Audrey Kathleen Ruston (see page 3) was born on May 4, 1929 in Brussels, Belgium. It was almost unimaginable that this shy, quiet, and tomboy-ish child would blossom into one of the most iconic actresses in Hollywood’s Golden Age. Her mother, Baroness Ella van Heemstra, descended from a long line of Dutch land-owning aristocrats, while her father, Joseph Hepburn-Ruston, was a highly-placed Anglo-Irish banker. Her father was often away on business trips, but during the time he was at home, he and his wife constantly argued. Audrey was then sent to boarding school in England, where she took ballet classes and developed a strong passion for dance and music. At the young age of six, Audrey’s father left the household, which she has admitted to being one of the most traumatic moments of her life. In 1939, at Baroness Ella van Heemstra’s orders, Audrey was sent to live in Arnhem, Holland at her grandparent’s estate. She misleadingly thought that with Holland’s neutral state, it would be safer to live there during World War II than in England. Audrey suffered from anemia, asthma, and malnutrition during the war, but she still continued taking ballet lessons.
After the liberation of Holland in 1945, Audrey and her mother moved to England to further pursue her dream of becoming a prima-ballerina. Although she was a skilled dancer, she grew too tall, and was stuck with the parts of the males. This, along with Audrey’s physical suffering during the war, had limited her and she was eventually told she could not become a prima-ballerina. However, she decided not to waste opportunities, so she began to take work as a model, file clerk, and chorus girl in West End musicals such as High Button Shoes, Sauce Tartare, and Sauce Piquante. She also ...
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...ated, but still vulnerable. After the film Wait Until Dark (1967), Audrey goes into semi-retirement to better take care of Sean because her and Mel Ferrer divorce in 1968. While on a cruise, Audrey meets and falls in love with Italian psychiatrist, Andrea Dotti, whom she marries in 1969. She has her second son, Luca Dotti, just a little over a year later. In 1975, she returns to acting, starring in the movie Robin and Marian. However, after ten years of marriage, Andrea Dotti and Audrey Hepburn divorce. Audrey Hepburn had been very close to Connie Wald and met Robert Wolders, a Dutch actor, at one of her dinner parties in 1980. Both Robert and Audrey found that they had many similarities; both even coincidentally grew up nearby each other in Holland and struggled through many of the same hardships. Audrey’s last role was in the film Always (1989) as Hap, an angel.
The theatre is full of young men and women. The gas lanterns dimly light the room and the silhouette of a figure can be seen in the shadows of the stage. As she emerges, she is like a dream: a tall, elegant body with a form fitting bodice and tutu. She is entrancing on her tiny pointe shoes as she floats across the stage. Love and passion fill the air as she moves in such a way that is almost magical. The Romantic Ballet Period introduced the aspects of theme, costume, and new technique to the dance world and its influences are still seen in contemporary works in ballet.
Her lasting career was not given to her easily, therefore, creating an inspiring story full of hardships and success. Ever since she was a little girl, her dream was to become a successful and famous dancer. In New York City, when she was trying to fulfill her dream, she was unable to find a job in the theatre department. Instead of being discouraged, she decided to make something good come from it. She choreographed her own routines, created her own costumes, and organized solo recitals for audiences to enjoy. This event led her to the biggest adventure in her life that would later impact the world. She was invited to return back to London to pursue her education in the performing arts, so that she could further improve her talents that would make up her entire career.
To begin with, Martha’s desperate effort was one of her strong strengths. When Martha began dance, many people murmured that Martha would fail because she was “quite a few years above the average age of all the other girls in the school” (28), “dumpy, [and] unprepossessing” (28). However, she astonished her dance teachers and others “with her determination to learn and her quick mastery of difficult exercises, gestures, and steps” (30). Martha usually spent her time on the studio alone all day and night, seeking for unique, exotic, and alluring movements of her own. Ted Shawn, Mar...
From a young age, Eva had aspirations of becoming a famous actress. She enjoyed the theatre, and often put on small performances with her sister Erminda. When Eva was fifteen, she moved to Buenos Aires to pursue her interest in theater, a risky pursuit, because finding work and achieving success were not guaranteed. Fortunately, she was successful in finding work. She performed small, low-paying jobs until she captured her fir...
Katherine Dunham was an important figure in pushing for equality among all races. She became remembered through the unique twist she put on her ballet movements. Instead of pursuing traditional ballet, she choreographed ballets that incorporated African-American movements. Because of this, she has always been referred to as one of the “modern dance pioneers” (Cass 303). Even through struggles, she continued to strive to focus more on the dance traditions of other cultures and slowly help work towards the end of oppression towards particular races.
Her parents who at that time could not understand the choices she made are very happy for their daughter and what she has accomplish. When she left her home at the middle of a fight and never went back. She said,” I had to make my own way” and then lived in a Manhattan dance studio where she was training. Then she got an apartment with some friends in Manhattan Hell’s Kitchen. Since the time she move out of her home she started her showbiz career as a dancer in stage musicals and most notably in her tour to Golden musicals of Broadway and in a Japanese tour. Then she audition to be a fly girl in Fox’s hit comedy “In living Colors,” she beat out 2,000 other contenders in a nation wide competition. Then she cracked into Hollywood and she wanted to make a transition to acting, but she followed Color producer Keenan Ivory Wayans advice to stay with the show for a while before making any attempt to move on.
