The Glamorous Life And Tragic End Of Audrey Hepburn | Our History

The Glamorous Life And Tragic End Of Audrey Hepburn | Our History 

Audrey heurn the personification of Grace Elegance charm and talent died at her home in Switzerland today she was 63 years old Audrey heern was an American movie icon won’t you join me with an Academy Award and 10 Golden Globe nominations she was the epitome of style and elegance that lit up the screen for more than three decades I don’t want my eyebrows up or down I want them right where they are everybody was obsessed with her she’s timeless she was a Class Act to the end Audrey was also an accomplished ballet dancer

model and humanitarian she had a huge heart but behind her girl next door image there was a sadness Audrey really never enjoyed being a movie star she was very close to suicide and Times of near fatal illnesses I think probably she was anorexic she was really thin and no one could have predicted the way she died Audrey died of pomoma periton a very rare form of abdominal cancer which only one in a half million people contract she also died just 3 months after Her diagnosis at only 63 years of age so I want to know how did this

seemingly healthy Hollywood icon succumb to such a rare form of cancer and why did it kill her at such an alarming rate world-renowned medical examiner and forensic pathologist Dr Michael Hunter has conducted thousands of autopsies collaborating closely with law enforcement and other forensic Specialists his pivotal role in investigating suspicious and challenging cases has revealed the truth behind mysterious deaths for over 20 years Audrey heurn died of pseudo mixoma periton a rare form of cancer of the abdomen at the age of just 63 but

accounts State Audrey was being treated by several experts and that she was hopeful about becoming cancer-free using reports and firsthand accounts I want to look back in forensic detail at Audrey’s history and lifestyle to examine how she contracted this rare cancer and why she died so quickly September 1992 Somalia Africa for months before her death Audrey is on a UNICEF mission to draw the world’s attention to the famine in war torn Somalia Audrey was very much affected by the suffering especially of children and

it was the main reason why she wanted to do something for Unicef she had a huge heart working with the refugees was was was the driving force in her life she felt she was doing something important she was changing situations and helping these poor little Souls the part of loving a child comes easy I usually go with a rather heavy heart because I know what I’m going to see yet I must accompanying Audrey on the trip is boyfriend of 13 years Dutch actor Robert walers what a blessing he is because I could never do it alone she said if I go

to difficult places I need a shoulder to lean on he absolutely adored her he was a great companion I think they loved each other very much I think her relationship with Robert was a very very happy one Midway through the flight home Audrey starts to feel unwell and complains to Robert of having stomach pains and indigestion she dismisses it as something she’s picked up in Africa which has happened to her many times before she wasn’t the complaining person she always wanted to know how everybody else was but about herself she always

pushed it off all she thought I picked up a little barg in Africa and wasn’t feeling well but as the journey progresses so does Audrey’s pain she decides to take painkillers but nothing seems to be working the abdominal pain Audrey was experiencing on the flight could be due to a bug but it could also have been a warning sign of the abdominal cancer unlike other cancers pseudo xoma paroni doesn’t spread through the bloodstream or lymphatic system but stays within the abdominal cavity as cancerous cells grow the cancer

eventually fills the abdominal cavity strangling the intestines and pressing on surrounding organs causing severe pain to further complicate matters these rare types of cancer can vary in aggressiveness from Patient to Patient but also crucially can sometimes take a very long time to develop to the point where symptoms are recognized I need to look back at Audrey’s detailed medical history to uncover when and how her cancer started and why she didn’t survive it Audrey heurn was born in Brussels Belgium on May 4th

1929 to Joseph Rustin heurn a British Austrian finer and baroness Ella van heemstra a Dutch Aristocrat her mother was a very Stern strict forbidding lady there’s no question that she loved Audrey but she could never show it when Audrey was only six her father left her and her mother abandoning the family home her father had almost rejected her really so there was a sadness on the outbreak of World War II Audrey’s mother moved with 10-year-old Audrey to the Netherlands believing the country would remain neutral and be safe from

