Beauty is found everywhere. Women known for their beauty are seen on runways, on television screens, and in movie theaters, but many of these women deserve to be remembered as something deeper.
Audrey Hepburn, born near Brussels, Belgium, is a beauty icon who made her debut on Broadway. She performed the work of French writer Colette, who discovered Hepburn and insisted that she be cast in the title role for Gigi. She later made her way to movie screens, acting in formidable roles such as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961).
Before she was discovered, Hepburn was living in Nazi-occupied Holland with her mother. Many hardships faced her, but she continued to dance ballet through her teens and through Nazi occupation. The granddaughter of a baron and the daughter of a Nazi sympathizer, Hepburn spent her teens dancing ballet to secretly raise money for the Dutch resistance against the Nazis. She didn’t make her feature film debut until 1951.
Hepburn spent her post-film career as a Goodwill Ambassador and devout humanitarian for many charitable causes. In honor of her work with UNICEF, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, Hepburn was named a special ambassador in 1989. Her avocation took her all over the globe, and she was even able to visit the United States to speak before the U.S. Congress and raise awareness. In 1992, Hepburn was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work.
Yet history remembers her as pretty.
Angelina Jolie, born in Los Angeles, California, is one of Hollywood’s leading actresses, known for Salt (2010) and Maleficent (2014) as well as her high-profile former marriage to Brad Pitt, who acted alongside her in the film Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005).
She is also known to be a devoted humanitarian. Jolie was made a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency in 2001. She has worked diligently to obtain aid for refugees in Cambodia, Darfur, Jordan and many other countries. In 2005, Jolie received the Global Humanitarian Action Award from the United Nations Association of the USA for her activism on behalf of refugee rights.
Not only is she known for her humanitarian and refugee efforts, but Jolie is also known for her children. In 2002, she adopted her son, Maddox, from Cambodia, and three years later, she adopted her daughter, Zahara. Pitt and Jolie had a biological child born in Namibia, Shiloh, in 2006. In March of 2007, Jolie adopted another child, a 3-year-old boy, from a Vietnamese orphanage; she named him Pax Thien. Jolie then gave birth to her twins, Knox Léon and Vivienne Marcheline, on July 12, 2008. Her humanitarian work was not limited to the outside world; rather, she welcomed it into her home.
Yet she is known for her beauty.
Women today and in history are often first viewed in regard to their beauty. They are categorized by their physical appearance, and their worth is measured by their beauty. However, women deserve more than that. Women deserve to be known for their life’s work, not their beauty products.
Audrey Hepburn and Angelina Jolie are just two women who are known for their movie careers and beauty and whose humanitarian efforts are almost unknown.
History will remember these women for their hearts.