Resolution Calls for Olympic Truce : World scene: United Nations General Assembly has adopted a plan proposed by IOC.

NEW YORK — In an action that could signal improved relations between two of the world's largest international organizations, the United Nations General Assembly has adopted a resolution proposed by the International Olympic Committee urging member nations to observe Olympic truces during the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway, and the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta.

In presenting the proposal to UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali here last February, IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch expressed concern about the UN's 1992 ban against Yugoslav athletes entering other nations because of that country's role in the warfare in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

As a result, the Spanish government would not permit them to travel to Barcelona for the 1992 Summer Olympics until the UN and IOC reached a compromise that allowed Yugoslavs to participate individually but not as members of teams.

"It's unfortunate how it developed because it was clear that the UN had very little understanding of the Olympic ideal," said Anita DeFrantz of Los Angeles, an IOC executive board member. "But now, the UN is recognizing that athletes should be able to go to the Games, and it also creates at least hope for a regular period of truce."

The UN resolution, passed by acclamation, was based on the Greek tradition of "Ekecheria," which guaranteed safe passage through warring city-states for athletes en route to the ancient Olympics.

Samaranch will meet with UN officials Friday to discuss the truce while in New York for the annual U.S. Olympic Congress. He also will be briefed by the USOC president, LeRoy Walker, about the prolonged search for a second IOC member from the United States to fill the position vacated when Robert Helmick resigned because of conflict-of-interest questions in 1991.

The Dark Side of Audrey Hepburn

Nothing about my ex-husband interests me. I have spent two years in hell – surely the worst in my life.

More than once, I was at the station seeing trainloads of Jews being transported, seeing all these faces over the top of the wagon. I was exactly the same age as Anne Frank. We were both 10 when the war broke out… if you read [her] diary, I’ve marked one place where she says, ‘Five hostages shot today.’ That was the day my uncle was shot.

I admit that people have often said they never really get to know me. But does anyone ever know someone else completely?

 It’s become cliché for teenagers and young women of our generation to love Audrey Hepburn. For some reason girls of the 90s grew up with an affinity for Hepburn to where it became, "Welcome to college, here’s your Breakfast At Tiffany’s poster for your dorm room." That film is based on a dark novella in which Holly Golightly doesn't get her cat back, doesn’t get the guy, and is generally a horrible person. But in the film, it’s not even really clear that Hepburn plays a prostitute. That completely went over my head the first time I saw it. I thought she just liked to wake up early and put on a party dress. Also there’s that horribly racist Mr. Yunioshi character that Mickey Rooney threw in there. So I guess if you really analyze it, there is a dark side to the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s, just not in an obvious way.

And that’s the thing about Audrey Hepburn. She has darkness but it isn’t obvious. The problems of Marilyn Monroe became part of her legend but Audrey’s were carefully tucked away in a Givenchy handbag. A friend of mine once despaired about a fight she got into with a rude friend of a friend. She didn't even know this person and yet she was torn up about it. When I asked her why it bothered her so much, she said it was because she strived to be like Audrey Hepburn, and "no one ever said anything bad about Audrey Hepburn."

Challenge accepted.

She is a rank amateur who needed a dozen takes. – Humphrey Bogart

Bogart hated working with Hepburn, but he had a point. Though she had come off a major film (Roman Holiday) for which she won an Academy Award, her success was partly due to luck, timing, and the graciousness of her costar Gregory Peck, who insisted on giving the unknown equal billing. Before Roman Holiday Hepburn starred in the play Gigi. Paramount actually considered her "plump" and put her on a strict diet of steak tartare and greens before filming. (You know Hollywood is fucked up when Audrey Hepburn is put on a diet.) Hepburn herself never believed that she was thin.

According to her son, Hepburn would refer to herself as “fake thin” because her upper body and waist was especially thin and would give her an overall appearance of slightness. One can’t help but roll their eyes at her claim because, well, look at her. Rumors of an eating disorder plagued her, but if you consider World War II an eating disorder, then yes, she was very disordered. In 1944 Nazis occupied the Netherlands, where she and her mother lived.



