Edda van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston (aka Audrey Hepburn) was born in Brussels, Belgium on May 4,1929. Her mother was a Dutch Baroness and her father was a wealthy British banker. 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 took over the town. It was here that she fell on hard times during the Nazi occupation. Audrey suffered from depression, malnutrition, anemia, respiratory problems, and edimia. 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 Dutch in Seven Easy Lessons in 1948. Later, she had a speaking role in the 1951 film, Young Wives' Tale 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 United States 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 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)and Sabrina 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". In 1987, Audrey was officially appointed to succeed Danny Kaye (who died that year) as the Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. Accompanied by her companion until her death, Robert Wolders, she visited such places as Ethiopia, the Sudan, Bangladesh, and Vietnam. After returning from Somalia in 1991, Audrey was diagnosed with colon cancer. On January 20, 1993, Audrey Hepburn died at the age of 63 in Tolchenaz, Switzerland.