The loveliest, classiest, most gorgeous, most gracious, most amazingly beautiful (inside and out!) actress EVER would have turned 82 today. Happy Birthday Audrey.
In case you haven't figured it out, Audrey Hepburn is my no. 1 Favorite Actress of All Time, followed closely by Ginger Rogers. I can remember watching Audrey movies as a young child (my dad is a big fan) but I never realized who the pretty lady actually was. Until I watched Roman Holiday at age thirteen. That was, and remains, my favorite movie ever.
Audrey is a lady full of contrasts. First elfin, then sophisticated; almost boyish, and yet the ultimate in femininity. She can be childishly pixie or inscrutably adult. At once heartbreaking, and then sweetness and loveliness. Such fascination! No wonder motion picture audiences have been captivated for over fifty years.
Of course, it is impossible to fully expound on the beauty, graciousness, and loveliness that is Audrey Hepburn. She is the epitome, to me, of what an actress should be. Not only that, but what a human being should be, for by all counts she was as lovely in person as on the screen.
She is also my ultimate role model. Audrey had struggles like all of us; her father abandoned her family when she was six years old; her country was invaded and torn apart by war; she lived emaciated, eating tulip bulbs, until the Red Cross could send food. Yet throughout it all she did not become bitter. She didn't drown in self-pity. She didn't give up. She simply picked up her life and moved on. Even after becoming a major celebrity and winning an Oscar for her first feature film role, Audrey remained ever humble, ever the lady. "I probably hold the distinction of being one movie star who, by all laws of logic, should never have made it. At each stage of my career, I lacked the experience." And, "It's that wonderful old-fashioned idea that others come first and you come second. This was the whole ethic by which I was brought up. Others matter more than you do, so 'don't fuss, dear; get on with it.'"
Isn't she amazing?