Audrey and her family, with the exception of her Nazi sympathizer father, worked for the resistance. She suffered severe malnutrition and once had to hide in a cellar for a few days. When she was a child she almost died of whooping cough. This, combined with her poor nutrition during the war, lead to her asthma. Despite the fact that she had weak lungs and knew it, she continued to smoke for the rest of her life, even though she was consistently told that she "might be in the early stages of emphysema." Yes, it was the fifties and sixties and smoking was a vice, but even someone in that era with those symptoms would know it was a bad idea.

In the 80s she lamented over the condition of her skin, but it was typical of her to point out flaws. She would often call herself ugly and wished that she had a bigger chest. It is of course these "flaws" that have made her so iconic, but it’s very possible she had some form of body dysmorphic disorder or at least a very low self-esteem.



Her weight plummeted to an all-time low during her first divorce from her controlling and jealous husband Mel Ferrer. A child of divorce and with a child of her own, Hepburn desperately wanted to make the marriage work, but Ferrer's likely infidelity and definite need for complete control over Hepburn’s professional and personal life sent her into a deep depression. The man had to be a total asshole for Hepburn to refer to her divorce as "two years in hell" considering that she spent most of her early teens dodging Nazis.

During the separation Mel stayed with Hepburn but only out of concern for her health; she was apparently, according to a friend, "down to 82 pounds and looks thin and wan; she has never looked so frail in her life, even when she was ill." Again, quite the statement, considering that Hepburn compared her youth to Anne Frank's.



Their divorce was described as "absolutely unexpected" not only to her fans and the media, but their friends as well. One of them, Dee Hartford Hawks, said that only two weeks before their separation she ran into them at a nightclub in France and that "Audrey and Mel were acting like honey-mooners. They danced every number together – even the Watusi." The Watusi!! Who could have predicted this?? A second miscarriage also put a strain on their already frail marriage.

In an article by Tom Daly from the 1960s, he reported that Audrey attempted suicide twice. Once she tried to slit her wrists and it was Mrs. Yul Brynner who got her to the hospital in time. An unnamed insider said that "I've heard about Audrey’s suicide attempts, too, and that shocks me, but in a way I’m not surprised. Whatever that woman does she does with her whole heart and soul. And when she married Mel, she invested everything she had emotionally. It’s no wonder that she feels lost now." And it’s no wonder that so many sources (aside from Bogart and Hawks) wanted to keep such scandalous thoughts to themselves because Audrey was revered and famous for her elegance and charm. In an article "The Two Hepburns" (not referring to Katharine and Audrey, but to Audrey’s light and dark sides), Eliot George tapes into this darker side of Hepburn: "The wispy, sable-browed, gamin-faced Audrey is either Elfin Charmer or Iron Butterfly, depending on where you stand."



Another person who had plenty of bad things to say about Hepburn was Brenda Marshall, William Holden’s wife at the time that Holden and Hepburn shot Sabrina. Hepburn and Holden carried on an affair. (It was ironic that later in life Audrey would try so hard to create the perfect family and do anything for her children, though she slept with Holden well-knowing that he was married with three kids.) Holden would invite Hepburn over to his home for dinner and he, Audrey, and Marshall, who eerily resembled Hepburn, would all eat together. "Audrey felt guilty all through the meal." No! This is Watusi shocking!!

Everyone assumed that Holden would leave Marshall for Hepburn but as soon as she found out that Holden had a vasectomy and could not provide her with children, she left. Holden was also a crazy drunk who died when he fell and hit his head on his coffee table and didn’t realize that it was serious so he didn’t go to the hospital and just kind of bled out to death in his living room. Charlie Sheen has nothing on William Holden.

