film career ending, she took her first mission for the organization by going to Ethiopia—a country struggling to feed its people due to years of severe droughts. Her presence brought much-needed media attention to the situation. She continued to work for the organization participating in polio vaccine programs in Turkey, medical training women in Venezuela, improving water conditions in Guatemala and Honduras, and other projects that benefited impoverished, starving and displaced children throughout the world. Her tireless work earned her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992. She died in 1993 of appendicular cancer but still dedicated the last year of her life to helping others. She was posthumously awarded her the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and was honored by UNICEF in 2002 by the unveiling of a statue of her at their New York headquarters.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 20:00:00 +0000
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