Audrey Hepburn was born on May 4, 1929 in Brussels, Belgium, with the given name of Edda Kathleen van Heemstra  Hepburn-Ruston. She really was blue-blood from the beginning with her father, a wealthy English banker, and her mother, a Dutch baroness. After her parents divorced, Audrey went to London with her mother where she went to a private girls school. Later, when her mother moved back to the Netherlands, she attended private schools as well. While vacationing with her mother in Arnhem, Holland, Hitler's army suddenly took over the town. It was here that she fell on hard times during the Nazi occupation. Audrey suffered from depression and malnutrition. After the liberation, Audrey went to a ballet school in London on a scholarship and later began a modeling career. As a model, she was graceful and, it seemed, she had found her niche in life--until the film producers came calling. After being spotted modeling by a producer, she was signed to a bit part in the European film Nederlands in 7 lessen (1948) in 1948. Later, she had a speaking role in the 1951 film, Young Wives' Tale (1951) as Eve Lester. The part still wasn't much, so she headed to America to try her luck there.
 

 

 

 Audrey gained immediate prominence in the US with her role in Roman Holiday (1953) in 1953. This film turned out to be a smashing success as she won an Oscar as Best Actress. This gained her enormous popularity and more plum roles. One of the reasons for her popularity was the fact that she was so elf like and had class, unlike the sex-goddesses of the time. Roman Holiday was followed by another similarly wonderful performance in the 1957 classic Funny Face (1957). Sabrina (1954), in 1954, for which she received another Academy nomination, and Love in the Afternoon (1957), in 1957, also garnered rave reviews. In 1959, she received yet another nomination for her role in _Nun's Story (1959). Audrey reached the pinnacle of her career when she played Holly Golightly in the delightful film, Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) in 1961. For this she received another nomination. One of Audrey's most radiant roles was in the fine production of My Fair Lady (1964), in 1964. Her co-star Rex Harrison once was asked to identify his favorite leading lady. Without hesitation, he replied, "Audrey Hepburn in MY FAIR LADY". After a couple of other movies, she hit pay dirt and another nomination in 1967's Wait Until Dark (1967).
 

 

 

 By the end of the sixties, after her divorce from actor Mel Ferrer, Audrey decided to retire while she was on top. Later she married Dr. Andrea Dotti. From time to time, she would appear on the silver screen. One film of note was Robin and Marian (1976) with Sean Connery in 1976. In 1988, Audrey became a special ambassador to the United Nations UNICEF fund helping children in Latin America and Africa, a position she retained until 1993. She was named to People's magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. Her last film was Always (1989) in 1989. Audrey Hepburn died on January 20, 1993 in Tolochnaz, Switzerland, from colon cancer. She had made a total of 31 high quality movies. Her elegance and style will always be remembered in film history as evidenced by her being named to Empire magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time".

 

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【重点词汇】

 

1.prominence：突起，凸出；显著，杰出，卓越，声望。奥黛丽在《罗马假日》中的精彩
演出，这部影片取得了了不起的（smashing)成功，造就了奥黛丽的一个奥斯卡最佳女主角金像奖的诞生，使她立即在美国成为卓越、引人注目。例如：give prominence to the key

2.points： 突出重点之意。

3.plum：本指李子，洋李；紫红色，青紫色；最好的东西，佳品，令人垂涎的东西（尤指
待遇好的职位、奖金等）；意外收获（指遗产、收入、财产等）。A plum of a case came

4.his way： 一件大有油水的案子让他揽了。奥黛丽·赫本因为《罗马假日》获得奥斯卡最佳女
主角金像奖使她获得巨大的知名度，给她带来最好的影响。

 5.elf：可爱的小精灵（民间故事中的具人形的精灵，常出没于山林中，喜与人捣乱）；小妖精，不过一定要记住这些都是善意的、善良的、给人以愉悦的、令人产生轻松喜爱的精灵、小妖哟！而非那些可怕邪恶的妖魔鬼怪。赫本能够如此风行、令世人着迷，一个原因是
她那天真清纯、善良典雅、贤良亲切的小精灵形象以及她那古典美（俏皮活泼的短发，给人
健康的感觉），不象当时风行的性感金发女郎，她使世风转为自然清新之美。

 6.nomination：提名，任命。1954年奥黛丽·赫本因为《萨布瑞娜》而获得奥斯卡提名。

 7.garner：获得，得到。rave：（口语）（对电影、戏剧等的）狂热褒评；赞扬；吹捧。
奥黛丽·赫本在１９５７年的《黄昏之恋》也获得评论界的盛誉。

 8.pinnacle： 高峰，山峰；（喻）顶峰，极点，顶点。reach the pinnacle of power达
到权力的顶峰。奥黛丽·赫本在1961年的《第凡尼早餐》达到她事业的顶点。

 9.divorce：离婚．sue for a divorce 请求离婚。

 10.ambassador：大使 an ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary特命全权大使；（派驻国际组织的）代表an ambassador to the United States驻联合国代表；特使，使节the special ambassador of the Spanish Government西班牙政府特使

 11.UNICEF ：是联合国儿童基金会United Nations Children's Fund的缩写，注意：
UNICEF或Unicef是其前身United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund 的缩略，现仍沿用。晚年（88-93）奥黛丽·赫本作为联合国儿童基金会特使，赴拉丁美洲和非洲救助那些贫困的孩子，她的爱心与人格犹如她的影片一样灿烂人间。

 12.colon：此词有颇多含义，有冒号、科郎（哥斯达黎加货币单位）等之意，在此是结肠之意。奥黛丽·赫本于1993年1月20日，在瑞士洛桑死于结肠癌。
blue-blood：贵族（或王族，名门）出身；贵族，王族，名门望族。由于某些自命血统纯正的西班牙古老贵族中人的静脉较之其他深肤色的人更呈蓝色的原因。奥黛丽·赫本是贵族血统，她的父亲是英国富有的银行家，她的母亲是丹麦女男爵或者可说为男爵夫人(baroness，男爵就是baron了)。

 13.vacation：（一年中定期的）休息，休假，假期；假日，休息天，节日。be on vacation 在度假/summer vacation 暑假。take a day's vacation 休假一天。

 14.Nazi：（德国）国社党党员，纳粹分子；常作名词为法西斯分子之意。

 15.malnutrition：营养不良。例如：suffer from malnutrition 患营养不良。在二战纳粹统治奥黛丽·赫本的居住地之时，赫本一直在忍受着抑郁愁苦和营养不良的痛苦。

 16.niche：合适的职务（或地位等）。如：He found his niche in politics他在政界谋到了一个合适的位置。最初奥黛丽·赫本作了模特，她很优美而且她感到似乎她已经找到适合她一生的合适位置。