[Music] Invasion it was to prove a terrible decision when on May 10th 1940 Hitler’s forces marched into the country during the second World War uh she had uh had a terrible terrible time when the Nazis came in some of her family were kids she had grown up in this kind of atmosphere during the war despite the traumas Audrey found an escape in her love of ballet and in 1948 she moved to London to pursue her passion accepting a scholarship with the ballet romber company Audrey heurn was born with ballet shoe song that was a very

important part of her life but but her dreams of becoming a prima ballerin were dashed at 5’7 she was too tall so instead turned to acting Audrey’s big break came after a chance encounter in 1951 at the hotel dear in Monaco Audrey was spotted in a hotel lobby by the author who wrote XII who figured that’s the one who would epitomize my XII within months she was playing the title role on Broadway I was astounded by this gorgeous creature she had this lovely Elfin likee quality even though she was tall and lean the play

received rave reviews wow that sure brought her stardom and it was a well-deserved stardom everything took off for her just 2 years later Audrey landed her first starring film role in Roman Holiday with actor Gregory peek you have my permission to withdraw thank you very much the role earned her an Oscar I’m truly truly grateful and Terribly Happy she became this huge star and every young girl wanted to be like hre hurn I always thought she had a natural Elegance to her she became one of Hollywood’s leading ladies in the 1950s

and 60s with iconic roles in my fair lady and Breakfast at Tiffany’s Audrey suddenly became a Bonafide top movie star she was what used to be called a complete Class Act the camera loved her of course and she knew that and she took advantage of that her Elegance spelt figure and gamine looks turned her into an icon of style a role that lasted a lifetime Audrey became the icon she was because of everything about [Music] her although I believe the abdominal pain Audrey was experiencing following her trip to Somalia was likely due to

her cancer I wonder if she also contracted any diseases that could have lowered her immunity making her ability to cope with the cancer worse Africa is a high-risk continent for travelers with possible exposure to a variety of pathogens including bacteria and parasites which can lead to Serious infections malaria dingy fever menitis chalera typhoid and dentary are all prevalent and would have caused havoc in her already embattled body early October 1992 too shanaz Switzerland 3 and a half months before her death

Audrey is back at home and seeks medical advice for the abdominal pain she’s been experiencing doctors assume Audrey has picked up a nasty stomach bug in Somalia and prescribe a course of very powerful antibiotics called [Music] metronidazol metronidazol works by disrupting the DNA of microbial cells it’s a broad spectrum antibiotic meaning it is a effective against a range of infections October 1992 5 days later Audrey still feeling unwell and in extreme pain she’s been taking the antibiotics prescribed by the doctor but suffers

violent reactions to the drug rather than improving her condition it seems to be worsening [Music] antibiotics start to work on an infection straight away and the patient would normally start to feel better after a few days but in Audrey’s case it’s clear that wasn’t happening she also developed other symptoms including nausea and vomiting which can be a side effect of the drug it’s clear that what Audrey was suffering from was no simple infection but there’s something else in Audrey’s past that I need to investigate

something that’s unnown trigger for diseases like cancer and that’s smoking in 1961 Audrey was in New York having filmed her signature role as Holly Go Lightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s you have a special invitation to attend Audrey Hepburn’s open house on the wildest night New York ever knew Timber she was in a photo shoot to promote the movie wearing her iconic little black dress designed by xoni who would become her close friend she was rarely seen without a cigarette in her film roles and would smoke to calm her nerves and

anxiety Audrey really never enjoyed being a movie star she didn’t really like it didn’t like the attention she was shy she was rather Melancholy being an actor it’s a very tense profession you have to pull up the emotions then you have to put them back down it’s very tough audre ha I’m sorry to relate was a chain smoker she was insecure she didn’t believe that her Talent was anything remarkable coupled with the fact that she was an extremely anxious woman Audrey smoking began at the age of 15 and she smoked up to 60 cigarettes a

day for almost five decades this suggests that maybe this was an unhealthy coping mechanism smoking allows people to have that habitual self- soothing thing of you know of of having to stop to take those deep breaths and deal with the anxiety that you have smokers believe that smoking relieves their anxiety but in fact smoking increases anxiety and tension nicotine creates an immediate sense of relaxation but this feeling is temp temporary and soon gives way to withdrawal symptoms and increased Cravings not only do smoking not relieve

anxiety it also immediately introduces hundreds of dangerous chemicals into the bloodstream these mutate DNA which in turn cause normal cells to turn into cancer cells these cancer cells will normally occur in the lungs first but can be found in any organ in the body smoking can increase your chances of developing cancer by as much as 75% as Audrey smoked heavily for almost 5 decades her risk factor for developing cancer due to smoking was clearly High there are often underlying reasons why people smoke according to accounts even

at the peak of her Fame Audrey was suffering from anxiety and depression Audrey suffered from periods of dark Dreadful depression throughout her life she was a very melancholy person and at least once she was very close to Suicide depression and anxiety can contribute to the development and progression of some types of cancer your body’s immune system when functioning normally is constantly fighting off infections but it also checks for the development of abnormal cells which can turn into tumors anxiety and depression have been

found to suppress the immune system and have also been found to create inflammatory changes in the body there is emerging evidence that this inflammation is involved in cancer pathogenesis so I need to investigate Audrey’s battles with depression further Audrey’s issues with anxiety and depression began at an early age when her father left home she was only 6 years old when Audrey’s father left abandoned the family Audrey was grief stricken by his absence if someone who’s so significant to you can leave you feel a sense of

insecurity and uncertainty and this is where we kind of see it beginning in in Audrey’s life this kind of feeling of anxiety that actually we see kind of happening throughout I think she had a difficult life underneath by 1942 Audrey was living in Nazi occupied Holland with her mother she was a young teenager in Europe during World War II and that was a tough thing to [Music] be she was only 13 and became a star dancer performing in blacked out silent ballet shows to raise money secretly for the Dutch resistance Audrey risked her life to

help a soldier ERS and civilians in the Dutch underground she was as active as she could be in the resistance a very dangerous thing to have done she brought messages to people collected money if you were a member of the resistance they found out you were finished I did give performances to collect money for the underground which always needed money and what about the Germans what did they do about it there didn’t know about it Audrey I knew that she had suffered a lot in the war Audrey was haunted by the war her uncle a judge was imprisoned and

murdered at the hands of Adolf Hitler’s soldiers Audrey also witnessed train loads of Dutch Nationals being sent to their deaths during the [Music] Holocaust profound traumas like the one experienced by Audrey don’t stay in childhood you know they they they kind of follow you throughout life and we know that Audrey struggled with depression this is very likely to have been a product of childhood experiences it’s clear that Audrey was traumatized by the events she experienced during the war as a child but I can see something else in her

adult life it could have added to her deep distress in September 1954 Audrey married fellow actor Mel Ferrer they met at a cocktail party hosted by her Roman Holiday co-star Gregory peek and were married just eight months later Audrey wanted to be a good wife and certainly a mother she always wanted children Audrey wanted to have children more than anything she was constantly talking about wanting to get pregnant she was always very disappointed when she didn’t within 5 months of their marriage and while preparing to work together on War

and Peace Audrey became pregnant but only weeks after learning the happy news Audrey miscarried it really affected her it traumatized her there’s almost a sense of your body letting you down of not being able to trust in the future when a pregnancy happens that relationship not only with the pregnancy but with the potential child happens right away right so you don’t stop yourself from dreaming about who this child is going to be the fact that your life’s going to change and and when that’s taken away from you you’re you’re

blindsided in 1959 Audrey was filming The Unforgiven when she fell off a horse and broke her back she was pregnant at the time and suffered her second miscarriage pregnancy was was very difficult for Audrey heern she was not one of these who could just become happily pregnant but it proved Third Time Lucky for Audrey when her son Shawn was born in July 1960 I can’t leave my young son any longer I must rush back how is he he’s wonderful thank you Audrey’s marriage to Mel farer ended after 14 years within a year she married

Andrea doy an Italian psychiatrist 10 years after her first child she had a second son Luca with her second child she spent most of her pregnancy in bed so having children was a very big deal and consequently her children meant a great deal to her she said that the thrill of her life was to have born these two sons she was a very good mother and very close to her sons I sort of stopped wanting to travel around because did mean leaving my sons so I stayed home to enjoy them you know I would have hated to make movies all around the world and

never to have known my sons Audrey and Andrea DTI tried for another child but in 1974 she suffered her fourth miscarriage their marriage ended 8 years later it’s clear that Audrey’s difficulties having children and her multiple miscarriages caused her a great deal of an anxiety and depression there is also evidence to suggest that women who suffer multiple miscarriages have a two-fold increased risk of developing ovarian cancer what is interesting is that Audrey’s rare abdominal cancer pseudo mixoma parison can take a long

time to develop and in some cases is thought to originate in the ovaries so I can’t discount Audrey’s multiple miscarriages as playing a role in her death but Dr Hunter has discovered Audrey’s childhood experiences led to a deadly [Music] Obsession Hollywood icon Audrey heurn died at the age of 63 on January 20th 1993 of a rare form of abdominal cancer renowned medical examiner and forensic pathologist Dr Michael Hunter is now examining the circumstances leading up to the star’s death so far I’ve discovered that Audrey

smoked up to 60 cigarettes a day for most of her life which can trigger some forms of cancer I’ve also discovered that she suffered from anxiety and depression since childhood and had multiple miscarriages which are also known to play a part in the development of the disease but looking through personal accounts there’s something else in Audrey’s past that grabbed my attention something that could be crucial when uncovering the mystery of her death 1968 Switzerland after her divorce from first husband Mel ferer Audrey stopped

eating I think in Audrey’s case her appetite probably dissolved cuz she was very depressed over her marriage to Mel ferer dissolving according to friends Audrey’s eating habits were erratic we were aware that she didn’t eat very much during the day when we were shooting we would go to the commissary and gorge on pasta Audrey usually just ate an apple and a piece of cheese for the entire day during one of our conversations on the set I said Audrey dear how in the world do you maintain this slimness that you have and

she said you know I order everything that I could possibly want off the menu and then I take just one bite of it I can see that at one point Audrey weighed just 94 lb and at 57 this gave her a BMI of just 14 this is seriously underweight and reading through personal testimonies I can see that there’s been speculation that Audrey did in fact suffer from an eating disorder I think she wanted to keep thin and I think probably she was anorexic you know she was really thin you know when you’re a dancer you’re always always aware of keeping in

shape I think that was part of her regimen women with anorex or nervosa have twice as high mortality rates from cancer in general the underlying specific mechanisms aren’t really known there are other health impacts related to eating disorders pregnant women who have had anorexia have increased risk of miscarriage and still birth due to the stress placed on the fetus perhaps this goes some way to explain Audrey problem pregnancies but I can see an event further back in Audrey’s history during World War II that could have led to her

troubled relationship with food and impacted her health in a major way Audrey’s tricky relationship with food began in her childhood when Audrey was under occupation she was really in a developing growing stage she needed much more food than they got there was nothing to be had by the winter of 1944 as the Nazi Empire crumbled the Germans shut off the supply routs to the Netherlands and food ran out there were times when she and her mother were starving literally starving they would go several days without food

they were going into the park and digging up flower bulbs they had to scr for every piece of food that they could find by February 1945 more than 500 Dutch people were dying of hunger each week and by this stage Audrey was so weak she could barely climb the stairs I can see that Audrey’s malnutrition caused her to suffer with anemia and jaundice and she also developed edema swelling of the arms and legs in situations of extreme hunger over a long period the body lacks the proteins and minerals needed to regulate

the amount of water retained water begins to collect starting at the ankles and wrists and the fact that this happened to Audrey confirms the seriousness of her Mal nutrition at that time studies of female survivors of the hunger winter 1944 who’d experienced severe calorie restrictions in childhood found that they had a significantly increased risk of breast cancer there is also data to show that women like Audrey who survived brutal calorie restrictions in childhood or more likely to suffer from colon cancer as adults Audrey

pomoma Peroni is a type of colon cancer however her malnutrition happened 50 years prior to her death so it’s unlikely to have been the main cause Gard know was I another value of food and I was suffering from a rather uh High degree of of malnutrition when the war ended my health might have been impaired had it gone on upon Liberation in April 1945 Audrey was handed bars of chocolate by a Dutch Soldier which she devoured greedily sweet things is what I longed for whole boxes of chocolate bread butter and lots of jam or something you

know very sweet things and in fact I think one of the first things I did was eat a whole can of condensed milk and then was terribly ill afterwards she also smoked her cigarette throughout her life she Associated chocolate and smoking with a feeling of Freedom food wasn’t something that necessarily she took much enjoyment in per se rather she ate when she had to being able to control when I ate how much I ate actually probably gave her a sense of security and interestingly enough the only things that she didn’t

control were things like chocolate and this is something that lasted throughout her life for Audrey it’s clear that her early experiences from near starvation to her equating sugar and nicotine with Comfort had a huge impact on her health that continued throughout her adult life November 1st 1992 Cedar Sinai Medical Center Los Angeles 2 and 1/2 months before Audrey’s death Audrey is still in pain with abdominal cramps so boyfriend Robert has persuaded her to seek further medical attention with specialists in

America doctors decide The Only Way Forward is to insert a camera into Audrey’s abdomen to determine what is happening doctors decided to perform a laparoscopy which is a type of surgical procedure where a camera is inserted inside the abdomen and pelvis this would have been the best way for surgeons to get a close look inside Audrey’s abdomen to determine what was going on unfortunately for Audrey doctors found a tumor on her colon somebody called me and said orrey is at the hospital and they told me that they had discovered the

cancer doctors removed about a foot of Audrey’s intestine and put her on intravenous feeding I can see that she also started on a standard chemotherapy regimen for a few weeks if the cancer hadn’t started to spread then with both forms of treatment Audrey’s prognosis was still good I spoke to her once and she said to me I’m all right um they are trating me and we’ll wait to see what happens December 9th 1992 Cedar Sinai Medical Center Los Angeles 2 months before her death Audrey’s recovering from surgery to remove part of her intestines

but her pain is worsening surgeons decide to operate to remove what they suspect is a bowel obstruction but during the procedure they find that Audrey’s cancer has now spread they declare it inoperable nobody had noticed anything before it was a very rare cancer and everybody was surprised it was really very serious when I heard this I hoped they were wrong they caught it too late Audrey’s cancer was a very low-grade but indolent adnoc carcinoma a type of cancer that starts in the mucus glands inside of the body’s organs the

cancerous cells produce a lot of jellylike mucus on the walls of the abdomen eventually this builds inside the abdominal cavity which puts pressure on the bowel and of organs optimal treatment today involves surgery with a form of hot washing the insides of the abdomen with chemotherapy drugs to remove cancerous cells back in 1992 however this treatment hadn’t been developed and wasn’t an option for Audrey she never complained or thought why is this happening to me those words never escaped her lips quite the contrary she said I’ve

had had a wonderful life there’s a real Grace with the way that she accepts this and I think this probably speaks to the fact that she did experience a lot of hardship growing up so she’s she’s very stoic about it December 19th 1992 Los Angeles International Airport with Christmas just days away Audrey is desperate to be at home with her two sons Shawn and Luca who are in Switzerland Robert walers said that they’re trying to come back she wanted to come home as Audrey is now reliant on morphine doctors tell her it’s too

dangerous for her to fly she couldn’t get on a commercial flight she was simply too weak Audrey’s friend Uber deoni organizes a private jet so she can return home for what might be her last Christmas it was not that she was able to come back to her home her sons and the whole family came and stayed with her that was very good for her December 25th 1992 too shanaz Switzerland back at home Audrey and her family invite Christa to join them for Christmas so we spent Christmas together Christmas lunch she enjoyed it very much

it was a wonderful time January 13th 1993 Audrey feels well enough to take a stroll in her garden with partner Robert and her friend Christa she was in bed most of the time but she adored her garden so we walked in the garden and she would look at with flowers she did that a couple of times until she couldn’t anymore [Music] January 17th Audrey’s condition deteriorates and she’s now bedridden when I called I said can I come and see you and they said yes she wants to see you do come so I visited her all the time we talked a bit

not very long because she was very tired cancer fatigue is common at the end stage of the disease because cancer has dramatically reduced the body’s hemoglobin levels and cells are not getting enough oxygen the fatigue usually increases until the patient finally becomes unconscious January 20th Audrey is slipping in and out of Consciousness it was terrible for me to see her suffering like that I just did not want to believe that she was going to die in the end it happened it was terrible suddenly there was a utter

