The Untold Truth About Hollywood Icon Audrey Hepburn

This article appeared in simplyurbans.com and has been published here with permission.

Audrey Hepburn was the ultimate Hollywood icon but behind her perfect smile, she was incredibly insecure and lived a sad and lonely life. Today, we’ll get up close and personal with the stunning starlet who epitomized grace, sophistication, and elegance. We’ll begin with her origin story and traumatic childhood growing up in Holland and follow her early career and rise to stardom. Along the way, we’ll learn all about her scandalous life.

A Star Is Born

Audrey Hepburn was born Audrey Kathleen Ruston on May 4th, 1929, in Brussels, Belgium. She was born into an aristocratic family; her mother was Baroness Ella van Heemstra Ruston-Hepburn, and her father was Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston. The family called the young Audrey by her nickname, Adriaantje.

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In 1935, when Audrey was six, her father abandoned the family. He jumped on a boat and disappeared from their lives. His betrayal changed her life and shaped her personality.

Childhood Trauma

In one of her last interviews, Hepburn revealed to Life magazine how devastating her parents' divorce was. "My father leaving was the first big blow I had as a child; it was a trauma that left a very big mark on me; it left me insecure for life."

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She continued, "He disappeared one day. Mother explained he had gone away on a trip and was not coming back. Mother wouldn't stop crying, I would just try and be with her, but as a child, you can't quite understand."

Origin Story

Years later, Audrey described her father abandoning the family as "the most traumatic event of my life." She often spoke of the devastating effects of abandonment because she felt that "children need two parents."

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Ella cared for Audrey, but as a product of Dutch nobility, she was old-fashioned, emotionally distant, and cold. "I worshiped my father and missed him terribly from the day he disappeared. ... My mother had great love for me, but she was not always able to show it."

Staying Safe

Audrey grew up in Belgium, The Netherlands, and England. When she was seven, her mom sent her to boarding school in Kent, England, between 1936 and 1939. In 1939, she and her mother returned to the Netherlands because Ella believed they would be safer there.

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Ella and Joseph had both raised money for the British right-wing party, and Joseph was later imprisoned as an enemy of the United Kingdom. When Audrey became famous, her PR team worked hard to keep this side of the family history hidden.