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Katharine Hepburn

February 15, 2024

Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress whose career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned six decades. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited personality, and outspokenness, cultivating a screen persona that matched this public image, and regularly playing strong-willed, sophisticated women. She worked in a varied range of genres, from screwball comedy to literary drama, and earned her various accolades, including four Academy Awards for Best Actress—a record for any performer. In 1999, Hepburn was named the greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute.

Katharine Hepburn
MGM studio publicity portrait, c. 1941
Born
Katharine Houghton Hepburn

(1907-05-12)May 12, 1907
Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
DiedJune 29, 2003(2003-06-29) (aged 96)
Fenwick, Connecticut, U.S.
Resting placeCedar Hill Cemetery
EducationBryn Mawr College (BA)
OccupationActress
Years active1928–1995
WorksFull list
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Ludlow Ogden Smith
​
​
(m. 1928; div. 1934)​
PartnerSpencer Tracy (1941–1967; his death)
Parents
RelativesKatharine Houghton (niece)
Schuyler Grant (grandniece)
FamilySee Houghton family
AwardsFull list
Katharine Hepburn's voice
Sample, from Stage Door (1937)
Signature

Raised in Connecticut by wealthy, progressive parents, Hepburn began to act while at Bryn Mawr College. Favorable reviews of her work on Broadway brought her to the attention of Hollywood. Her early years in film brought her international fame, including an Academy Award for Best Actress for her third film, Morning Glory (1933), but this was followed by a series of commercial failures culminating in the critically lauded box office failure Bringing Up Baby (1938). Hepburn masterminded her comeback, buying out her contract with RKO Radio Pictures and acquiring the film rights to The Philadelphia Story, which she sold on the condition that she be the star. That comedy film was a box office success and landed her a third Academy Award nomination. In the 1940s, she was contracted to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where her career focused on an alliance with Spencer Tracy. The screen partnership spanned 26 years and produced nine films.

Hepburn challenged herself in the latter half of her life as she tackled Shakespearean stage productions and a range of literary roles. She found a niche playing mature, independent, and sometimes unmarried women such as in The African Queen (1951), a persona the public embraced. Hepburn received three more Academy Awards for her performances in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), The Lion in Winter (1968), and On Golden Pond (1981). In the 1970s, she began appearing in television films, which later became her focus. She made her final screen appearance at the age of 87. After a period of inactivity and ill health, Hepburn died in 2003 at the age of 96.

Early life and education edit

 
Left to right: daughter Katharine, Marion, Robert, Thomas, and Richard. Her mother is seated at center with daughter Margaret, 1921

Katharine Houghton Hepburn was born on May 12, 1907, in Hartford, Connecticut, the second of six children. Her parents were Thomas Norval Hepburn (1879–1962), a urologist at Hartford Hospital, and Katharine Martha Houghton Hepburn (1878–1951), a feminist campaigner. Both parents fought for social change in the United States: Thomas Hepburn helped establish the New England Social Hygiene Association, which educated the public about venereal disease,[1] while the elder Katharine headed the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association and later campaigned for birth control with Margaret Sanger.[2] As a child, Hepburn joined her mother on several "Votes For Women" demonstrations.[3] The Hepburn children were raised to exercise freedom of speech and encouraged to think and debate on any topic they wished.[4] Her parents were criticized by the community for their progressive views, which stimulated Hepburn to fight against barriers she encountered.[5][6] Hepburn said she realized from a young age that she was the product of "two very remarkable parents",[7] and credited her "enormously lucky" upbringing with providing the foundation for her success.[8][9] She remained close with her family throughout her life.[10]

The young Hepburn was a tomboy who liked to call herself Jimmy and cut her hair short.[11] Thomas Hepburn was eager for his children to use their minds and bodies to the limit and taught them to swim, run, dive, ride, wrestle, and play golf and tennis.[12] Golf became a passion of Hepburn's; she took daily lessons and became very adept, reaching the semi-final of the Connecticut Young Women's Golf Championship.[13] She loved swimming in Long Island Sound, and took ice-cold baths every morning in the belief that "the bitterer the medicine, the better it was for you".[14] Hepburn was a fan of films from a young age and went to see one every Saturday night.[15] She would put on plays and perform for her neighbors with friends and siblings for 50 cents a ticket to raise money for the Navajo people.[16]

 
Hepburn's yearbook photo, 1928, Bryn Mawr College

In March 1921, Hepburn, 13, and her 16-year-old brother Tom were visiting New York, staying with a friend of their mother's in Greenwich Village over the Easter break. On March 30, Hepburn discovered the body of her adored older brother dead from an apparent suicide.[17] He had tied a curtain tie around a beam and hanged himself.[18] The Hepburn family denied it was suicide and maintained that Tom's death must have been an experiment that had gone wrong.[19] The incident made the teenage Hepburn nervous, moody, and suspicious of people.[20] She shied away from other children, dropped out of Oxford School (now Kingswood-Oxford School) and was tutored privately.[21] For many years she used Tom's birthday (November 8) as her own. It was not until her 1991 autobiography, Me: Stories of My Life, that Hepburn revealed her true birth date.[22]

In 1924, Hepburn was admitted to Bryn Mawr College. She initially agreed to attend the institution to satisfy her mother, who had studied there, but ultimately found the experience to be fulfilling.[23] It was the first time she had been in school for several years, and she was self-conscious and uncomfortable with her classmates.[24] She struggled with the scholastic demands of university, and once was suspended for smoking in her room.[25] Hepburn was drawn to acting, but roles in college plays were conditional on good grades. Once her marks had improved, she began performing regularly.[25] She performed the lead role in a production of The Woman in the Moon in her senior year, and the positive response it received cemented Hepburn's plans to pursue a theatrical career.[13] She graduated with a degree in history and philosophy in June 1928.[26]

Career edit

Breaking into theatre (1928–1932) edit

Hepburn left university determined to become an actress.[27] The day after graduating, she traveled to Baltimore to meet Edwin H. Knopf, who ran a successful stock theatre company.[28] Impressed by her eagerness, Knopf cast Hepburn in his current production, The Czarina.[29] She received good reviews for her small role, and the Printed Word described her performance as "arresting".[30] She was given a part in the following week's show, but her second performance was less well received. She was criticized for her shrill voice, and so left Baltimore to study with a voice tutor in New York City.[31]

 
Hepburn in the 1932 role that brought her to the attention of Hollywood, The Warrior's Husband

Knopf decided to produce The Big Pond in New York, and appointed Hepburn the understudy to the leading lady. A week before opening, the lead was fired and replaced with Hepburn, which gave her a starring role only four weeks into her theatre career.[32] On opening night, she turned up late, mixed her lines, tripped over her feet, and spoke too quickly to be understood.[31] She was immediately fired, and the original leading lady rehired. Undeterred, Hepburn joined forces with the producer Arthur Hopkins and accepted the role of a schoolgirl in These Days. Her Broadway debut came on November 12, 1928, at the Cort Theatre, but reviews for the show were poor, and it closed after eight nights.[31] Hopkins promptly hired Hepburn as the lead understudy in Philip Barry's play Holiday. In early December, after only two weeks, she quit to marry Ludlow Ogden Smith, a college acquaintance. She planned to leave the theatre behind but began to miss the work and quickly resumed the understudy role in Holiday, which she held for six months.[33]

In 1929, Hepburn turned down a role with the Theatre Guild to play the lead in Death Takes a Holiday. She felt the role was perfect, but again, she was fired.[34] She went back to the Guild and took an understudy role for minimum pay in A Month in the Country. In the spring of 1930, Hepburn joined the Berkshire Playhouse theater company in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. She left halfway through the summer season and continued studying with a drama tutor.[35] In early 1931, she was cast in the Broadway production of Art and Mrs. Bottle. She was released from the role after the playwright took a dislike to her, saying "She looks a fright, her manner is objectionable, and she has no talent", but Hepburn was re-hired when no other actress could be found.[36] It went on to be a small success.[37]

Hepburn appeared in a number of plays with a summer stock company in Ivoryton, Connecticut, and she proved to be a hit.[36] During the summer of 1931, Philip Barry asked her to appear in his new play, The Animal Kingdom, alongside Leslie Howard. They began rehearsals in November, Hepburn feeling sure the role would make her a star, but Howard disliked the actress and again she was fired.[38] When she asked Barry why she had been let go, he responded, "Well, to be brutally frank, you weren't very good."[38] This unsettled the self-assured Hepburn, but she continued to look for work.[39] She took a small role in an upcoming play, but as rehearsals began, she was asked to read for the lead in the Greek fable The Warrior's Husband.[40]

The Warrior's Husband proved to be Hepburn's breakout performance. Biographer Charles Higham states that the role was ideal for the actress, requiring an aggressive energy and athleticism, and she enthusiastically involved herself with its production.[41] The play opened March 11, 1932, at the Morosco Theatre on Broadway. Hepburn's first entrance called for her to leap down a narrow stairway with a stag over her shoulder, wearing a short silver tunic. The show ran for three months, and Hepburn received positive reviews.[42] Richard Garland of the New York World-Telegram wrote, "It's been many a night since so glowing a performance has brightened the Broadway scene."[43]

Hollywood success (1932–1934) edit

 
Hepburn's first movie appearance, in the melodrama A Bill of Divorcement (1932). Critics praised her performance, and she became an instant star.

