Robert Matzen is the author of Dutch Girl : Audrey Hepburn and World War II.
One of my all time favorite stories is Gigi!
Well known for her role in My Fair Lady, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Roman Holiday,
Audrey Kathleen van Heemstra Ruston, also had a secretive past.
This book is an eye opening look into that hidden past.
One of my all time favorite stories is Gigi!
Well known for her role in My Fair Lady, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Roman Holiday,
Audrey Kathleen van Heemstra Ruston, also had a secretive past.
This book is an eye opening look into that hidden past.
This book reveals the turbulent childhood of Hepburn,
living in the Netherlands through the German invasion and occupation of 1939 -1944.
The details of the story presented in Dutch Girl are fascinating in that they
happened to Audrey Hepburn, but also this is a historical account of World War II from
the Dutch perspective that has not really been examined until now.
The book reflects on the five years that Hepburn and her family along with the
Dutch people lived under Hitler’s rule.
“Not that they had ever listened to his speeches or obeyed,
but it had been a life under the oppression of his terrible will
and his twisted soul that they had endured.” Audrey and her family
lived in the town of Velp, which when the British and Americans came to
liberate them had been under siege and everyone was living in hiding.
living in the Netherlands through the German invasion and occupation of 1939 -1944.
The details of the story presented in Dutch Girl are fascinating in that they
happened to Audrey Hepburn, but also this is a historical account of World War II from
the Dutch perspective that has not really been examined until now.
The book reflects on the five years that Hepburn and her family along with the
Dutch people lived under Hitler’s rule.
“Not that they had ever listened to his speeches or obeyed,
but it had been a life under the oppression of his terrible will
and his twisted soul that they had endured.” Audrey and her family
lived in the town of Velp, which when the British and Americans came to
liberate them had been under siege and everyone was living in hiding.
She was sixteen at the time of the liberation. Audrey and her mother went to live in Amsterdam.
This would later connect her to Anne Frank’s story.
Then onto London to start her career and leave her mother and her political troubles behind.
Her first success was as a chorus girl in High Button Shoes.
Then MGM came to town and Audrey won a screen test. Her stardom began in 1953.
The amazing part is that like Gigi and Eliza Doolittle from My Fair Lady,
Hepburn’s story is a similar story of unexpected success at something she was aiming toward.
This would later connect her to Anne Frank’s story.
Then onto London to start her career and leave her mother and her political troubles behind.
Her first success was as a chorus girl in High Button Shoes.
Then MGM came to town and Audrey won a screen test. Her stardom began in 1953.
The amazing part is that like Gigi and Eliza Doolittle from My Fair Lady,
Hepburn’s story is a similar story of unexpected success at something she was aiming toward.
In an 1965 interview she says, “I can safely say that unlike others
I simply stumbled into movies. And from one thing to another.”
It was never a career she wanted, it was a career that came easily to her -
she had grown into an exotic face that responded to makeup and lighting.
I simply stumbled into movies. And from one thing to another.”
It was never a career she wanted, it was a career that came easily to her -
she had grown into an exotic face that responded to makeup and lighting.
“My success - still bewilders me.” And she was - a great success!
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