Monroe started to get into acting. She didn’t get to do a lot of movies at the time. When she was in a movie she was just an extra in the background. She really didn’t get any speaking roles. In 1947 she got her first speaking role in a movie. It wasn’t much but one line but it was a big step in her career to get a speaking role. She got another role in the movie Dangerous Years and got a slightly bigger role. In the movie she was a waitress and they gave her a close up. She thou...
The performance sets up the scene with the female dancers dressed as prominent women throughout history such as Rosie the Riveter, Nillie Bly, Mother Teresa, Amelia Earhart, and Florence Nightingale. The women take turns in the spotlight, using their movements to tell their story and significance in history. The story of Amelia Earhart was told symbolically through the performer’s actions. The audience are introduced to Earhart’s love of flying and her aspirations to be a renown female pilot through the performer’s imitation as a graceful plane flying across the stage with glee. However, her story takes a dark turn when she embarks on a quest to prove herself as a capable pilot in spite of being a woman. We see her downfall when her character, as a plane, struggles to stay in flight and eventually tumbles and falls, exiting the stage soon after to show her mysterious disappearance during her quest. The performer playing as Earhart succeeded in portraying her story and her downfall. The dancer’s performance as Earhart was followed by another significant performance which was the dance of Mother Teresa, who took the spotlight with her reserved yet expressive dances. During her dance, Mother Teresa made a notable move where she wanders the stage and places a hand on each of the women in a caring way, like a mother would do to her child. This action she performed in her dance
In 1933, Norma Jeane lived briefly with her mother. Gladys begin to show signs of mental depression and in 1934 was admitted to a rest home in Santa Monica. Grace McKee, a close friend of her mother took over the care of Norma Jeane. "Grace loved and adored her", recalled one of her co-workers. Grace, telling her..."Don't worry, Norma Jeane. You're going to be a beautiful girl when you get big...an important woman, a movie star." Grace was captivated by Jean Harlow, a superstar of the twenties, and Marilyn would later say:"and so Jean Harlow was my idol."
Probably the most celebrated of all actresses, Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jean Mortenson on June 1, 1926, in Los Angeles General Hospital. Prior to her birth, Marilyn's father bought a motorcycle and headed north to San Francisco, abandoning the family in Los Angeles. Marilyn grew up not knowing for sure who her father really was. Her mother, Gladys, had entered into several relationships, further confusing her daughter as to who it was who fathered her. Afterward, Gladys gave Norma Jean (Marilyn) the name of Baker, a boyfriend she had before Mortenson. Poverty was a constant companion to Gladys and Norma. Gladys, who was extremely attractive and worked for RKO Studios as a film cutter, suffered from mental illness and was in and out of mental institutions for the rest of her life, and because of that Norma Jean spent time in foster homes. When she was nine she was placed in an orphanage where she was to stay for the next two years. Upon being released from the orphanage, she went to yet another foster home. In 1942, at the age of 16, Norma Jean married 21-year-old aircraft plant worker James Dougherty. The marriage only lasted four years, and they divorced in 1946. By this time Marilyn began to model swimsuits and bleached her hair blonde. Various shots made their way into the public eye, where some were eventually seen by RKO Pictures head Howard Hughes. He offered Marilyn a screen test, but an agent suggested that 20th Century-Fox would be the better choice for her, since it was a much bigger and more prestigious studio. She was signed to a contract at $125 per week for a six-month period and that was increased by $25 per week at the end of that time when her contract was lengthened.
After graduation, Walker worked in Jackson, Mississippi, where she met and, in 1967, married civil rights attorney Melvyn Leventhal. She became pregnant again in 1968, but lost the baby due to somw issues. This led Walker to depression, and the loss...
Her films during the 50’s and 60’s have become classics throughout the American society and the world. Her humanitarian work with UNICEF has left a lasting impact on children in many third world countries. Along with her acting career and humanitarian work, she also continues to influence the world of fashion and inspire young girls today. The memory of Audrey Hepburn and the work she has done in all arenas of her life will continue to impact and inspire the world for many years to
in National Velvet. She became a child star. She wasn't the first actress in her family. Her
When someone mentions Marilyn Monroe, one usually thinks off the seductive all-American sex goddess who captured the world with her woman-childlike charm. Yet not many know her as the illegitimate child who endured a childhood of poverty and misery, sexual abuse, and years in foster home and orphanages. Most people don’t realize that her disrupted loveless childhood may been the main reason to her early death. Norma Jeane Baker’s father, Edward Mortenson, had deserted her mother, Gladys Baker neè Monroe, before she was born on June, 1 1926, in the charity ward of Los Angeles General Hospital. Due to Gladys’ instability and the fact that she was unmarried at the time, Norma Jeane was placed in a foster home. At the age of 7, Norma Jeane lived briefly with her mother. Gladys began to show signs of mental depression, and a year later she was admitted to a rest home. Norma Jeane was then placed with a family friend for a year until being placed in another orphanage for another two years. Norma Jeane was once heard to reflect on this time and say: "The world around me then was kind of grim...I had to learn to pretend in order to...I don’t know.. block the grimness. The whole world seen sort of closed to me..(I felt) on the outside of everything, and all I could do was to dream up any kind of pretend game." (MarilynMonroe,http://www.ionet.net/~jellenc/mmbio3.html) In 1941, Norma Jeane again lived with a family friend when she met Jim Dougherty, who was 5 years older than her.
Audrey Hepburn's career mainly started with a role in a movie called The Lavender Hill Mob. From there, she caught the attention of French novelist, Colette, who gave her the leading role in Gigi, a musical. (theguardian.com) After that in 1952, Audrey's played her ...