A scout for the Hollywood agent Leland Hayward spotted Hepburn's appearance in The Warrior's Husband, and asked her to test for the part of Sydney Fairfield in the upcoming RKO film A Bill of Divorcement.[44] Director George Cukor was impressed by what he saw: "There was this odd creature", he recalled, "she was unlike anybody I'd ever heard." He particularly liked the manner in which she picked up a glass: "I thought she was very talented in that action."[45] Offered the role, Hepburn demanded $1,500 a week, a large amount for an unknown actress.[46] Cukor encouraged the studio to accept her demands and they signed Hepburn to a temporary contract with a three-week guarantee.[27][47] RKO head David O. Selznick recounted that he took a "tremendous chance" in casting the unusual actress.[48]

Hepburn arrived in California in July 1932, at 25 years old. She starred in A Bill of Divorcement opposite John Barrymore, but showed no sign of intimidation.[49] Although she struggled to adapt to the nature of film acting, Hepburn was fascinated by the industry from the start.[50] The picture was a success and Hepburn received positive reviews.[51] Mordaunt Hall of The New York Times called her performance "exceptionally fine ... Miss Hepburn's characterization is one of the finest seen on the screen".[52] The Variety review declared, "Standout here is the smash impression made by Katharine Hepburn in her first picture assignment. She has a vital something that sets her apart from the picture galaxy."[53] On the strength of A Bill of Divorcement, RKO signed her to a long-term contract.[54] George Cukor became a lifetime friend and colleague—he and Hepburn made ten films together.[55]

 
As Jo March in Little Women (1933), which was one of the most popular movies of its day

Hepburn's second film was Christopher Strong (1933), the story of an aviator and her affair with a married man. The picture was not commercially successful, but Hepburn's reviews were good.[56] Regina Crewe wrote in the Journal-American that although her mannerisms were grating, "they compel attention, and they fascinate an audience. She is a distinct, definite, positive personality."[57] Hepburn's third picture confirmed her as a major actress in Hollywood.[58] For playing aspiring actress Eva Lovelace—a role intended for Constance Bennett—in Morning Glory, she won an Academy Award for Best Actress. She had seen the script on the desk of producer Pandro S. Berman and, convinced that she was born to play the part, insisted that the role be hers.[59] Hepburn chose not to attend the awards ceremony—as she would not for the duration of her career—but was thrilled with the win.[60] Her success continued with the role of Jo in the film Little Women (1933). The picture was a hit, one of the film industry's biggest successes to date,[48] and Hepburn won the Best Actress prize at the Venice Film Festival. Little Women was one of Hepburn's personal favorites and she was proud of her performance, later saying, "I defy anyone to be as good [as Jo] as I was".[58]

By the end of 1933, Hepburn was a respected film actress, but she yearned to prove herself on Broadway.[61] Jed Harris, one of the most successful theatre producers of the 1920s, was going through a career slump.[62] He asked Hepburn to appear in the play The Lake, which she agreed to do for a low salary.[63] Before she was given leave, RKO asked that she film Spitfire (1934). Hepburn's role in the movie was Trigger Hicks, an uneducated mountain girl. Though it did well at the box office, Spitfire is widely considered one of Hepburn's worst films, and she received poor reviews for the effort.[64] Hepburn kept a photo of herself as Hicks in her bedroom throughout her life to "[keep] me humble".[65]

The Lake previewed in Washington, D.C., where there was a large advance sale.[63] Harris' poor direction had eroded Hepburn's confidence, and she struggled with the performance.[66] Despite this, Harris moved the play to New York without further rehearsal. It opened at the Martin Beck Theatre on December 26, 1933, and Hepburn was roundly panned by the critics.[67] Dorothy Parker quipped, "She runs the gamut of emotions all the way from A to B."[68] Already tied to a ten-week contract, she had to endure the embarrassment of rapidly declining box office sales.[69] Harris decided to take the show to Chicago, saying to Hepburn, "My dear, the only interest I have in you is the money I can make out of you." Hepburn did not want to continue in a failing show, so she paid Harris $14,000, most of her life savings, to close the production instead.[70] She later referred to Harris as "hands-down the most diabolical person I have ever met",[62] and claimed this experience was important in teaching her to take responsibility for her career.[71]

Career setbacks (1934–1938) edit

 
In Mary of Scotland (1936), one of a series of unsuccessful films Hepburn made in this period

After the failure of Spitfire and The Lake, RKO cast Hepburn in The Little Minister (1934), based on a Victorian novel by James Barrie, in an attempt to repeat the success of Little Women.[72] There was no such recurrence, and the picture was a commercial failure.[73] The romantic drama Break of Hearts (1935) with Charles Boyer was poorly reviewed and also lost money.[74] After three forgettable films, success returned to Hepburn with Alice Adams (1935), the story of a girl's desperation to climb the social ladder. Hepburn loved the book and was delighted to be offered the role.[75] The film was a hit, one of Hepburn's personal favorites, and gave the actress her second Oscar nomination. She received the second most votes, after winner Bette Davis.[76]

Given the choice of her next feature, Hepburn decided to star in George Cukor's new project, Sylvia Scarlett (1935), which paired her for the first time with Cary Grant.[76] Her hair was cut short for the part, as her character masquerades as a boy for much of the film. Critics disliked Sylvia Scarlett and it was unpopular with the public.[77] She next played Mary Stuart in John Ford's Mary of Scotland (1936), which met with a similarly poor reception.[78] A Woman Rebels (1936) followed, a Victorian-era drama where Hepburn's character defied convention by having a child out of wedlock.[79] Quality Street (1937) also had a period setting, this time a comedy. Neither movie was popular with the public, which meant she had made four unsuccessful pictures in a row.[80]

Alongside a series of unpopular films, problems arose from Hepburn's attitude.[81] She had a difficult relationship with the press, with whom she could be rude and provocative.[82] When asked if she had any children, she snapped back, "Yes, I have five: two white and three colored."[83] She would not give interviews and denied requests for autographs,[84] which earned her the nickname "Katharine of Arrogance".[85] The public was also baffled by her boyish behavior and fashion choices, and she became a largely unpopular figure.[82][86] Hepburn sensed that she needed to leave Hollywood,[87] so she returned east to star in a theatrical adaptation of Jane Eyre. It had a successful tour,[88] but, uncertain about the script and unwilling to risk failure after the disaster of The Lake, Hepburn decided against taking the show to Broadway.[87] Towards the end of 1936, Hepburn vied for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind.[89] Producer David O. Selznick refused to offer her the part because he felt she had no sex appeal. He reportedly told Hepburn, "I can't see Rhett Butler chasing you for twelve years."[90]

 
Hepburn made four films with Cary Grant. They are seen here in Bringing Up Baby (1938), which flopped on release, but has since become renowned as a classic screwball comedy.[91]

