When the final word is written on the entertainment industry in the 20th century, and the ultimate list of popular and talented actors, the subject of this post will most certainly grace one of that list's the top positions.
Audrey Kathleen Ruston was born on May 4, 1929 in Brussels, Belgium, the daughter of a prosperous English banker and a Dutch Baroness. Shortly after her birth, Audrey's father changed her name to Audrey Hepburn Kathleen Ruston, after finding the name "Hepburn" in his ancestry. She and her mother just happened to be on vacation in Holland when they were caught up in Hitler's invasion and occupation of that country. On the run, Audrey assumed the name of Edda Kathleen as they evaded the Nazi forces.
Audrey Kathleen Ruston was born on May 4, 1929 in Brussels, Belgium, the daughter of a prosperous English banker and a Dutch Baroness. Shortly after her birth, Audrey's father changed her name to Audrey Hepburn Kathleen Ruston, after finding the name "Hepburn" in his ancestry. She and her mother just happened to be on vacation in Holland when they were caught up in Hitler's invasion and occupation of that country. On the run, Audrey assumed the name of Edda Kathleen as they evaded the Nazi forces. Those were difficult years for Audrey, but after WWII she became a model until spotted by a movie producer. That is when her career really took off with an amazing string of extremely popular movies - Roman Holiday (1953); Funny Face (1957); Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961); and My Fair Lady (1964). She won an Oscar (best actress) for her role in Roman Holiday, and was nominated for an Academy Award for her performances in Funny Face, Nun's Story, Wait Until Dark, and Breakfast at Tiffany's. She was named as People's magazine "50 most beautiful people in the world," Empire magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time," and, from 1988 to 1993 she was a special ambassador to the United Nations UNICEF fund.
Audrey Hepburn was married twice, made her final film in 1989 ( Always). She passed away on January 20, 1993 in Switzerland after battling colon cancer.
So, how is our family related to this amazing actress? To answer is to again take a journey back to royalty in the Old World. There we find that Audrey Hepburn and our father are 19th cousins 1 time removed. Here is the connection:
| Richard "Copped Hat" Fitzalan (the 10th Earl of Arundel) and Eleanor Plantagenet, Countess Of Arundel | ||
| Sir John Fitzalan, Lord Of Arundel (b.1348) | {siblings} | Alice Fitzalan Countess of Kent (b.1350) |
| Margaret Fitzalan (b.1370) | {1st cousins} | Eleanor de Holland (b.1373) |
| Baron Thomas de Ros IIX (b.1406) | {2nd cousins} | Alice De Montague, Countess Salisbury, (b.1405) |
| Richard de Ros (b.1428) | {3rd cousins} | Alice Montagu Neville, Baroness FitzHugh (b.1431) |
| Mary de Ros (b.1478) | {4th cousins} | Elizabeth FitzHugh (b.1465) |
| Margaret Capell (b.1500) | {5th cousins} | Anna Catherine Vaux (b.1492) |
| Geoffrey Warde (b.1526) | {6th cousins} | Sir Thomas Throckmorton (b.1512) |
| Thomas Warde (b.1548) | {7th cousins} | Ann Throckmorton (b.1549) |
| Richard Ward (b.1575) | {8th cousins} | Philippe Sheldon (b.1580) |
| Gov. Andrew Ward (b.1597) | {9th cousins} | Ralph Sulyard (b.1612) |
| Esther Ward (b.1623) | {10th cousins} | Thomas Sulyard (b.1660) |
| Daniel Burr (b.1660) | {11th cousins} | Agnes Johanna Sulyard (b.1695) |
| Elizabeth Burr (b.1696) | {12th cousins} | Pieter Anthony Godin (b.1725) |
| Nathaniel Hull (b.1726) | {13th cousins} | Antoinette Charlotte Godin (b.1753) |
| Ezekiel Hull (b.1765) | {14th cousins} | Cornelia Anna van Westreenen (b.1777) |
| Platt Hull (b.1787) | {15th cousins} | Aamoud Jan de Beaufort (b.1797) |
| Ezekiel Hull (b.1813) | {16th cousins} | Wilhelmina de Beaufort (b.1843) |
| Rebecca L. Hull (b.1841) | {17th cousins} | Baron Aarnoud Jan Anne Aleid van Heemstra (b.1871) |
| Frank Martin Bragg (b.1867) | {18th cousins} | Baroness Ellavan Heemstra (b.1900) |
| Orval Bishop Bragg (b.1895) | {19th cousins} | Audrey Kathleen Hepburn (b.1929) |
| Don C. Bragg (b.1920) | ||
Sources:
Audrey Hepburn Biography, Elegant Woman,
http://www.elegantwoman.org/audrey-hepburn-biography.html
Rootsweb, Anybody and Everybody,
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=okami&id=I13466
Wikipedia, Audrey Hepburn, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audrey_Hepburn
The Internet Movie Database, Biography for Audrey Hepburn
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000030/bio
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