Paris When It Sizzles, 1964

Holden and Hepburn would reunite about ten years later for the film Paris When It Sizzles, which one column described as "the worst movie ever made by anyone at any time." It was also around this time that Hepburn's marriage slowly and painfully began to unravel, and one can see the stress this put on her body. Even for Hepburn, she is unusually thin in his movie, and it may have been the only time in her life in which the eating disorder rumors were true. Holden tried to reignite their affair, but this time she was the married one and would not cave in.



People think of Hepburn as ever humble and ladylike but even she had her moments of divadom and snarkiness. While filming The Nun’s Story in Africa, Hepburn demanded that, "quarantine laws in the Belgian Congo would be waved for [her terrier] Famous […] and most important of all, that a bidet would be installed and waiting for her... It was probably the only bathroom fixture of its kind in Central Africa at that time." Slyly ironic considering she was playing a nun and nuns are all living without possessions. She did routinely visit a leper colony and refused to wear protective gloves "out of sympathy with the afflicted." She then likely went to her guest house and freshened up in her bidet-equipped bathroom.

While filming My Fair Lady she wouldn’t let Ferrer see her until her street urchin Eliza Doolittle look was completely washed away, though even though this look consisted of mere soot dotted on her face, Vaseline smeared in her hair, and dirty finger nails, and of course she still looked stunning. After retiring from film she married second husband Andrea Dotti and announced, "Now Mia Farrow can get my parts." Perhaps she meant it as a way of passing the baton over to another doe-eyed actress, but there is a certain edge to the comment, considering that after divorcing Mel, Hepburn "emerged with a hairdo even short than Mia's!"



Though people praise her for aging gracefully, perhaps the most shocking Hepburn quote ever was given during a 1980s interview with Harper’s Bazaar: “I think it’s [plastic surgery] a marvelous thing, done in small doses, very expertly, so that no one notices.” Not even Nicole Kidman will admit to her notoriously frozen face, but here was a beauty icon freely praising plastic surgery.

It is just another part of Hepburn’s life that most people breezily skip past. She is more than that waif figure forever posed in that little black dress on 5th Avenue. She came from a god-awful childhood, suffered from depression, got divorced twice and had an affair. There is nothing new or evil about any of these things, but it is interesting that these aspects of her life remained hidden. Monroe was just as sweet, just as loving, but her secrets spilled out and are still notorious. Why is Hepburn so sacred? Granted, the work she did with Unicef was immense and admirable, and nothing should detract from that. But why must she be a goddess? She was human, like any of us. She had flaws.

Audrey Hepburn's 1953 'Roman Holiday' an enchanting fairy tale

Oscar Archives: William Wyler's 1953 Cinderella-esque comedy made Audrey Hepburn an overnight sensation and launched a new fashion trend for the gamin young star's hair and chic clothes.

William Wyler's enchanting 1953 Cinderella-esque comedy, "Roman Holiday," made Audrey Hepburn an overnight sensation. She not only won the Academy Award for best actress but she also received a Golden Globe, a British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award and the New York Film Critics Circle honor for her role as Ann, a sheltered princess on a goodwill tour of Europe who escapes her guardians in Rome and finds adventure and a storybook romance.

And the gamin actress, who was born in Belgium in 1929, also set a new fashion trend with her short hair and casually chic clothes — even as Edith Head won an Oscar for the film's costume design.

"Many familiar stars have given great performances," said film critic-historian Leonard Maltin. "But there are times when being an unknown is an invaluable asset. I think of Ben Kingsley in 'Gandhi' as an emblematic example of that and, certainly, Audrey Hepburn."

Part of the film's charm, said Maltin, "is there is a parallel between the character's story and Audrey Hepburn. If you know anything about the background of the film itself, you can't avoid thinking about that. It is not just a fresh, charming performance, it is a fresh, charming performance by someone blossoming into stardom right before your eyes."

Though reports state that Jean Simmons was briefly considered for the role of Ann, Wyler wanted an unknown to play the part. "With anybody familiar, you have to first forget your previous associations with them, shed that baggage before you completely accept and embrace them in this new role," said Maltin. "With an unknown, there is no such barrier."

