Audrey Hepburn
From ballet student to Oscar, Tony, Emmy, Grammy. Audrey Hepburn trained as a ballet dancer, won an Oscar for her first leading film role and is one of the few stars with all four major awards.
Portrait by Bud Fraker, 1953: Bud Fraker (1916-2002) [1], Public domain
A dancer first
Before she was a film star, Audrey Hepburn wanted to be a ballerina. She trained seriously in the Netherlands and later in London, where she won a ballet scholarship. Teachers told her she was too tall to become a prima ballerina, so she took dancing and small acting jobs in London shows and films.
Her dance training stayed with her. Directors and photographers often noticed her posture and graceful way of moving, which became part of her famous screen image.
Picked by a famous writer
Her big break came almost by accident. While she was filming a small part in Monte Carlo, the French novelist Colette saw her and decided she was perfect for the title role in the Broadway version of Gigi. The play opened in New York in November 1951.
Around the same time, Paramount tested her for a princess role in Roman Holiday. The director, William Wyler, liked what he saw in her screen test, and she was cast opposite Gregory Peck.
Overnight star
Roman Holiday (1953) made her a star. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her first leading role in a Hollywood film, and she became the first actress to win the Oscar, the Golden Globe and the BAFTA for the same performance.
In the same year she won a Tony Award for the play Ondine. She went on to earn five Oscar nominations in total, with films such as Sabrina, The Nun's Story, Breakfast at Tiffany's and Wait Until Dark.
All four major awards
Hepburn is one of very few entertainers to have won competitive Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony awards. The last two arrived after her death in 1993: an Emmy for the travel series Gardens of the World and a Grammy for a spoken-word album of stories for children.
In her later years she gave much of her time to children's charity work with UNICEF, and the Academy honored that work with its Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1993.
Why her image lasts
Part of Hepburn's lasting fame comes from how carefully she was photographed. Studio portrait artists such as Bud Fraker at Paramount captured her in clean, simple images that still look modern today.
Her collaborations with fashion designers also made her a style icon, and her films are still used as references by photographers, stylists and costume designers around the world.
- Portrait by Bud Fraker, 1953: Bud Fraker (1916-2002) [1], Public domain
- Publicity portrait, 1957: Allied Artists Pictures Corporation, Public domain
Text written by Amazing Movie Star.
