Quote:
Originally Posted by Rev
Beauty-wise the only woman that gives her a run for her money is Audrey H.  |
That is a great comparison to make.
I thought we had talked about this comparison before recently, but if we did, It must of been in another thread because I couldn't find it in this one, so I will mention it once again. I had heard mention of her when doing research for my recent trip to Amsterdam.
First of all I want to mention there is some confusion between Holland and the Netherlands. Amsterdam is considered to be in Holland, but the name Holland is mainly used for tourism purposes. It is actually part of the Netherlands.
She was born in Belgium. Her family moved to England at an early age and it is here where at the age of 6, she started taking ballet lessons, mainly due to the fact that she had enjoyed ballet performances she had attended.
Her mother was a baroness which probably explains that royal aura she had to her.
When the war started, her family moved to Arnhem, ironically because they thought it would be safer there than in England. She spoke English fluently at that point, but after Germany occupied the Netherlands, she was encouraged to never speak it in public.
During the war, she used to give secret ballet shows to raise money for the resistance and she also acted as a courier for them on a few occassions.
Again she lived in Arhem when Operation Market Garden ( A Bridge too far) took place in a failed attempt to secure a bridge over the Rhine. In reprisal for the locals of the Netherlands trying to help the Allies, the Germans shut off food and fuel supplies, leading into the winter of 1944. The end result was a lot of people starving in this area. It is said Audrey develped an eating disorder because of the lack of food during that time. The disorder continued after the war.
One site I saw tried to dispel the fact that she had a disorder, by saying this, but when reading it, it makes is sound more like she did hava an eating disorder;
"Audrey Hepburn never had an eating disorder. Her thin frame is a result of spending her developing years in war-torn Holland during World War II. In the last winter of the War, when Audrey was 16, all food was cut off and citizens survived on grass, tulips, and anything else they could bake into food. Coupled with this starvation was Audrey’s training as a ballerina. Notoriously strict when it comes to food, Audrey ate foods to help build her strength. The thin frame stuck for most of her life, except during pregnancies, because the effects of WWII on Audrey’s body left her with quick metabolism and a constant struggle to keep on weight. ". Maybe it wasn't technically an eating disorder, but it was a condition that caused her problems keeping her weight up.
She was quite a woman.