Hepburn had appeared in few films before being selected by Wyler, who at that time had won director Oscars for 1942's "Mrs. Miniver" and 1946's "The Best Years of Our Lives." The young actress had small parts in 1951's "Laughter in Paradise" and "The Lavender Hill Mob" and a more substantial role in the forgettable 1952 film "Secret People."

Choosing a virtual unknown, said Maltin, was one of "many smart decisions William Wyler made regarding this film."

Even before finding Hepburn, Wyler had insisted that Paramount allow him to shoot in Rome. Gregory Peck, who plays Joe Bradley, the American journalist whom the princess falls for, was hesitant to take on a secondary role, but Wyler persuaded him to join the film.

While in pre-production in Rome, the director traveled to London to look at ingenues for the lead. That's  where he met Hepburn, whom he described as "very alert, very smart, very talented and very ambitious."

With Wyler on his way back to Rome, he asked Thorald Dickinson, who had directed Hepburn in "Secret People," to do a screen test with her at Pinewood Studios in England — and to keep the cameras rolling after she completed her scene so he could watch the young actress in a more relaxed, natural state. Unaware she was still being filmed, Hepburn went on to have a lively chat with Dickinson about her experiences during World War II.

"She was absolutely delightful," Wyler was quoted as saying when he saw the test. "Acting, looks and personality!"

He was so taken with her that he held up production for the actress to fulfill her commitment to star on Broadway in an adaptation of Colette's "Gigi." And in 1952, Audrey Hepburn began work on the movie that would change her life.

Hepburn's career blossomed after "Roman Holiday." Not only did she win the Academy Award in 1954 but she also snagged a Tony Award for "Ondine." She would go on to earn Oscar nominations for 1954's "Sabrina," 1959's "The Nun's Story," 1961's "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and 1967's "Wait Until Dark," and also starred in such classics as 1957's "Funny Face," 1963's "Charade," 1964's "My Fair Lady" and 1967's "Two for the Road."

 

Audrey Hepburn Teaches Economics

 

If only the men who write our musicals would write our labor laws. Not only would they be more entertaining, they would likely be more practical.

Take Audrey Hepburn in “My Fair Lady.” In her role as Eliza Doolittle, she not only turned in a wonderful performance but also delivered a lesson about upward mobility that is particularly timely today in light of the latest war of modern progressivism: on nail salons.

It started, as these things often do, with a two-part exposé in the New York Times, one focusing on the lousy pay and the other on the health threats. This provoked howls of outrage, and was in turn followed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo invoking “emergency measures,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) citing federal legislation on product safety she’s introduced and of course New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio presiding over a “day of action.” The left-leaning Economic Policy Institute declares nail salon abuses a function of “national policy failures.”

Enter Audrey Hepburn. In her opening scene, her Eliza Doolittle is selling flowers on the street when she realizes someone is taking down every word she says. She confronts him, insisting she’s a “respectable girl” who is doing nothing illegal. It turns out the man—played by Rex Harrison—isn’t a copper but a professor of phonetics.

In the discussion that follows, Professor Higgins notes that it is Eliza’s “curbstone English that will keep her in the gutter to the end of her days.” He boasts that with a few months under his instruction, she could get a job “as a lady’s maid or a shop’s assistant.”

The next morning, Eliza appears at Professor Higgins’s doorstep to hire him to teach her English because she wants to be “a lady in a flow’r shop, ’stead of sellin’ at the corner of Tottenham Court Road.” He accepts.

Note the assumptions. Eliza didn’t place her hope in new regulations for street-side flower mongering. For Eliza, upward mobility was about acquiring the skills she needed to get ahead, in this case proper English and the manners that went with it.

How different this is to the approach to nail salons now being worked out in New York and Washington. Like so many other bursts of progressive passion, chances are that while their bid for more government will make the pols and activists feel better about themselves, it will do little to improve the lives of these women.