Hepburn's next feature, Stage Door (1937), paired her with Ginger Rogers in a role that mirrored her own life—that of a wealthy society girl trying to make it as an actress.[92] Hepburn was praised for her work at early previews, which gave her top billing over Rogers.[93] The film was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, but it was not the box-office hit RKO had hoped for.[92] Industry pundits blamed Hepburn for the small profit, but the studio continued its commitment to resurrecting her popularity.[94] She was cast in Howard Hawks' screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby (1938), where she played a flighty heiress who loses a leopard while trying to woo a palaeontologist (Cary Grant). She approached the physical comedy of the film with confidence,[94] and took tips on comedic timing from her co-star Walter Catlett.[95] Bringing Up Baby was acclaimed by critics, but it was nevertheless unsuccessful at the box office.[96] With the genre and Grant both hugely popular at the time, biographer A. Scott Berg believes the blame lay with moviegoers' rejection of Hepburn.[97]

After the release of Bringing Up Baby, the Independent Theatre Owners of America included Hepburn on a list of actors considered "box office poison".[97] Her reputation at a low, the next film RKO offered her was Mother Carey's Chickens, a B movie with poor prospects.[97] Hepburn turned it down, and instead opted to buy out her contract for $75,000.[98] Many actors were afraid to leave the stability of the studio system at the time, but Hepburn's personal wealth meant she could afford to be independent.[99] She signed on for the film version of Holiday (1938) with Columbia Pictures, pairing her for the third time with Grant, to play a stifled society girl who finds joy with her sister's fiancé. The comedy was positively reviewed, but it failed to draw much of an audience,[100] and the next script offered to Hepburn came with a salary of $10,000—less than she had received at the start of her film career.[101] Reflecting on this change in fortunes, Andrew Britton writes of Hepburn, "No other star has emerged with greater rapidity or with more ecstatic acclaim. No other star, either, has become so unpopular so quickly for so long a time."[102]

Revival (1939–1942) edit

 
Hepburn on Broadway in The Philadelphia Story (1939)
 
As Tracy Lord in The Philadelphia Story (1940), alongside James Stewart. Hepburn said of the role, "I gave her life, and she gave me back my career."[28]

Following this decline in her career, Hepburn took action to create her own comeback vehicle. She left Hollywood to look for a stage project, and signed on to star in Philip Barry's new play, The Philadelphia Story. It was tailored to showcase the actress, with the character of socialite Tracy Lord incorporating a mixture of humor, aggression, nervousness, and vulnerability.[103] Howard Hughes, Hepburn's partner at the time, sensed that the play could be her ticket back to Hollywood stardom and bought her the film rights before it even debuted on stage.[104] The Philadelphia Story first toured the United States, to positive reviews, and then opened in New York at the Shubert Theatre on March 28, 1939.[105][106] It was a big hit, critically and financially, running for 417 performances and then going on a second successful tour.[27]

Several of the major film studios approached Hepburn to produce the movie version of Barry's play.[107] She chose to sell the rights to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Hollywood's number one studio,[108] on the condition that she be the star. As part of the deal she also received the director of her choice, George Cukor, and picked James Stewart and Cary Grant (to whom she ceded top-billing) as co-stars.[109] Before filming began, Hepburn shrewdly noted, "I don't want to make a grand entrance in this picture. Moviegoers ... think I'm too la-di-da or something. A lot of people want to see me fall flat on my face." Thus the film began with Grant knocking the actress flat on her backside.[110] Berg describes how the character was crafted to have audiences "laugh at her enough that they would ultimately sympathize with her", which Hepburn felt was crucial in "recreating" her public image.[111] The Philadelphia Story was one of the biggest hits of 1940, breaking records at Radio City Music Hall.[27] The review in Time declared, "Come on back, Katie, all is forgiven."[112] Herb Golden of Variety stated, "It's Katharine Hepburn's picture ... The perfect conception of all flighty, but characterful, Main Line socialite gals rolled into one, the story without her is almost inconceivable."[113] Hepburn was nominated for her third Academy Award for Best Actress, and won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress while Stewart won his only Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance.[114][115]

Hepburn was also responsible for the development of her next project, the romantic comedy Woman of the Year about a political columnist and a sports reporter whose relationship is threatened by her self-centered independence. The idea for the film was proposed to her in 1941 by Garson Kanin, who recalled how Hepburn contributed to the script.[116] She presented the finished product to MGM and demanded $250,000—half for her, half for the authors.[117] Her terms accepted, Hepburn was also given the director and co-star of her choice, George Stevens and Spencer Tracy. On Hepburn and Tracy's first day on set together, she allegedly told Tracy "I'm afraid I'm too tall for you" to which Tracy replied, "Don't worry Miss Hepburn, I'll soon cut you down to my size." It started a relationship on screen and off that lasted until Tracy's death in 1967 with them appearing in another eight films together.[118] Released in 1942, Woman of the Year was another success. Critics praised the chemistry between the stars, and, says Higham, noted Hepburn's "increasing maturity and polish".[119] The World-Telegram commended two "brilliant performances",[120] and Hepburn received a fourth Academy Award nomination. During the course of the movie, Hepburn signed a star contract with MGM.[109]

Slowing in the 1940s (1942–1949) edit

In 1942, Hepburn returned to Broadway to appear in another Philip Barry play, Without Love, which was also written with the actress in mind.[120] Critics were unenthusiastic about the production, but with Hepburn's popularity at a high, it ran for 16 sold-out weeks.[121] MGM was eager to reunite Tracy and Hepburn for a new picture and settled on Keeper of the Flame (1942). A dark mystery with a propaganda message on the dangers of fascism, the film was seen by Hepburn as an opportunity to make a worthy political statement.[122] It received poor notices, but was a financial success, confirming the popularity of the Tracy–Hepburn pairing.[123]

 
The majority of films Hepburn did in this period were with Spencer Tracy. She later said the partnership did much to advance her career, as he was the more popular star at the time.[124] Seen here in Adam's Rib (1949).

Since Woman of the Year, Hepburn had committed to a romantic relationship with Tracy and dedicated herself to helping the star, who suffered from alcoholism and insomnia.[125] Her career slowed as a result, and she worked less for the remainder of the decade than she had done in the 1930s—notably by not appearing on-stage again until 1950.[126] Her only appearance in 1943 was a cameo in the morale-building wartime film Stage Door Canteen, playing herself. She took an atypical role in 1944, playing a Chinese peasant in the high-budget drama Dragon Seed. Hepburn was enthusiastic about the film, but it met with a tepid response and she was described as miscast.[127] She then reunited with Tracy for the film version of Without Love (1945), after which she turned down a role in The Razor's Edge to support Tracy through his return to Broadway.[128] Without Love received poor reviews, but a new Tracy–Hepburn picture was a big event and it was popular on release, selling a record number of tickets over the Easter weekend in 1945.[129]

Hepburn's next film was Undercurrent (1946), a film noir with Robert Taylor and Robert Mitchum that was poorly received.[130] A fourth film with Tracy came in 1947: a drama set in the American Old West entitled The Sea of Grass. Similarly to Keeper of the Flame and Without Love, a lukewarm response from critics did not stop it from being a financial success both at home and abroad.[131] The same year, Hepburn portrayed Clara Wieck Schumann in Song of Love. She trained intensively with a pianist for the role.[132] By the time of its release in October, Hepburn's career had been significantly affected by her public opposition to the growing anti-communist movement in Hollywood. Viewed by some as dangerously progressive, she was not offered work for nine months and people reportedly threw things at screenings of Song of Love.[133] Her next film role came unexpectedly, as she agreed to replace Claudette Colbert only days before shooting began on Frank Capra's political drama State of the Union (1948).[134] Tracy had long been signed to play the male lead, and so Hepburn was already familiar with the script and stepped up for the fifth Tracy–Hepburn picture.[133] Critics responded positively to the film and it performed well at the box-office.[135]

Tracy and Hepburn appeared onscreen together for a third consecutive year in the 1949 film Adam's Rib. Like Woman of the Year, it was a "battle of the sexes" comedy and was written specifically for the duo by their friends Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon. A story of married lawyers who oppose each other in court, Hepburn described it as "perfect for [Tracy] and me".[136] Although her political views still prompted scattered picketing at theatres around the country, Adam's Rib was a hit, favorably reviewed and the most profitable Tracy–Hepburn picture to date.[137] The New York Times critic Bosley Crowther was full of praise for the film and hailed the duo's "perfect compatibility".[138]

Professional expansion (1950–1952) edit

 
Hepburn often worked abroad in the 1950s, beginning with The African Queen with co-star Humphrey Bogart.

