When one pictures Audrey Hepburn, they most likely the 25-year-old star of Sabrina or perhaps the thirty-something from Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Most of the photos that made Hepburn an icon are from her twenties and thirties. It is no surprise since the majority of her acting career took place during that time of her life.
Hepburn’s acting career largely ended at the end of the 1960s with just a few projects throughout the 1970s and 1980s. During this time, she devoted herself to The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and eventually became a Goodwill Ambassador for the organization.
I find the photos of her during this time not only strikingly elegant, but also at times painfully moving and hard to look at. I think these photos are worth sharing so that we might gain an understanding of Hepburn and the meaning of her life after acting.
September 1992, Audrey Hepburn in Somalia. © Robert Wolders
“I have a broken heart. I feel desperate. I can’t stand the idea that two million people are in imminent danger of starving to death, many of them children,” Hepburn during a trip to Ethiopia
“Often the kids would have flies all over them, but she would just go hug them. I had never seen that. Other people had a certain amount of hesitation, but she would just grab them. Children would just come up to hold her hand, touch her,” John Isaac, UN Photographer
“They deserve better – a life of security and opportunity and freedom and peace of mind. Most of them have never experienced such a life, but they sense its absence. The eyes say it all,” Hepburn, in the introduction of Betrayal: A Report on Violence Towards Children in Today’s World
“If people are not giving it’s because they don’t know, not because they don’t want to. So I hope to just help create a global awareness wherever it’s necessary,” Hepburn, during a trip to Ethiopia
“People in these places don’t know Audrey Hepburn, but they recognize the name UNICEF. When they see UNICEF their faces light up, because they know that something is happening,” Hepburn
“I walked into a nightmare. I have seen famine in Ethiopia and Bangladesh, but I have seen nothing like this – so much worse than I could possibly have imagined. I wasn’t prepared for this,” Hepburn, on a trip to Somalia four months before her death in 1992.
“Taking care of children has nothing to do with politics,” Hepburn
September 1992. Somalia. © Robert Wolders
“I saw but one glaring truth: These are not natural disasters but man-made tragedies for which there is only one manmade solution-peace,” Hepburn, on a trip to Sudan
“I have a broken heart. I feel desperate. I can’t stand the idea that two million people are in imminent danger of starving to death, many of them children,” Hepburn, reflecting on a trip to Ethiopia
“Somebody said to me the other day, ‘You know, it’s really senseless, what you’re doing. There’s always been suffering, there will always be suffering, and you’re just prolonging the suffering of these children [by rescuing them].’ My answer is, ‘Okay, then, let’s start with your grandchild. Don’t buy antibiotics if it gets pneumonia. Don’t take it to the hospital of it has an accident. It’s against life-against humanity-to think that way,” Hepburn
“I was born with an enormous need for affection, and a terrible need to give it,” Hepburn
December 1987 at Benefit Concert for UNICEF
“UNICEF’s mandate is to protect every child against famine, thirst, sickness, abuse and death. But today, we are dealing with a far more ominous threat. Man’s inhumanity to man. With the dark side of humanity – selfishness, avarice, adversities – which has already pollute our skies, emptied our oceans, destroyed our forests and extinguished thousands of beautiful animals. Are our children next?” Hepburn, in a statement to UNICEF’s Executive Board
Please note that I gave credit where I could find credit. If you own any of these photos and wish to receive credit, please email me at courtney[@]thosegraces.com.
The pictures above made me cry. We associate n credit Audrey for the Little Black Dress, style icon, Givenchy’s muse and son on….but to see the humanitarian side has made her my icon. A beautiful person. Audrey was is and will remain a woman of substance to me . Thanks for the pics
I totally agree! Audrey Hepburn was so much more than just a body with pretty clothes on it. Her life after her acting career “ended” (or rather, after she stopped acting), is so inspirational.
Audrey Hepburn is a true role model. Not only was she effortlessly beautiful and graceful but her passion for saving “the children of the world” is so inspiring. She was so humble and grateful although being a phenomenal actress and fashion icon. She has inspired me to work towards a world wide cause and I hope her story keeps inspiring generations to come!