That’s because most of what they propose does nothing to resolve the fundamental issues the Times rightly identifies as making these women workers vulnerable to abusive bosses: They don’t speak English, they don’t have skills, and about a quarter of them are here illegally. All this greatly limits their job opportunities.

To put it another way, will a crackdown on licensing really help women who will need to complete the 250 hours of study for a New York state license? What about closing down the salon of a rotten employer because he doesn’t pay the women sick leave?

In a 2001 column, no less than Paul Krugman noted a similar case of good intentions that had terrible unintended consequences, citing a bill proposed in the 1990s by Sen. Tom Harkin (D., Iowa) to outlaw child labor in products made overseas. The threat of the legislation succeeded in the sense that some companies in Bangladesh stopped hiring children.

But Mr. Krugman noted that follow-up research by Oxfam found that the displaced child workers ended up in even worse jobs, or on the streets—and that a significant number were forced into prostitution.

Whether by minimum-wage boosts that make them more expensive to hire, licensing requirements that make it more difficult to get a job, or other forms of regulation that will likely mean fewer nail salons and fewer jobs, it’s not hard to imagine displaced nail salon workers in America driven more deeply down into the black market, or into something worse, such as prostitution.

By contrast, wouldn’t a simple guest worker program help those here illegally more than a higher minimum wage? Likewise, wouldn’t a concerted effort that helped these women learn English do more for their opportunities in life than enforcing paid sick leave? Come to think of it, wouldn’t a rapidly growing economy creating jobs give them more avenues of escape from an abusive boss than piling more regulations onto an already sluggish economy?

In the end, the only real leverage a worker has over a boss is her ability to tell him where to get off—secure in the knowledge that she has other opportunities. Which is exactly what Eliza Doolittle does at the end, when she’s acquired the English and manners that mean she no longer has to put up with the bullying of Professor Henry Higgins.

A Tribute To Children Audrey Hepburn, In Town For A Fund-raiser, Tours Broward General.

FORT LAUDERDALE -- The gesture was so simple, yet elegant; so unexpected, yet natural; so Audrey Hepburn.

When all the cameras had turned away Wednesday, when people had stopped looking in her direction, Hepburn walked into the room of a sick grandmother in the hospice care unit at Broward General Medical Center and laid a bouquet of white lilies, tulips and roses on the table next to the sleeping woman`s bed.

The bouquet had been given to Hepburn as she toured the hospital moments earlier, but she wanted someone else to have it.

Those who know Hepburn, in town for Friday`s UNICEF production, A Tribute to the World`s Children, said the action is typical of the well-known actress and even better-known humanitarian.

``So often, with celebrities, there`s a public persona and a private persona,`` said Lawrence E. Bruce Jr., president of the U.S. Committee for UNICEF who recruited Hepburn as a Good Will Ambassador for the agency in 1988. ``With Audrey, what you see is what you get -- a caring, loving, gentle human being.``

Hepburn toured Broward General with an entourage of local volunteers, who devoted a year to planning Friday`s fund-raiser, because a yet-to-be built pediatric intensive care unit and the hospice care unit at the hospital will receive proceeds from the benefit. UNICEF will receive most of the proceeds, but 13 charities in Broward County have been promised 10 percent.

Visitors and hospital workers watched in awe as Hepburn toured the hospital, talking to people, shaking hands, hugging some and painting with children.

She sat at a small, round table with two little girls and a boy and helped them paint T-shirts. They didn`t know who she was. They`d never seen one of her most famous films, My Fair Lady. But before she left, they shouted, ``You`re special.``

In the neonatal intensive care unit, Hepburn was amazed as doctors showed her 1-pound newborns expected to live normal lives thanks to medical technology.

Not all children get that attention, Hepburn said, noting that 40,000 children die every day in the developing world from preventable illnesses and poverty.

The Brussels-born actress, 62, who grew up in Holland during the Nazi occupation, knows what it`s like to go hungry. She was undernourished, anemic and asthmatic as a child. But, she said, her house was full of life and love.