The 1950s saw Hepburn take on a series of professional challenges, and stretch herself further than at any other point in her life at an age when most other actresses began to retreat.[139] Berg describes the decade as "the heart of her vast legacy" and "the period in which she truly came into her own".[140] In January 1950, Hepburn ventured into Shakespeare, playing Rosalind on stage in As You Like It. She hoped to prove that she could play already established material,[28] and said, "It's better to try something difficult and flop than to play it safe all the time."[141] It opened at the Cort Theatre in New York to a capacity audience and was virtually sold out for 148 shows.[142] The production then went on tour. Reviews for Hepburn varied, but she was noted as the only leading lady in Hollywood who was performing high-caliber material onstage.[143]

In 1951, Hepburn filmed The African Queen, her first movie in Technicolor. She played Rose Sayer, a prim missionary living in German East Africa at the outbreak of World War I. Co-starring Humphrey Bogart, The African Queen was shot mostly on location in the Belgian Congo, an opportunity Hepburn embraced.[144] It proved a difficult experience, however, and Hepburn became ill with dysentery during filming.[145] Later in life, she released a memoir about the experience.[146] The movie was released at the end of 1951 to popular support and critical acclaim,[147] and gave Hepburn her fifth Best Actress nomination at the Academy Awards while garnering Bogart his only Academy Award for Best Actor. The first successful film she had made without Tracy since The Philadelphia Story a decade earlier, it proved that she could be a hit without him and fully reestablished her popularity.[148]

Hepburn went on to make the sports comedy Pat and Mike (1952), the second film written specifically as a Tracy–Hepburn vehicle by Kanin and Gordon. She was a keen athlete, and Kanin later described this as his inspiration for the film: "As I watched Kate playing tennis one day ... it occurred to me that her audience was missing a treat."[149] Hepburn was under pressure to perform several sports to a high standard, many of which did not end up in the film.[150] Pat and Mike was one of the team's most popular and critically acclaimed films, and it was also Hepburn's personal favorite of the nine films she made with Tracy.[151] The performance brought her a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.[152]

In the summer of 1952, Hepburn appeared in London's West End for a ten-week run of George Bernard Shaw's The Millionairess. Her parents had read Shaw to her when she was a child, which made the play a special experience for the actress.[153] Two years of intense work had left her exhausted, however, and her friend Constance Collier wrote that Hepburn was "on the verge of a nervous breakdown".[154] Widely acclaimed, The Millionairess was taken to Broadway.[155] In October 1952 it opened at the Shubert Theatre, where despite a lukewarm critical response it sold out its ten-week run.[154] Hepburn subsequently tried to get the play adapted into a film: a script was written by Preston Sturges, and she offered to work for nothing and pay the director herself, but no studio picked up the project.[156] She later referred to this as the biggest disappointment of her career.[153]

Mid-career and Shakespeare (1953–1962) edit

 
In David Lean's romantic drama Summertime (1955). Jane Hudson is one of the roles Hepburn played in the 1950s.

Pat and Mike was the last film Hepburn completed on her MGM contract, making her free to select her own projects.[155] She spent two years resting and traveling, before committing to David Lean's romantic drama Summertime (1955). The movie was filmed in Venice, with Hepburn playing an unmarried woman who has a passionate love affair. She described it as "a very emotional part" and found it fascinating to work with Lean.[157] At her own insistence, Hepburn performed a fall into a canal and developed a chronic eye infection as a result.[158] The role earned her another Academy Award nomination and has been cited as some of her finest work.[159][160] Lean later said it was his personal favorite of the films he made, and Hepburn his favorite actress.[161] The following year, Hepburn spent six months touring Australia with the Old Vic theatre company, playing Portia in The Merchant of Venice, Kate in The Taming of the Shrew, and Isabella in Measure for Measure. The tour was successful and Hepburn earned significant plaudits for the effort.[162]

Hepburn received an Academy Award nomination for the second year running for her work opposite Burt Lancaster in The Rainmaker (1956). Again she played a lonely woman empowered by a love affair, and it became apparent that Hepburn had found a niche in playing mature, unmarried women.[163] Hepburn said of playing such roles, "With Lizzie Curry [The Rainmaker] and Jane Hudson [Summertime] and Rosie Sayer [The African Queen]—I was playing me. It wasn't difficult for me to play those women, because I'm the maiden aunt."[163] Less success that year came from The Iron Petticoat (1956), a reworking of the classic comedy Ninotchka, with Bob Hope. Hepburn played a cold-hearted Soviet pilot, a performance Bosley Crowther called "horrible".[164] It was a critical and commercial failure, and Hepburn considered it the worst film on her resume.[165]

Tracy and Hepburn reunited on screen for the first time in five years for the office-based comedy Desk Set (1957). Berg notes that it worked as a hybrid of their earlier romantic-comedy successes,[166] but it performed poorly at the box-office.[167] That summer, Hepburn returned to Shakespeare. Appearing in Stratford, Connecticut, at the American Shakespeare Theatre, she repeated her Portia in The Merchant of Venice and played Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing. The shows were positively received.[166]

 
From the trailer for Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), based on the play by Tennessee Williams

After two years away from the screen, Hepburn starred in a film adaptation of Tennessee Williams' controversial play Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) with Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift. The movie was shot in London and was "a completely miserable experience" for Hepburn.[168] She clashed with director Joseph L. Mankiewicz during filming, which culminated with her spitting at him in disgust.[169] The picture was a financial success, and her work as creepy aunt Violet Venable gave Hepburn her eighth Oscar nomination.[170] Williams was pleased with the performance, writing, "Kate is a playwright's dream-actress. She makes dialogue sound better than it is by a matchless beauty and clarity of diction".[171] He wrote The Night of the Iguana (1961) with Hepburn in mind, but the actress, although flattered, felt the play was wrong for her and declined the part, which went to Deborah Kerr.[172]

Hepburn returned to Stratford in the summer of 1960 to play Viola in Twelfth Night, and Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra. The New York Post wrote of her Cleopatra, "Hepburn offers a highly versatile performance ... once or twice going in for her famous mannerisms and always being fascinating to watch."[173] Hepburn herself was proud of the role.[174] Her repertoire was further improved when she appeared in Sidney Lumet's film version of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962). It was a low-budget production, and she appeared in the film for a tenth of her established salary.[175] She called it "the greatest [play] this country has ever produced" and the role of morphine-addicted Mary Tyrone "the most challenging female role in American drama", and felt her performance was the best screen work of her career.[176] Long Day's Journey Into Night earned Hepburn an Oscar nomination and the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival. It remains one of her most praised performances.[177]

Success in later years (1963–1970) edit

 
In Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), which won Hepburn her second of four Academy Awards

Following the completion of Long Day's Journey Into Night, Hepburn took a break in her career to care for ailing Spencer Tracy.[178] She did not work again until 1967's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, her ninth film with Tracy. The movie dealt with the subject of interracial marriage, with Hepburn's niece, Katharine Houghton, playing her daughter. Tracy was dying by this point, suffering the effects of heart disease,[179] and Houghton later commented that her aunt was "extremely tense" during the production.[180] Tracy died 17 days after filming his last scene. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner was a triumphant return for Hepburn and her most commercially successful picture to that point.[181] She won her second Best Actress Award at the Oscars, 34 years after winning her first. Hepburn felt the award was not just for her but was also given to honor Tracy.[181]

Hepburn quickly returned to acting after Tracy's death, choosing to occupy herself as a remedy against grief.[182] She received numerous scripts[183] and chose to play Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter (1968), a part she called "fascinating".[184] She read extensively in preparation for the role, in which she starred opposite Peter O'Toole.[185] Filming took place in Montmajour Abbey in the south of France, an experience she loved despite being—according to director Anthony Harvey—"enormously vulnerable" throughout.[186] John Russell Taylor of The Times suggested that Eleanor was "the performance of her ... career", and proved that she was "a growing, developing, still surprising actress".[187] The movie was nominated in all the major categories at the Academy Awards, and for the second year running Hepburn won the Oscar for Best Actress (shared with Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl).[188] The role, combined with her performance in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, also received a British Academy Film Award (BAFTA) for Best Actress. Hepburn's next appearance was in The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969), which she filmed in Nice immediately after completing The Lion in Winter.[189] The picture was a failure critically and financially, and reviews targeted Hepburn for giving a misguided performance.[190] By the end of 1969, she was voted the most popular female star in America by Quigley's Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll, making a rare occurrence of an actress over 50 to achieve such a position.

