Audrey Hepburn: The life story you may not know

Audrey Hepburn was born Audrey Kathleen Ruston on May 4, 1929, in Brussels. During World War II, her mother, Dutch Baroness Ella Van Heemstra, changed her child's name to Edda Van Heemstra to mask her British roots. Her father, Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston, born to English and Austrian parents, changed his surname to Hepburn-Ruston, as he believed he was descended from an English earl, James Hepburn. He left the family when Audrey was 6 years old.

Hepburn attended boarding school in England as a child but lived in Nazi-occupied Holland during World War II. Her mother started as a Nazi sympathizer, but when Audrey's uncle was imprisoned and killed, mother and daughter fled to a nearby town and Audrey's mother quickly began supporting the resistance.

Years later, Hepburn recalled that the hardship during the war was so great and her family was so hungry that they ate tulip bulbs.

Hepburn served as a volunteer nurse in a hospital that treated wounded Allied soldiers. A ballet student, she gave dance performances to help raise funds for the Dutch Underground and was at times a courier delivering messages for the anti-Nazi resistance effort.

Following World War II, Hepburn modeled and studied ballet in Amsterdam and London. In 1948, she debuted on stage in London as a chorus girl in a musical called "High Button Shoes."

Hepburn's first film role was an uncredited appearance in the 1951 movie "One Wild Oat." She also appeared that year in "The Lavender Hill Mob" starring Alec Guinness. Her first starring role came with the 1951 Broadway release of "Gigi," which was made into a film in 1958 starring Leslie Caron in the title role.

While filming a movie in Monte Carlo, Hepburn was spotted by the French author Colette, who wanted her to play the title role in the stage production of her novel "Gigi." In 1951, at age 22, Hepburn starred in the Broadway hit.

Hepburn won an Academy Award for her role as Princess Ann, a character making a brief escape from her royal duties, in the 1953 hit "Roman Holiday." The film co-starred Gregory Peck, who played a reporter.

In what was her last appearance on a Broadway stage, Hepburn won a Tony Award for her lead role in the 1954 Broadway show "Ondine." Her co-star was actor Mel Ferrer, whom Hepburn married in Switzerland in September that year.

Hepburn played the title character in 1954's "Sabrina," which also starred Humphrey Bogart and William Holden. The actor got an Academy Award nomination for her role in the romantic comedy about the daughter of a chauffeur and the competing attention of two wealthy brothers.

Hepburn and Holden began an affair during filming that consumed both stars to the point that Holden agreed to leave his wife and children for Hepburn. Hepburn, who wanted to have children of her own, broke things off on the spot when she learned Holden had undergone a vasectomy years earlier. Neither star fully recovered from the break-up, with each spiraling out into numerous affairs and Hepburn's obsession with having children driving her into two sorely mismatched marriages that ended in divorce.

Hepburn danced across from Fred Astaire in 1957's "Funny Face." Her costumes were designed by Hubert de Givenchy, who also designed her wardrobe in "Love in the Afternoon" in 1957, "Breakfast at Tiffany's" in 1961, "Charade" in 1963, and other films. The little black dress she wore in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" sold at a Christie's auction in 2006 for more than $920,000.

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Hepburn's mother, Baroness Ella Van Heemstra, made a cameo appearance in 1957's "Funny Face" as a patron in a sidewalk café. The actor's Yorkshire terrier, Mr. Famous, also appears in the movie.

Hepburn appeared in the movie version of "War and Peace" alongside her husband Mel Ferrer, whom she married on the rebound from William Holden, in 1956. In 1959, she played a nun struggling to fulfill her vows in "The Nun's Story," a role that earned her an Academy Award nomination.

Hepburn's part in the 1960 Western "Unforgiven," directed by John Huston, was one of her least favorite roles. While filming a scene on horseback, Hepburn was thrown from the horse and broke her back. She had a miscarriage several months later.

In 1960, Hepburn had her first child, Sean. She had a late miscarriage during her next pregnancy, at six months. Hepburn's second son, Luca, was born in 1970.

One of Hepburn's most iconic film roles was playing Holly Golightly in 1961's "Breakfast at Tiffany's," based on a story by Truman Capote. The role earned Hepburn her fourth Academy Award nomination. Capote did not want Hepburn for the role; he had wanted it to go to Marilyn Monroe.

Composer Henry Mancini said he wrote his famed "Moon River" especially for Hepburn, who sings it in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" to enchant her writer neighbor (played by George Peppard). Mancini said of all the versions of "Moon River," he thought hers was "the greatest."

Playing Eliza Doolittle in the 1964 movie "My Fair Lady" was one of Hepburn's most controversial roles. Many people wanted the part to go to Julie Andrews, who had appeared in the Broadway version. Hepburn's singing in the film was dubbed by singer Marni Nixon, and the actor revealed later that she would not have taken the part if she had known that producer Jack Warner did not want her to sing.

Hepburn co-starred with Albert Finney in "Two for the Road" in 1967. Her fifth Academy Award nomination came later that year, for her role as a blind woman in the thriller "Wait Until Dark" with Alan Arkin.

After divorcing Mel Ferrer in 1968, Hepburn married Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti in 1969. Their subsequent divorce was finalized in 1982. Her companion from 1980 until her death was Robert Wolders, a Dutch actor once married to fellow actor Merle Oberon.

Hepburn became a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF in 1989, making more than 50 trips visiting UNICEF projects around the world. The trips, many dangerous, brought the star into communities where some of the world's most vulnerable children lived in order to raise global awareness of a number of humanitarian crises.

The actor turned down the lead role in the 1959 movie adaptation of "The Diary of Anne Frank," saying she was too old for the part. In 1990, Hepburn narrated portions of the diary for a symphonic work by composer Michael Tilson Thomas, touring the United States and England with proceeds going to UNICEF.

Hepburn's last trip for UNICEF was a mission to Somalia in September 1992, after which she complained of stomach pains. She was diagnosed with appendiceal cancer two months later.

President George Bush awarded Hepburn the Presidential Medal of Freedom in December 1992 to honor her work with UNICEF. The actor was too sick to attend the ceremony.

Hepburn died on Jan. 20, 1993, at home in Tolochenaz, Switzerland, after her battle with cancer. Her gravesite in Tolochenaz is a major tourist attraction, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.

Hepburn received a special Academy Award for her work with UNICEF. The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award was awarded to her posthumously in 1993.