She said the hardest thing to accept in her UNICEF travels across the world is seeing ``a child whose eyes no longer reflect life and who can no longer give or accept affection`` because of the life that child has led.

Hepburn, who is paid $1 a year for her work with UNICEF, said this country doesn`t do as much as it should for children.

``This country needs to put children at the top of the priority list,`` she said. ``In good times and bad times and in times of campaigning.``

IF YOU GO

Tickets still are available for the fund-raising production of A Tribute to the World`s Children:

-- WHEN: 8 p.m. on Friday.

-- WHERE: Broward Center for the Performing Arts.

-- WHO: Performances by Audrey Hepburn, Liza Minnelli and 450 children from Broward, Palm Beach and Dade counties.

-- TICKETS: From $60 to $1,000. They will be available at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts box office until the show begins.

7 Things You Might Not Know About Audrey Hepburn

Though she’ll always be known as the little-black-dress-wearing big-screen incarnation of Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, there’s probably a lot you don’t know about Audrey Hepburn, who would have been 86 years old today.

1. HER FIRST ROLE WAS IN AN EDUCATIONAL FILM.

Though 1948’s Dutch in Seven Lessons is classified as a “documentary” on IMDb, it’s really more of an educational travel film, in which Hepburn appears as an airline attendant. If you don’t speak Dutch, it might not make a whole lot of sense to you, but you can watch it here.

2. GREGORY PECK WAS AFRAID SHE’D MAKE HIM LOOK LIKE A JERK.

Hepburn was an unknown actress when she was handed the starring role of Princess Ann opposite Gregory Peck in 1953’s Roman Holiday. As such, Peck was going to be the only star listed, with Hepburn relegated to a smaller font and an “introducing” credit. But Peck insisted, “You've got to change that because she'll be a big star and I'll look like a big jerk.” Hepburn ended up winning her first and only Oscar for the role (Peck wasn’t even nominated).

3. SHE’S AN EGOT.

In 1954, the same year she won the Oscar for Roman Holiday, Hepburn accepted a Tony Award for her title role in Ondine on Broadway. Hepburn is one of only 12 EGOTs, meaning that she has won all of the four major creative awards: an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. Unfortunately, the honor came to Hepburn posthumously; her 1994 Grammy for the children’s album Audrey Hepburn’s Enchanted Tales and her 1993 Emmy for Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn were both awarded following her passing in early 1993.

4. TRUMAN CAPOTE HATED HER AS HOLLY GOLIGHTLY.

Blake Edwards’ Breakfast at Tiffany’s may be one of the most iconic films in Hollywood history, but it’s a miracle that the film ever got made at all. Particularly if you listened to Truman Capote, who wrote the novella upon which it was based, and saw only one actress in the lead: Marilyn Monroe. When asked what he thought was wrong with the film, which downplayed the more tawdry aspects of the fact that Ms. Golightly makes her living as a call girl (Hepburn had told the producers, “I can’t play a hooker”), Capote replied, “Oh, God, just everything. It was the most miscast film I’ve ever seen. It made me want to throw up.”

5. HOLLY GOLIGHTLY’S LITTLE BLACK DRESS SOLD FOR NEARLY $1 MILLION.

In 2006, Christie’s auctioned off the iconic Givenchy-designed little black dress that Hepburn wore in Breakfast at Tiffany’s for a whopping $923,187 (pre-auction numbers estimated that it would go for between $98,800 and $138,320). It was a record-setting amount at the time, until Marilyn Monroe’s white “subway dress” from The Seven Year Itch sold for $5.6 million in 2006.

6. SHE SANG “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” TO JFK IN 1963.

One year after Marilyn Monroe’s sultry birthday serenade to John F. Kennedy in 1962, Hepburn paid a musical tribute to the President at a private party in 1963, on what would be his final birthday.

7. THERE’S A RARE TULIP NAMED AFTER HER.

In 1990, a rare white tulip hybrid was named after the actress and humanitarian, and dedicated to her at her family’s former estate in Holland.