From December 1969 to August 1970, Hepburn starred in the Broadway musical Coco, about the life of Coco Chanel. She admitted that before the show, she had never sat through a theatrical musical.[191] She was not a strong singer, but found the offer irresistible and, as Berg puts it, "what she lacked in euphony she made up for in guts".[192] The actress took vocal lessons six times a week in preparation for the show.[192] She was nervous about every performance and recalled "wondering what the hell I was doing there".[193] Reviews for the production were mediocre, but Hepburn herself was praised, and Coco was popular with the public—with its run twice extended.[194] She later said Coco marked the first time she accepted that the public was not against her, but actually seemed to love her.[28] Her work earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical.[195]

Film, television, and theatre (1971–1983) edit

Hepburn stayed active throughout the 1970s, focusing on roles described by Andrew Britton as "either a devouring mother or a batty old lady living [alone]".[1] First she traveled to Spain to film a version of Euripides' The Trojan Women (1971) alongside Vanessa Redgrave. When asked why she had taken the role, she responded that she wanted to broaden her range and try everything while she still had time.[196] The movie was poorly received,[196] but the Kansas City Film Critics Circle named Hepburn's performance the best from an actress that year. In 1971, she signed on to star in an adaptation of Graham Greene's Travels with My Aunt, but was unhappy with early versions of the script and took to rewriting it herself. The studio disliked her changes, so Hepburn abandoned the project and was replaced with Maggie Smith.[197] Her next film, an adaptation of Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance (1973) directed by Tony Richardson, had a small release and received generally unfavorable reviews.[198]

In 1973, Hepburn ventured into television for the first time, starring in a production of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie. She had been wary of the medium, but it proved to be one of the main television events of the year, scoring high in the Nielsen ratings.[199] Hepburn received an Emmy Award nomination for playing wistful Southern mother Amanda Wingfield, which opened her mind to future work on the small screen.[200] Her next project was the television movie Love Among the Ruins (1975), a London-based Edwardian drama with her friend Laurence Olivier. It received positive reviews and high ratings and earned Hepburn her only Emmy Award.[201]

 
In the western Rooster Cogburn (1975), where Hepburn costarred with John Wayne

Hepburn made her only appearance at the Academy Awards in 1974, to present the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to Lawrence Weingarten. She received a standing ovation, and joked with the audience, "I'm very happy I didn't hear anyone call out, 'It's about time'."[202] The following year, she was paired with John Wayne in the western Rooster Cogburn, a sequel to his Oscar-winning film True Grit. Echoing her African Queen character, Hepburn played a deeply religious unmarried woman who teams up with a masculine loner to avenge a family member's death.[198] The movie received mediocre reviews. Its casting was enough to draw some people to the box office, but it did not meet studio expectations and was only moderately successful.[203]

In 1976, Hepburn returned to Broadway for a three-month run of Enid Bagnold's play A Matter of Gravity. The role of eccentric Mrs. Basil was deemed a perfect showcase for the actress,[204] and the play was popular despite poor reviews.[205] It later went on a successful nationwide tour.[206] During its Los Angeles run, Hepburn fractured her hip, but she chose to continue the tour performing in a wheelchair.[207] That year, she was voted "Favorite Motion Picture Actress" by the People's Choice Awards.[208]

During the summer of 1976, Hepburn starred in the low-budget family film Olly Olly Oxen Free. The feature failed to find a major-studio distributor and was finally released independently in 1978. Because of its poor distribution, it played in relatively few theaters, resulting in one of the biggest misfires of Hepburn's career. The screenwriter James Prideaux, who worked with Hepburn, later wrote that it "died at the moment of release" and referred to it as her "lost film".[209] Hepburn claimed the main reason she had done it was the opportunity to ride in a hot-air balloon.[210] The television movie The Corn Is Green (1979), which was filmed in Wales, followed. It was the last of ten films Hepburn made with George Cukor, and gained her a third Emmy nomination.[211]

By the 1980s, Hepburn had developed a noticeable tremor, giving her a permanently shaking head.[202][212] She did not work for two years, saying in a television interview, "I've had my day—let the kids scramble and sweat it out."[213] During this period she saw the Broadway production On Golden Pond, and was impressed by its depiction of an elderly married couple coping with the difficulties of old age.[214] Jane Fonda had purchased the screen rights for her father, actor Henry Fonda, and Hepburn sought to play opposite him in the role of quirky Ethel Thayer.[215] On Golden Pond was a success, the second-highest-grossing film of 1981.[216] It demonstrated how energetic the 74-year-old Hepburn was, as she dived fully clothed into Squam Lake and gave a lively singing performance.[214] The film won her a second BAFTA and a record fourth Academy Award. Homer Dickens, in his book on Hepburn, notes that it was widely considered a sentimental win, "a tribute to her enduring career".[217]

Hepburn also returned to the stage in 1981. She received a second Tony nomination for her portrayal in The West Side Waltz of a septuagenarian widow with a zest for life. Variety observed that the role was "an obvious and entirely acceptable version of [Hepburn's] own public image".[218] Walter Kerr of The New York Times wrote of Hepburn and her performance, "One mysterious thing she has learned to do is breathe unchallengeable life into lifeless lines."[219] She hoped to make a film out of the production, but nobody purchased the rights.[220] Hepburn's reputation as one of America's best loved actors was firmly established by this point, as she was named favorite movie actress in a survey by People magazine and again won the popularity award from People's Choice.[221][222]

Focus on television (1984–1994) edit

In 1984, Hepburn starred in the dark-comedy Grace Quigley, the story of an elderly woman who enlists a hitman (Nick Nolte) to kill her. Hepburn found humor in the morbid theme, but reviews were negative and the box-office was poor.[223] In 1985, she presented a television documentary about the life and career of Spencer Tracy.[224] The majority of Hepburn's roles from this point were in television movies, which did not receive the critical praise of her earlier work in the medium, but remained popular with audiences.[225] With each release, Hepburn would declare it her final screen appearance, but she continued to take on new roles.[226] She received an Emmy nomination for 1986's Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry, then two years later returned for the comedy Laura Lansing Slept Here, which allowed her to act with her grandniece, Schuyler Grant.[227]

 
Hepburn's final film role was in Love Affair (1994). Critics commented that the 87-year-old had lost none of her powerful screen presence.

In 1991, Hepburn released her autobiography, Me: Stories of My Life, which topped best-seller lists for over a year.[228] She returned to television screens in 1992 for The Man Upstairs, co-starring Ryan O'Neal, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. In 1994, she worked opposite Anthony Quinn in This Can't Be Love, which was largely based on Hepburn's own life, with numerous references to her personality and career. These later roles have been described as "a fictional version of the typically feisty Kate Hepburn character" and critics have remarked that Hepburn was essentially playing herself.[219][226]

Hepburn's final appearance in a theatrically released film, and her first since Grace Quigley nine years earlier, was Love Affair (1994). At 87 years old, she played a supporting role, alongside Annette Bening and Warren Beatty. It was the only film of Hepburn's career, other than the cameo appearance in Stage Door Canteen, in which she did not play a leading role.[229] Roger Ebert noted that it was the first time she had looked frail, but that the "magnificent spirit" was still there, and said her scenes "steal the show".[230] A writer for The New York Times reflected on the actress's final big-screen appearance: "If she moved more slowly than before, in demeanor, she was as game and modern as she had ever been."[219] Hepburn played her final role in the television film One Christmas (1994), for which she received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination at 87 years old.[231]

Personal life edit

Public image and character edit

Hepburn was known for being fiercely private,[219] and would not give interviews or talk to fans for much of her career.[84] She distanced herself from the celebrity lifestyle and was uninterested in a social scene she saw as tedious and superficial. [232] She wore casual clothes that went strongly against convention in an era of glamour.[233] She rarely appeared in public, avoided restaurants,[234] and once wrestled a camera out of a photographer's hand when he took a picture without asking.[235] Despite her zeal for privacy, she enjoyed her fame, and later confessed that she would not have liked the press to ignore her completely.[236] The protective attitude toward her private life thawed as she aged; beginning with a two-hour-long interview on The Dick Cavett Show in 1973, Hepburn became more open with the public.[237]

"I strike people as peculiar in some way, although I don't quite understand why. Of course, I have an angular face, an angular body, and, I suppose, an angular personality, which jabs into people."[219]

"I'm a personality as well as an actress. Show me an actress who isn't a personality, and you'll show me a woman who isn't a star."[238]

— Hepburn commenting on her personality.

