Shelby County Today

March 10, 2016 - Donna Holt was the hostess and program leader for the March 3rd meeting of the Center Woman’s Reading Club. Her house was beautifully decorated for Spring and Easter. President, Janene Walker presided. In honor of Texas Independence Day, members answered roll call with a Texas fact.

The book chosen by Mrs. Holt for review was Audrey Hepburn: An Elegant Spirit, by her son Sean Hepburn Ferrer.

Audrey Hepburn was born Audrey Kathleen Ruston in 1929, in Brussels, Belgium. Her mother, Ella van Heemstra, was a Dutch baroness and her father; Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston was of English and Austrian descent. He was a businessman. After her parents divorced, Audrey went to London with her mother and attended private schools.

While vacationing with her mother in the Netherlands, the Nazis took over the town and Audrey and her mother were forced to stay. Times were very hard during the Nazi occupation. Audrey’s mother changed Audrey’s name to Edda van Heemstra. Edda was less English. During the war, being English in occupied Netherlands was not an asset. They could have been put in confinement or deported. Audrey “Edda” suffered from malnutrition and depression. She confessed to eating tulip bulbs and tried to bake grass into bread during the hard days of the war.

After the liberation, Audrey went to ballet school in London on a scholarship and began a modeling career. She also spoke several languages: English, Dutch; French, Italian and Spanish.

While modeling, Audrey was noticed by a film producer. Her first role was a small bit part in the European film, “Dutch in Seven Lessons” (1948). In 1951, she had a speaking part in “Young Wives’ Tale”. The part was small, so Audrey moved to America to try her luck there.

Her first major role was in 1953, “Roman Holiday”. The movie was a huge success and Audrey won an Oscar as Best Actress. “Roman Holiday” was followed by “Funny Face” (1957), “Sabrina” (1954) (and another Academy nomination), and “Love in the Afternoon” (1957). In 1959, Audrey received yet another nomination for her role in “The Nun’s Story”

One of the most famous role for Audrey was Holly Golightly in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (1961). She received another Academy nomination for this role. Audrey always felt that she was miscast for the role as Holly Golightly although it was one of her most popular roles. Henry Mancini wrote the song “Moon River” just for her. He said that no one ever understood it as completely. He said “there have been more than a thousand versions of “Moon River”, but hers is unquestionably the greatest.”

Other famous movies for Audrey include: “Charade” (1963), “My Fair Lady” (1964), “Paris When it Sizzles”, (1964), “How to Steal a Million”, (1966), “Two for the Road” (1967) and “Love Among Thieves” (1987).

Audrey Hepburn had turned down a role in the film “The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) because, as a young girl in the Netherlands during the war, she had witnessed Nazi soldiers herding Jews onto railroad cars to be sent to the death camps. She said that participating in the movie would bring back too many painful memories for her.

Audrey Hepburn was married to Mel Ferrer from 1954 to 1968. They had one son, Sean Ferrer. She was married to Andre Dotti from 1969 to 1982. They had one son, Luca.

Audrey Hepburn is one of 12 people who are an EGOT, which means that she won at least one of all the four major American entertainment awards: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.

Although Audrey Hepburn is famous for her beauty, elegance and her movies, her greatest work was with UNICEF. She travelled to the poorest communities in Africa and Asia to help and draw attention to the people. She not only donated money to UNICEF, she worked hands on in the communities. In 1992, President George Bush presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work for UNICEF.

She lived in Switzerland from the early 1980s until her death in January 1993 with her partner, Robert Wolders.

At the conclusion of the program delicious and beautiful refreshments were served. The refreshments were made by the Center High School Culinary Arts Department. The teacher is Ms. Jennifer Fausett. Thank you students. You did an outstanding job!