At UNICEF, The Spirit of Audrey Hepburn Lives On

Bronze Sculpture in Her Honour To Be Unveiled May 7th in Star-Studded Celebration

NEW YORK, 1 May 2002 - Audrey Hepburn, the beloved actress whose second career as a global ambassador for UNICEF brought joy to hundreds of thousands of children, will be celebrated with the unveiling of a major new sculpture in the public plaza adjacent to UNICEF headquarters in midtown Manhattan.

In September 1992 in Somalia, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Audrey Hepburn sits amidst some of the 300 children being cared for by Help the Orphans and Blind, a UNICEF-assisted local NGO.

The unveiling, on 7 May, takes place on the eve of a three-day global summit on children at the United Nations. Several UNICEF celebrities will actively participate in the May 8-10 UN General Assembly Special Session on Children. A follow-up to the 1990 World Summit for Children, the meeting will review progress made for young people in the last decade and recommit countries to concrete action for improving the lives of children. The conference embodies UNICEF's position that investing in children is essential to overcoming poverty - an ideal Ms. Hepburn was deeply committed to.

The seven-foot tall bronze sculpture honouring Ms. Hepburn, entitled The Spirit of Audrey, seeks to convey the unique bond between an adult and a child.

The unveiling will feature many of the extraordinary celebrities who have followed in Ms. Hepburn's footsteps as special representatives of UNICEF around the world. Actor Roger Moore will serve as Master of Ceremonies; singer Harry Belafonte will unveil the statue; the stars Mia Farrow and Isabella Rossellini will be present, and Nane Annan, wife of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, will be a featured speaker.

Ms. Hepburn served as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador from 1988 until her death in 1993.

The sculpture is the creation of renowned artist and sculptor John Kennedy. He was commissioned by Ms. Hepburn's long-time companion, Robert Wolders, who donated the work to UNICEF.

"All of us who loved Audrey are thrilled that this beautiful piece of art will be on permanent display in New York City, a place she cherished, and particularly that its home will be outside UNICEF, the organization to which she devoted so much of her energy and compassion," Mr. Wolders said. "Audrey personified the spirit of UNICEF, and we hope those who see this statue will be inspired by her efforts on behalf of children."

A Tradition of Goodwill

"This ceremony and this beautiful gift give us an opportunity to remember Audrey Hepburn's wonderful way with children, and the commitment she brought to the cause," said UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy. "She had a great career as an actress, but I think she will be remembered just as much as a humanitarian," Bellamy said. "And that's the beauty of her years with UNICEF: She was an inspiration, she brought enormous world attention to children, she raised the profile of the challenges they face. That's a legacy that lives on in the wonderful ambassadors that UNICEF now has the honour of working with."

Mr. Kennedy's interpretative portrait of Ms. Hepburn reflects the sculptor's lyrical style, which Mr. Wolders said "is particularly well-suited for expressing Ms. Hepburn's grace and gentle nature."

The Spirit of Audrey was originally set to be unveiled last October, but the ceremony was postponed after the September 11 attacks. It is now scheduled for Tuesday, May 7th at 6:30 pm, on the eve of UN General Assembly Special Session on Children. The conference will draw an estimated 70 heads of state or government and 170 national delegations in an international commitment to improving the health, education and protection of children.

UNICEF has a long tradition of working with internationally known personalities, starting with Danny Kaye in the 1950s. They have raised awareness of the many pressing issues concerning children through their media interviews, personal connections and participation in high-profile campaigns. UNICEF works with 17 international and more than 100 national and regional ambassadors.

The role of these representatives has evolved over the years. For example, the latest appointment is renowned photographer Sebastião Salgado, who uses his photography to help UNICEF's advocacy efforts.

Many representatives have become specialists on specific subjects, such as Roger Moore on iodine deficiency disorder, Harry Belafonte on HIV/AIDS and Mia Farrow on polio.

The 'Spirit of Audrey' will be unveiled at a ceremony on May 7 from 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm, at UNICEF House, 3 UN Plaza, New York City (44th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenue).