Audrey Hepburn was recognized as a film and fashion icon. She was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third greatest female screen legend in the history of the American Cinema and is in the International Best Dressed List hall of fame.
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In 1951, Audrey was offered the leading role in Laughter in Paradise but turned it down, she did however, take a smaller role in the movie as a cigarette girl. Another fleeting appearance for Audrey in the classic comedy, The Lavender Hill Mob, where she played the role Chiquita. Audrey played Nora in a political film set in thirties Britain, The Secret People. This was Audrey's biggest role so far. Then, Audrey went to the United States to make her Broadway debut, Gigi. She was discovered by Collette after meeting on the set of Monte Carlo Baby.
In 1953, Audrey's international breakthrough came in Roman Holiday. Audrey played the lead role as Princess Ann who escapes her duties as a princess for a day of adventure in Rome, accompanied by actor Gregory Peck. From this lead role, Audrey was the first actress to win an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for a single performance. In 1954, Audrey's second Hollywood picture, Sabrina, she plays Sabrina Fairchild, a chauffeur's daughter who goes to cooking school in Paris and returns a lady.
In 1956, In the amazing film War & Peace, we finally get to see Audrey in color. Audrey plays the role of Natasha Rostov in this adaptation of Tostoys classic novel set during the Napoleonic wars. In 1957, Audrey stars in her first musical, Funny Face, with the lead role as Jo Stockton - A bookstore clerk who agrees to be the new face of Quality Magazine.
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In 1960, Audrey plays the role of Rachel Zachary, a native american woman brought up by a white family, only to discover her true identity when a mysterious stranger appears, in The Forgiven. In 1961, Audrey plays her most fondly remembered role as Holly Golightly, in Breakfast at Tiffany's. She plays a slightly kooky, urban sophisticate with a flighty charm only Audrey could portray. In The Children's Hour, Audrey plays a teacher, Karen Wright, along side her costar, actress Shirley Maclaine. Together the run a boarding school for girls, everything is going great until one of the girls accuses them of being lovers.
In 1963, Audrey plays Reggie Lampert in the classic 60's romantic crime caper, Charade. She finds herself pursued by a gang of thugs chasing a loot of $250,000 they claim her late husband stole from them. In 1964, Audrey plays Gaby Simpson, in Paris When It Sizzles. Along side her is actor William Holden, who has just spent nine weeks living the playboy lifestyle and together they have 48 hours to write a screen play about it. A common flower girl with curb-stone English is transformed into a lady in the hit Broadway musical, My Fair Lady, where Audrey stars as Eliza Dolittle. In 1966, Audrey plays Nicole, the daughter of a famous art collector who only collects forgeries in How to Steal a Million. When she fears her father will be exposed she sets out to steal one of her fathers priceless statues.
In 1967, Audrey shows off her true acting abilities when she plays a blind woman who outsmarts a gang of criminals look for drugs in child's doll in Wait Until Dark, earning herself a 5th Academy Award. In Two for the Road, one of Audrey's finest performances, she plays the wife of an aspiring architect in a film that explores their relationship over 12 years. After nine years, Audrey stars in Robin & Marian in 1976. This is a film about the aging Robin Hood and Maid Marian, reuniting after Robin returns from the crusades. In 1989, Audrey returns for one last movie appearance in Steven Spielberg's Always, where Audrey plays Hap, an angel sent to guide lost soul Richard Dreyfuss as he provides inspiration to a rookie fire-fighting pilot.
Audrey devoted much of her later life to UNICEF. Audrey had been contributing since 1954, but she worked in the most profoundly disadvantaged communities of Africa, South America, and Asia between 1988 and 1992. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1992. A month later on January 20th 1993, Audrey died of appendiceal cancer in her home at the age of 63.
"The most important thing is to enjoy your life-to be happy-it's all that matters." -Audrey Hepburn