She is beautiful and used that beauty to draw attention to an ugly problem. Her slenderness compared with the bodies of these children is so heartbreaking.
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I feel terrible that I’m just now getting to see this post! I bookmarked it to read as soon as you published it and then time just disappeared. But I’m glad I didn’t miss it, however late I am. You did a phenomenal job capturing the side of Audrey that’s so less often acknowledged. I remember reading that she considered one of the pictures from her missions with UNICEF to be her favorite even over the pictures she took with her own children and that she kept it by her bedside until her death. These children and the work that UNICEF was accomplishing meant so much to her; sometimes I wonder if she would be disappointed to know how much more attention goes to her films than her work with the organization, but I’m sure she’d be proud of the work UNICEF has continued to do. It’s always great to see celebrities using whatever “power” they have to draw attention to world issues, but with Audrey I don’t feel like she even considered herself to have any power at all – she would have gone to whatever extremes were necessary to help these children even if the rest of the world wasn’t watching.
Casee–I was just going through my blog and realized I never responded to this comment.
Thank you for your kind compliments–Hepburn was a truly inspirational woman. It’s so interesting to read about her life and her seeming withdraw from Hollywood after the 1970s. From everything I’ve read about her work with UNICEF, I know it meant a lot to her, maybe even more than her acting. Hopefully people who like her work will eventually be lead to the causes she supported.
Audrey is my favourite ever – a beautiful person, inside and out.
Thanks for this post
joy xx
You’re welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed.
I love that you post photos of Ms. Hepburn in her prime. What a wonderful reminder that it’s our character and our acts of service that matter more than some youthful definition of beauty. What tremendous courage to go and face the harsh realities she has and to answer the call to serve others where many would see a hopeless cause. I love the way she refuses to live in the dark and always brings it back home, saying “what if it were your child, would you turn your back then?”
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Thanks Laura! I really enjoyed putting this post together.
Service is so important and I only hope that more people realize that. And also that they realize Hepburn was so much more than an actress, but a truly wonderful human being. That quote about other people’s children struck me, too. If it was your kid, you would want to care for them.
Thanks for posting more pictures of Audrey Hepburn, and especially for the quotes.
Unfortunately there’s still so much to be done, I wish they wrote more about these matters and more “celebrities” stood by causes like these.
I wonder if her UNICEF travels got a wide press coverage at the time. I hope they did!
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Thank you for reading Madeline. It was such a fulfilling post to pull together.
I totally agree with you–we still have challenges that need to be faced head on by brave people.
I don’t know what the coverage was of her UNICEF work at that time. I know throughout the years I was vaguely aware of it but wasn’t informed as to how extensive it was.
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Omigosh…I’m teary eyed. The most beautiful and memorable pictures I have ever seen of Audrey Hepburn. I think I told you I was very enamored with Audrey Hepburn because of my dad’s stories when he worked with UNICEF but I have never seen pictures of it. Really really amazing and her voice and her need to give all she can really puts a lump in my throat. Gawsh if there were more people like this.
Thank you Courtney for putting so much thoughtfulness into this post. It is so wonderful.
Wow! I’m so honored by your comments and glad that my post could convey apart of Hepburn’s life that would move you.
I would love to hear more about your dad’s work with UNICEF! You should shoot me a line: courtney[@]thosegraces.com.
I think Hepburn went way above and beyond in her commitment to humanity and I think her upbringing and experience during WWII had a lot to do with her commitment. She talked about being in refugee camps herself and experiencing the help of UNICEF.
You’re welcome and I’m so glad you got so much from it!
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These photos *are* difficult to see, but they’re important and inform my view of Audrey Hepburn–I knew she did humanitarian work but not having actually seen images of it, it seemed abstract. And because all she is an can ever be to us is an image, having a fuller view of her through images is essential. Thank you!
Well said Autumn. Audrey Hepburn was so multi-faceted both in her personality and her life’s work. Both extended way beyond what we see on screen. She didn’t stop living when people stopped filming her and taking photos.
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