Audrey Hepburn was a winner in the polls that I did not expect – but a strong winner at that! It’s a brilliant chance to inform more people about this lady’s achievements, far beyond the silver screen.

Early Years

Did you know that in WW2, Audrey aided the Dutch Resistance? Only a girl of 11 when the Germans invaded the Netherlands, she saw first-hand some of the atrocities and did what she could to help fight them. Dancing was her passion, and she would dance at “black evenings”, secret underground fundraisers where the windows were blacked out and audience silence was required. There is something rather poetic about dancing for peace.

“Mum was more than a steel-butterfly; she was a battle-hardened badass.”

_{^{– Luca Dotti, Hepburn’s son}}

In addition, she got involved in more of the resistance activities such as carrying messages and supplies around the underground network and to allied pilots who had been shot down. Most wargamers will be familiar with the Battle of Arnhem, did you know a young Audrey Hepburn was there? She rescued and brought home an English paratrooper, a crime with severe consequences if caught – which, luckily, they were not.

Much like the S.O.E, Audrey’s bonus power with the resistance was her natural camouflage of being a girl. In the early days of the French Resistance (less so later in the war), the women were overlooked as any sort of threat, which meant they could operate in plain sight. Noor Inayat Khan, for example, was caught right in the act of sending a message back to the UK by an SS Officer and winged it by saying she was just trying to listen to some jazz. Small Audrey could also be seen as neither threatening nor suspicious as “just a kid” mucking about, and this saved her life on many occasions.

Later Years

We all know that Audrey Hepburn became a major international movie star, a massive achievement in its own right. Still, I wanted to make sure more people were aware of what she did afterwards, when she retired from the screen relatively early to pursue humanitarian work. She worked with UNICEF worldwide in over 20 countries to bring attention to the various plights, earning a series of awards for her relentless efforts.

“The ‘Third World’ is a term I don’t like very much, because we’re all one world. I want people to know that the largest part of humanity is suffering.”

–_{^{Audrey Hepburn, 1988}}

Which era of Audrey do we do?

So, which version of Audrey Hepburn becomes a 28mm Community Miniature? It’s such a difficult question! Having discussed this with the community over on Baggy’s Cave, we agreed on film star Audrey.

One of the Community Miniatures Project goals is for the minis to be instantly recognisable, and one of her most famous roles was in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Whilst this doesn’t show anything from the above writing, I feel it will be a much more popular miniature than other versions, and it sets off the talking point of “Did you know….”

Sometimes in a quest to show women’s achievements it can be easy to fall into the trap of brushing off the feminine; this is counterintuitive. Audrey looks stunning here, and it’s not a bad thing or anything to be ashamed of or avoid. She survived through great risks and got to become that Hollywood star through her own determination and resiliance.

I haven’t sketched anything for the sculptor for this one as it’s pretty much this iconic image, with cat of course! No cigarette holder as it would be impossible, but I reckon you could convert one if you wanted with a drill and a bit of paperclip. We’re adding the sunglasses though to make her even more recognisable.

This will make a nice contrast to some of the other miniatures, as you can fight in other ways than with a sword or gun – in Audrey’s case, some of it it was dancing.

-Words by Annie Norman

(Ps – I maaaay be working on a WW2 Audrey simultaneously as it would make for such a good gaming scenario, having her intercept messages and run around the board undetected. Shhhh.)