Hepburn's relentless energy and enthusiasm for life are often cited in biographies,[239] and her headstrong independence became key to her celebrity status.[82][219][240] This self-assuredness came with a tendency to be controlling and difficult; her friend Garson Kanin likened her to a schoolmistress,[241] and she was famously blunt and outspoken.[233] Katharine Houghton commented that her aunt could be "maddeningly self-righteous and bossy".[242] Hepburn confessed to being, especially early in life, "a me me me person".[243] She saw herself as having a happy nature, reasoning "I like life and I've been so lucky, why shouldn't I be happy?"[178] A. Scott Berg knew Hepburn well in her later years, and said that while she was demanding, she retained a sense of humility and humanity.[244]

The actress led an active life, reportedly swimming and playing tennis every morning.[149] In her eighties she was still playing tennis regularly, as indicated in her 1993 documentary All About Me.[28] She also enjoyed painting, which became a passion later in life.[245] Asked about politics, Hepburn told an interviewer, "I always just say be on the affirmative and liberal side. Don't be a 'no' person."[5] The anti-Communist attitude in 1940s Hollywood prompted her to political activity, as she joined the Committee for the First Amendment. Her name was mentioned at the hearings of the House Un-American Activities Committee, but Hepburn denied being a Communist sympathizer.[246] Later in life, she openly promoted birth control and supported the legal right to abortion.[28][82] She described herself as a "dedicated Democrat".[247] She practiced Albert Schweitzer's theory of "Reverence for Life",[248] but did not believe in religion or the afterlife.[5] In 1991, Hepburn told a journalist, "I'm an atheist, and that's it. I believe there's nothing we can know, except that we should be kind to each other and do what we can for other people."[249] Her public declarations of these beliefs led the American Humanist Association to award her the Humanist Arts Award in 1985.[250]

Hepburn liked to go barefoot,[251] and for her first acting role, in the play "The Woman in the Moon", she insisted that her character Pandora should not wear shoes.[252] Offscreen, she usually dressed in slacks and sandals, even for formal occasions, such as television interviews.[253] She said, "the thing that drove me out of skirts was the stocking situation ... That's why I've always worn pants ... that way you can always go barefoot".[254]

Relationships edit

Hepburn's only marriage was to Ludlow Ogden Smith, a socialite-businessman from Philadelphia whom she met while a student at Bryn Mawr. The couple wed on December 12, 1928, when she was 21 and he was 29.[255] Smith changed his name to S. Ogden Ludlow at her behest so that she would not be "Kate Smith", which she considered too plain.[33] She never fully committed to the marriage and prioritized her career.[255] The move to Hollywood in 1932 cemented the couple's estrangement.[256] Hepburn filed for divorce in Yucatán on April 30, 1934, and it was finalized on May 8.[257] Hepburn often expressed her gratitude toward Smith for his financial and moral support in the early days of her career, and in her autobiography she called herself "a terrible pig" for exploiting his love.[258] The pair remained friends until his death in 1979.[259]

Soon after moving to California, Hepburn began a relationship with her agent, Leland Hayward, although they were both married.[65] Hayward proposed to the actress after they had both divorced, but she declined, later explaining, "I liked the idea of being my own single self."[260] The affair lasted four years.[261] In 1936, while she was touring Jane Eyre, Hepburn began a relationship with entrepreneur Howard Hughes. She had been introduced to him a year earlier by their mutual friend Cary Grant.[262] Hughes wished to marry her, and the tabloids reported their impending nuptials, but Hepburn stayed focused on resurrecting her failing career.[263] They separated in 1938, when Hepburn left Hollywood after being labeled "box office poison."[264]

Hepburn stuck to her decision not to remarry and made a conscious choice not to have children. She believed that motherhood required a full-time commitment, and said it was not one she was willing to make.[5] "I would have been a terrible mother," she told Berg, "because I'm basically a very selfish human being."[265] She felt she had partially experienced parenthood through her much younger siblings, which fulfilled any need to have children of her own.[266]

Rumors have existed since the 1930s that Hepburn was a lesbian or bisexual, which she often joked about.[267] In 2007, William J. Mann released a biography of the actress in which he argued this was the case.[268] In response to this speculation, her niece, Katharine Houghton said, "I've never discovered any evidence whatsoever that she was a lesbian."[269] However, in a 2017 documentary, columnist Liz Smith, who was a close friend,[270] attested that she was.[271][272]

Spencer Tracy edit

 
Spencer Tracy and Hepburn in a publicity photo for Desk Set

The most significant relationship of Hepburn's life was with Spencer Tracy, her co-star in nine films. In her autobiography, she wrote, "It was a unique feeling that I had for [Tracy]. I would have done anything for him."[273] Lauren Bacall, a close friend, later wrote of how "blindingly" in love Hepburn was with the actor.[274] The relationship has subsequently been publicized as one of Hollywood's legendary love affairs.[219][237][275]

Meeting in 1941, when she was 34 and he was 41, Tracy was initially wary of Hepburn, unimpressed by her dirty fingernails and suspecting that she was a lesbian, but Hepburn said she "knew right away that [she] found him irresistible".[276] Tracy remained married throughout their relationship. Although he and his wife, Louise, had been living separate lives since the 1930s, there was never an official split and neither party pursued a divorce.[277] Hepburn did not interfere.[278]

With Tracy determined to conceal the relationship with Hepburn from his wife, it had to remain private.[279] They were careful not to be seen in public together and maintained separate residences.[275][280] Tracy was an alcoholic and was frequently depressed; Hepburn described him as "tortured",[281] and she devoted herself to making his life easier.[282] Reports from people who saw them together describe how Hepburn's entire demeanor changed when around Tracy.[283] She reportedly mothered and obeyed him, and he reportedly became dependent on her.[284] They often spent stretches of time apart due to their work, particularly in the 1950s when Hepburn was frequently abroad for career commitments.[285]

Tracy's health declined in the 1960s, and Hepburn took a five-year break in her career to care for him.[178] She moved into Tracy's house for this period and was with him when he died on June 10, 1967.[286] Out of consideration for Tracy's family, she did not attend his funeral.[287] It was only after Louise Tracy's death, in 1983, that Hepburn began to speak publicly about her feelings for her frequent co-star.[288] In response to the question of why she stayed with Tracy for so long, despite the nature of their relationship, she said, "I honestly don't know. I can only say that I could never have left him."[178] She claimed to not know how he felt about her, and that they "just passed twenty-seven years together in what was to me absolute bliss".[289]

Final years and death edit

 
Hepburn's gravestone in Cedar Hill Cemetery

Hepburn stated in her eighties, "I have no fear of death. Must be wonderful, like a long sleep."[28] Her health began to deteriorate not long after her final screen appearance, and she was hospitalized in March 1993 for exhaustion.[290] In the winter of 1996, she was hospitalized with pneumonia.[291] By 1997, she had become very weak and was speaking and eating very little, and it was feared she would die.[292] She showed signs of dementia in her final years.[293] By 2000, she was regarded by her niece to be a "private person".[294] In July 2001, she was admitted to a hospital for pneumonia and a urinary tract infection.[295] In May 2003, an aggressive tumor was found in Hepburn's neck. The decision was made not to medically intervene,[296] and she died from cardiac arrest on June 29, 2003, at the Hepburn family home in Fenwick, Connecticut.[297]

She was buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford. Hepburn requested there be no memorial service.[298]

Hepburn's death received considerable public attention. Many tributes were held on television, and newspapers and magazines dedicated issues to the actress.[299] American president George W. Bush said Hepburn "will be remembered as one of the nation's artistic treasures".[297] In honor of her extensive theatre work, the lights of Broadway were dimmed for the evening of July 1, 2003.[297]

In 2004, in accordance with Hepburn's wishes, her belongings were put up for auction with Sotheby's in New York City. The event garnered $5.8 million, which Hepburn willed to her family.[300]

Acting style and screen persona edit

Her best films were when she was presented as a woman on her high horse with slightly pretentious, often comically stated ideas about the world. It was for men to bring her down and get her to reveal herself as quite a good gal, sporty and democratic. We liked the idea that aristocratic people would be humanized by democratic values—in her case, by slightly rough-necked and good-natured males.[177]

— Film historian and critic Richard Schickel explains the typical Hepburn role and its appeal.

