Audrey Hepburn and War
Adeline Gizatullina’s production I Created Audrey Hepburn, staged at the Studio Stage of the Vakhtangov Theatre, demonstrates that reflecting on the fate of the outstanding Dutch-British actress who became one of the defining symbols of twentieth-century cinema remains deeply relevant. The play premiered on Audrey’s birthday — not as a planned symbolic gesture, but as a remarkable coincidence that further emphasizes the unique nature and destiny of a woman who became a style icon. On the eve of Victory Day, it seems fitting to say a few words about her life.
Speaking about Audrey Hepburn is as difficult as speaking about the relationship between a daughter and her mother. It is challenging philosophically, because of the contradictions within Hepburn herself, and because of the complexity of mother–daughter relationships in general. Gizatullina found inspiration in Audrey Hepburn’s memoirs, completed three months before her death, where she reflected on her successes and disappointments, sometimes attributing them to her mother’s influence and at other times to her mother’s absence.
We know Audrey Hepburn as a great actress, a style icon, a thinker, a public figure, and a philanthropist devoted to helping vulnerable children and those facing illness and hardship. In her humanitarian work she involved members of the British royal family and other European royal houses. This was perhaps unsurprising: Audrey’s father descended from James Hepburn, the third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, while her mother, Baroness van Heemstra, later became a Dame of the Order of St. John under Queen Elizabeth II.
Today, however, I want to return to where her journey truly began — the beginning of World War II and the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.
Like anyone’s story, the key to understanding Audrey’s life lies in her family history. During this period she lost her father, who returned to Britain and was later imprisoned because of his pro-Nazi sympathies. Her mother, who had once shared those sympathies — the couple even met Hitler in 1935 — eventually broke with such beliefs and took Audrey away from the war.
The young girl found refuge in ballet, hiding from horror while witnessing the brutality of the occupation in Arnhem. Audrey saw her uncle Otto executed after being accused of involvement in an attack on a German train. She later moved to live with her maternal grandfather in a nearby town and became a volunteer for Dr. Hendrik Visser ’t Hooft, who had close ties with the Dutch Resistance. Audrey and her mother participated in his so-called “black evenings,” clandestine fundraising concerts supporting resistance activities, and they helped care for the wounded.
A frail young girl in a devastated city, wearing worn-out ballet shoes, danced almost to the point of exhaustion. It was later said that no one realized that each movement carried hidden meaning — signaling information about German troop movements and officers entering the city. Messages for Resistance members were reportedly hidden in her shoes, a task that could have cost her life had she been discovered. At one point, her family even hid an Allied paratrooper in their home.
There was a period when Audrey spent nearly two months hiding in a cold, dark basement, surviving on little more than tulip bulbs. Authorities had begun suspecting that she was acting as a messenger and observer for the Resistance, gathering information about German military activity.
Her family lived in severe poverty, and wartime malnutrition would affect her health for years to come. Yet the determination and resilience formed during her childhood became part of what made her extraordinary. Audrey maintained not only exceptional discipline in her physical life, but also developed an ability to immerse herself completely in a role and enter the emotional world of a film almost instantly.
Her mother remained a constant and powerful presence in her life — protective, controlling, and deeply involved. She tried to guide every step Audrey took.
Audrey was only sixteen when the Netherlands was finally liberated. She suffered from jaundice, asthma, edema, and anemia, but soon found the strength to return to ballet. That path led her first to Amsterdam, then London, and eventually to the career that would make her one of cinema’s most enduring legends.
One important note: several anecdotes and interpretations surrounding Audrey Hepburn’s wartime experiences and later career — particularly details about Resistance activities or personal relationships influencing film roles — have been debated or disputed over time. The broader story of her wartime hardship and its lasting impact on her life, however, is well documented.