hole her sons say their goodbyes Audrey heurn the personification of Grace Elegance charm and talent died at her home in Switzerland today of cancer she was 63 years [Music] old for me it was as somebody had taken really the most important person out of my life she was like a sister a mother a friend that she wouldn’t be there anymore I just didn’t want to believe it oh I feel very sad about that Robert when Audrey died I’ll never forget it he sent me a beautiful little picture of her as a little girl which I still have

it was very emotional she died when I heard this my heart dropped whatever corner of the world she was in somehow seemed to shine a little more beautifully because she was in [Music] it Audrey heer’s cause of death was Advanced pseudo xoma periton an extremely rare form of cancer that only affects one in every half a million people it’s very difficult for doctors to know whether the disease had developed on Audrey’s appendix or or ovaries or colon but likely it started many years before and had certainly progressed to her abdominal wall unlike

other cancers PMP has a very slow disease progression which may be asymptomatic until Advanced stages and then it’s too late this was certainly the case with Audrey it was only 2 and 1 half months after Her diagnosis as she passed away but there is something else that may may seem insignificant but could hold the key to unlocking the mystery of Audrey’s death in 1958 Audrey was cast as sister Luke in the nun story playing alongside her as her best friend was Patricia Bosworth this part for her was probably the most important part in her entire

career she was very disciplined she had researched the part assiduously as we all had we were all sent to convents we lived with none n we talked to nuns this part really she wanted to make something of it February 1958 Belgian Congo Audrey was on location filming scenes at a Mission Hospital beside the Congo River this was subtropical Africa the weather was oppressive there was constant Danger from insects the size of your hat and snakes and people were were constantly falling ill with denty but Audrey was remarkably fit for

most of the production the role required her to appear with a monkey but during one scene it bit her Audrey began to feel unwell I think it affected the shoot for a little time but Audrey was too much of a professional to stop shooting for the next week she said on we go on we go she was a real trooper but after leaving the Congo Audrey was still ill with vomiting nausea and pain in her upper abdomen monkey bites are a serious risk in some parts of the world the risk from a monkey bite ranges from infected wounds to rabies and more seriously a

virus known as Simi enaculating virus 40 or sv40 there is some evidence to suggest this virus can lead to certain cancers in humans however the current evidence suggests that cancers linked to the virus are brain and bone cancer and not the type Audrey died from also the monkey in the nun story scenes with Audrey was a greater spotnose monkey only monkeys of the MAAC family carry siming virus for the infection and the greater spotnose monkey is not part of this group so I’m going to discount Audrey’s monkey bite is playing a role

in her death because it’s so rare there is little clinical research on pseudo xoma paroni we will never be certain where Audrey’s cancer started but doctors suggests that her cancer started on her appendix the role of the appendix is unknown but one theory is that it acts as a storehouse for good bacteria rebooting the digestive system if Audrey’s cancer did start on her appendix then her issues with her digestive system beginning with her childhood malnutrition could have played a role in its development but pseudo

xoma paroni has also been known to start in the ovaries and Audrey certainly had issues with her reproductive system with her many miscarriages some cancers can occur completely by chance and are just a tragic twist of fate but I can’t discount her traumatic start in life as a child of World War II as playing some heart her experience of severe malnutrition which likely led to her troubled relationship with food and aided her lifetime of anxiety and her Reliance on cigarettes to relieve her stress cannot be ignored with few clinical studies

however and a lack of research funding more needs to be done to understand this rare condition for those like Andrew heern who are unfortunate enough to suffer from it as a child I was taught that it was Bad Manners to draw attention to yourself and never ever to make a spectacle of yourself I then went on to make a rather nice living doing just that Audrey was an incredible actress and when she came onto the set the entire set stopped talking that’s the kind of effect she had on people she was what used to be called a complete class

act Audrey’s Legacy I believe is that she could make Beauty shine everywhere people remember her so much because she was such a warmhearted natural kind of a person the legacy of Audrey is one who made a difference she was an extraordinary human being that’s why we honor her name it was 5 years we worked together five years which I would consider the most beautiful years of my life she remained Audrey to the end and I for one I’m very glad she did [Music] [Music] [Music]