According to reports, Hepburn was not an instinctive actor.[301] She liked to study the text and character carefully beforehand, making sure she knew them thoroughly, and then to rehearse as much as possible and film multiple takes of a scene.[185] With a genuine passion for acting she committed heavily to each role[302] and insisted on learning any necessary skills and performing stunts herself.[303] She was known to learn not only her own lines but also those of her co-stars.[304] Commenting on her motivation, Stanley Kramer said, "Work, work, work. She can work till everyone drops."[305] Hepburn involved herself in the production of each of her films, making suggestions for the script and stating her opinion on everything from costumes to lighting to camerawork.[306]

The characters Hepburn played were, with very few exceptions, wealthy and intelligent, and often strong and independent.[307] These tough characters tended to be humbled in some form and revealed to have a hidden vulnerability.[308] Garson Kanin described what he called "the formula for a Hepburn success: A high-class, or stuck-up ... girl is brought down to earth by an earthy type, or a lowbrow ... or a cataclysmic situation. It seems to have worked time and time again."[309] Due to this repeated character arc, Hepburn embodied the "contradictions" of the "nature and status of women",[310] and the strong females she depicts are eventually "restored to a safe position within the status quo".[311] Film critic Molly Haskell has commented on the importance of this to Hepburn's career: With an intimidating presence, it was necessary that her characters "do some kind of self-abasement, to stay on the good side of the audience".[82]

Hepburn is one of the most celebrated American actresses,[312] but she has also been criticized for a lack of versatility. Her on-screen persona closely matched her own real personality, something Hepburn admitted herself. In 1991 she told a journalist, "I think I'm always the same. I had a very definite personality, and I liked material that showed that personality."[275] Playwright and author David Macaray has said, "Picture Katharine Hepburn in every movie she ever starred in, and ask yourself if she's not playing, essentially, the same part over and over ... Icon or no icon, let's not confuse a truly fascinating and unique woman with a superior actress."[313] Another repeated criticism is that her demeanor was too cold.[275]

Legacy edit

 
Hepburn, with her unconventional lifestyle and the independent female roles she played on screen (such as Tess Harding in Woman of the Year, pictured), represented the emancipated woman.

Hepburn is considered an important and influential cultural figure. Ros Horton and Sally Simmons included her in their book Women Who Changed The World, which honors 50 women who helped shape world history and culture. She is also named in Encyclopædia Britannica's list of "300 Women Who Changed the World",[233] Ladies Home Journal's book 100 Most Important Women of the 20th century,[314] Variety magazine's "100 Icons of the Century",[315] and she is number 84 on VH1's list of the "200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons of All Time".[316] In 1999, the American Film Institute named Hepburn the "greatest American screen legend" among females.[317]

Regarding Hepburn's film legacy, one of her biographers, Sheridan Morley, said she "broke the mould" for women in Hollywood,[318] where she brought a new breed of strong-willed females to the screen.[233] Film academic Andrew Britton wrote a monograph studying Hepburn's "key presence within classical Hollywood, a consistent, potentially radical disturbance",[311] and pinpoints her "central" influence in bringing feminist issues to the screen.[310]

Off screen, Hepburn's lifestyle was ahead of her time,[240] coming to symbolize the "modern woman" and playing a part in changing gender attitudes.[82][319] Horton and Simmons write, "Confident, intelligent and witty, four-time Oscar winner Katharine Hepburn defied convention throughout her professional and personal life ... Hepburn provided an image of an assertive woman whom [females] could watch and learn from."[320] After Hepburn's death, film historian Jeanine Basinger stated, "What she brought us was a new kind of heroine—modern and independent. She was beautiful, but she did not rely on that."[177] Mary McNamara, an entertainment journalist and reviewer for the Los Angeles Times wrote, "More than a movie star, Katharine Hepburn was the patron saint of the independent American female."[82] She was not universally revered by feminists, however, who were angered by her public declarations that women "cannot have it all", meaning a family and a career.[82]

Hepburn's legacy extends to fashion, where she pioneered wearing trousers at a time when it was a radical move for a woman.[321] She helped make trousers acceptable for women, and fans began to imitate her clothing.[219][322] In 1986 she received a lifetime achievement award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America in recognition of her influence on women's fashion.[219]

A number of Hepburn's films have become classics of American cinema, with four of her pictures (The African Queen, The Philadelphia Story, Bringing Up Baby, and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner) featured on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 Greatest American Films of all time.[323] Adam's Rib and Woman of the Year were included in the AFI's list of the Greatest American Comedies.[324] Her clipped, patrician voice is considered one of the most distinctive in film history.[177]

Memorials edit

 
East 49th Street in New York City, named after Katharine Hepburn

Hepburn has been honored with several memorials. The Turtle Bay community in New York City, where she maintained a residence for over 60 years, dedicated a garden in her name located in Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza in 1997.[325] After Hepburn's death in 2003, the intersection of East 49th Street and 2nd Avenue was renamed "Katharine Hepburn Place".[326] Three years later Bryn Mawr College, Hepburn's alma mater, launched the Katharine Houghton Hepburn Center. It is dedicated to both the actress and her mother and encourages women to address important issues affecting their gender. The center awards the annual Katharine Hepburn Medal, which "recognizes women whose lives, work and contributions embody the intelligence, drive and independence of the four-time-Oscar-winning actress" and whose award recipients "are chosen on the basis of their commitment and contributions to the Hepburn women's greatest passions—civic engagement and the arts".[327] The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center was opened in 2009 in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, the location of the Hepburn family beach home, which she loved and later owned.[328] The building includes a performance space and a Katharine Hepburn museum.[329]

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences library[330] and the New York Public Library hold collections of Hepburn's personal papers. Selections from the New York collection, which documents Hepburn's theatrical career, were presented in a five-month exhibition, Katharine Hepburn: In Her Own Files, in 2009.[331] Other exhibitions have been held to showcase Hepburn's career. One Life: Kate, A Centennial Celebration was held at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington from November 2007 to September 2008.[332] Kent State University exhibited a selection of her film and theatre costumes from October 2010 to September 2011 in Katharine Hepburn: Dressed for Stage and Screen.[333] Hepburn has also been honored with her own postal stamp as part of the "Legends of Hollywood" stamp series.[334] In 2015, the British Film Institute held a two-month retrospective of Hepburn's work.[335]

Characterizations edit

Hepburn is the subject of a one-woman play, Tea at Five, written by Matthew Lombardo. The first act features Hepburn in 1938, after being labeled "box office poison", and the second act in 1983, where she reflects on her life and career.[336] It premiered in 2002 at the Hartford Stage.[337] Hepburn has been portrayed in Tea at Five by Kate Mulgrew,[336] Tovah Feldshuh,[338] Stephanie Zimbalist,[339] and Charles Busch.[340] A revised version of the play, eliminating the first act and expanding the second, premiered on June 28, 2019, at Boston's Huntington Theater with Faye Dunaway playing Hepburn. Feldshuh also appeared as Hepburn in The Amazing Howard Hughes, a 1977 television movie, while Mearle Ann Taylor later portrayed her in The Scarlett O'Hara War (1980). In Martin Scorsese's Howard Hughes biographical film The Aviator, Hepburn was portrayed by Cate Blanchett, which earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. This marked the first instance where the portrayal of an Academy Award-winning actress itself won an Academy Award.[341]

