Audrey Hepburn was not the first choice to star in Breakfast at Tiffany's; the author of the book loved Marilyn Monroe
Audrey Hepburn is considered an icon of fashion and the golden age of cinema in the United States and a reference to current popular culture.
She conquered the hearts of millions around the world thanks to her talent reflected in work on the big screen such as the successful film Breakfast at Tiffany's, altruistic work and her marked elegant and luxurious style.
Her real name was Audrey Kathleen Ruston, but she adopted the name Audrey Hepburn towards the end of the 1940s when her acting career was beginning to take off in Europe.
Below we present 10 curious facts that you may not have known about this multifaceted artist, talented in dancing, acting, fashion and even languages.
Audrey was born in Belgium on May 4, 1929, but due to her father's work in an insurance company, Audrey and her family had the opportunity to travel to the Netherlands and the United Kingdom where she also worked as a dancer and actress before conquer Hollywood.
She is one of 15 celebrities to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. That is why she is part of the EGOT club which only has 14 members in the whole world.
Not only was she talented in the performing arts, but she was a diligent student capable of speaking fluently and perfectly understanding English, Spanish, French, Dutch and Italian.
She was not the first choice for Breakfast at Tiffany's
Although her role as Holly Golightly is one of the most memorable and iconic in film history, Audrey was not the first choice of the literary novel's author, Truman Capote, to star in the film adaptation.
Instead, the author wanted to give the role of her to Marilyn Monroe, but the actress rejected it because her acting coach and advisor told her that she should not play a “lady of the night.”
Her first performance was in an educational film
The actress first appeared in front of the camera in 1948 with the educational travel film Dutch in Seven Lessons. Her role was that of a flight attendant.
She started dancing at the age of five.
When she moved to the UK she was enrolled in a private ballet academy in Kent, by 1944 she was already a professional dancer and she was secretly performing to raise funds to achieve Dutch residency.
Her parents were Nazi sympathizers.
Her parents were members of the British Union of Fascists, according to Biography. At the time her acting career began to bear fruit, this fact was little known, which kept her image and reputation intact. Personally, the actress supported the resistance and was against any act related to genocide.
She also dedicated her life to humanitarian aid around the world, working closely with the UN and UNICEF.
She won an Oscar for Roman Holiday in 1953.
Audrey was an unknown when she was given the lead role in this film alongside actor Gregory Peck. After receiving little recognition in the credits, the rising star received her first nomination and only Oscar for her performance.
The black dress from Breakfast at Tiffany's sold for almost 1 million
Holly's iconic black dress, designed by Givenchy, which she wore at the beginning of the film, was auctioned in 2006 for a profit of $923,187.
At that time, the cost set a record, but it was broken by the Marilyn Monroe dress that she wore in The Seven Year Itch; They paid $5.6 million dollars for him.
There is a tulip named after him
It was in 1990 that the Flower Information Society of the Netherlands named a rare hybrid species of white tulip in honor of the actress and dedicated to her “career and her many years of work at UNICEF.” The flower was planted on the old family farm in Holland.