Acting credits edit

Main article: Katharine Hepburn on screen and stage

During her 66-year career, Hepburn appeared in 44 feature films, 8 television movies, and 33 plays. Her movie career covered a range of genres, including screwball comedies, period dramas, and adaptations of works by top American playwrights. She appeared on the stage in every decade from the 1920s to the 1980s, performing plays by Shakespeare and Shaw, and a Broadway musical.[342][343][344]

Select filmography:

Select theatre roles:

Awards and nominations edit

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Katharine Hepburn

Hepburn won four Academy Awards, the record number for a performer, and received a total of 12 Oscar nominations for Best Actress—a number surpassed only by Meryl Streep.[345] Hepburn also holds the record for the longest time span between first and last Oscar nominations, at 48 years.[345] She received two awards and five nominations from the British Academy Film Awards, one award and six nominations from the Emmy Awards, eight Golden Globe Award nominations, two Tony Award nominations, and awards from the Cannes Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, the People's Choice Awards, and others. Hepburn was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1979. She also won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild Awards in 1979 and received the Kennedy Center Honors, which recognize a lifetime of accomplishments in the arts, in 1990.[346][347]

Hepburn was recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:

See also edit

References edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ a b Britton 2003, p. 41.
  2. ^ Berg 2004, p. 40.
  3. ^ Chandler 2011, p. 37.
  4. ^ Higham 2004, p. 2.
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General and cited sources edit

External links edit

February 15, 2024
katharine, hepburn, katharine, houghton, hepburn, 1907, june, 2003, american, actress, whose, career, hollywood, leading, lady, spanned, decades, known, headstrong, independence, spirited, personality, outspokenness, cultivating, screen, persona, that, matched. Katharine Houghton Hepburn May 12 1907 June 29 2003 was an American actress whose career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned six decades She was known for her headstrong independence spirited personality and outspokenness cultivating a screen persona that matched this public image and regularly playing strong willed sophisticated women She worked in a varied range of genres from screwball comedy to literary drama and earned her various accolades including four Academy Awards for Best Actress a record for any performer In 1999 Hepburn was named the greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute Katharine HepburnMGM studio publicity portrait c 1941BornKatharine Houghton Hepburn 1907 05 12 May 12 1907Hartford Connecticut U S DiedJune 29 2003 2003 06 29 aged 96 Fenwick Connecticut U S Resting placeCedar Hill CemeteryEducationBryn Mawr College BA OccupationActressYears active1928 1995WorksFull listPolitical partyDemocraticSpouseLudlow Ogden Smith m 1928 div 1934 wbr PartnerSpencer Tracy 1941 1967 his death ParentsThomas N Hepburn father Katharine M Hepburn mother RelativesKatharine Houghton niece Schuyler Grant grandniece FamilySee Houghton familyAwardsFull listKatharine Hepburn s voice source source Sample from Stage Door 1937 SignatureRaised in Connecticut by wealthy progressive parents Hepburn began to act while at Bryn Mawr College Favorable reviews of her work on Broadway brought her to the attention of Hollywood Her early years in film brought her international fame including an Academy Award for Best Actress for her third film Morning Glory 1933 but this was followed by a series of commercial failures culminating in the critically lauded box office failure Bringing Up Baby 1938 Hepburn masterminded her comeback buying out her contract with RKO Radio Pictures and acquiring the film rights to The Philadelphia Story which she sold on the condition that she be the star That comedy film was a box office success and landed her a third Academy Award nomination In the 1940s she was contracted to Metro Goldwyn Mayer where her career focused on an alliance with Spencer Tracy The screen partnership spanned 26 years and produced nine films Hepburn challenged herself in the latter half of her life as she tackled Shakespearean stage productions and a range of literary roles She found a niche playing mature independent and sometimes unmarried women such as in The African Queen 1951 a persona the public embraced Hepburn received three more Academy Awards for her performances in Guess Who s Coming to Dinner 1967 The Lion in Winter 1968 and On Golden Pond 1981 In the 1970s she began appearing in television films which later became her focus She made her final screen appearance at the age of 87 After a period of inactivity and ill health Hepburn died in 2003 at the age of 96 Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Career 2 1 Breaking into theatre 1928 1932 2 2 Hollywood success 1932 1934 2 3 Career setbacks 1934 1938 2 4 Revival 1939 1942 2 5 Slowing in the 1940s 1942 1949 2 6 Professional expansion 1950 1952 2 7 Mid career and Shakespeare 1953 1962 2 8 Success in later years 1963 1970 2 9 Film television and theatre 1971 1983 2 10 Focus on television 1984 1994 3 Personal life 3 1 Public image and character 3 2 Relationships 3 2 1 Spencer Tracy 3 3 Final years and death 4 Acting style and screen persona 5 Legacy 5 1 Memorials 5 2 Characterizations 6 Acting credits 7 Awards and nominations 8 See also 9 References 9 1 Citations 9 2 General and cited sources 10 External linksEarly life and education edit nbsp Left to right daughter Katharine Marion Robert Thomas and Richard Her mother is seated at center with daughter Margaret 1921Katharine Houghton Hepburn was born on May 12 1907 in Hartford Connecticut the second of six children Her parents were Thomas Norval Hepburn 1879 1962 a urologist at Hartford Hospital and Katharine Martha Houghton Hepburn 1878 1951 a feminist campaigner Both parents fought for social change in the United States Thomas Hepburn helped establish the New England Social Hygiene Association which educated the public about venereal disease 1 while the elder Katharine headed the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association and later campaigned for birth control with Margaret Sanger 2 As a child Hepburn joined her mother on several Votes For Women demonstrations 3 The Hepburn children were raised to exercise freedom of speech and encouraged to think and debate on any topic they wished 4 Her parents were criticized by the community for their progressive views which stimulated Hepburn to fight against barriers she encountered 5 6 Hepburn said she realized from a young age that she was the product of two very remarkable parents 7 and credited her enormously lucky upbringing with providing the foundation for her success 8 9 She remained close with her family throughout her life 10 The young Hepburn was a tomboy who liked to call herself Jimmy and cut her hair short 11 Thomas Hepburn was eager for his children to use their minds and bodies to the limit and taught them to swim run dive ride wrestle and play golf and tennis 12 Golf became a passion of Hepburn s she took daily lessons and became very adept reaching the semi final of the Connecticut Young Women s Golf Championship 13 She loved swimming in Long Island Sound and took ice cold baths every morning in the belief that the bitterer the medicine the better it was for you 14 Hepburn was a fan of films from a young age and went to see one every Saturday night 15 She would put on plays and perform for her neighbors with friends and siblings for 50 cents a ticket to raise money for the Navajo people 16 nbsp Hepburn s yearbook photo 1928 Bryn Mawr CollegeIn March 1921 Hepburn 13 and her 16 year old brother Tom were visiting New York staying with a friend of their mother s in Greenwich Village over the Easter break On March 30 Hepburn discovered the body of her adored older brother dead from an apparent suicide 17 He had tied a curtain tie around a beam and hanged himself 18 The Hepburn family denied it was suicide and maintained that Tom s death must have been an experiment that had gone wrong 19 The incident made the teenage Hepburn nervous moody and suspicious of people 20 She shied away from other children dropped out of Oxford School now Kingswood Oxford School and was tutored privately 21 For many years she used Tom s birthday November 8 as her own It was not until her 1991 autobiography Me Stories of My Life that Hepburn revealed her true birth date 22 In 1924 Hepburn was admitted to Bryn Mawr College She initially agreed to attend the institution to satisfy her mother who had studied there but ultimately found the experience to be fulfilling 23 It was the first time she had been in school for several years and she was self conscious and uncomfortable with her classmates 24 She struggled with the scholastic demands of university and once was suspended for smoking in her room 25 Hepburn was drawn to acting but roles in college plays were conditional on good grades Once her marks had improved she began performing regularly 25 She performed the lead role in a production of The Woman in the Moon in her senior year and the positive response it received cemented Hepburn s plans to pursue a theatrical career 13 She graduated with a degree in history and philosophy in June 1928 26 Career editBreaking into theatre 1928 1932 edit Hepburn left university determined to become an actress 27 The day after graduating she traveled to Baltimore to meet Edwin H Knopf who ran a successful stock theatre company 28 Impressed by her eagerness Knopf cast Hepburn in his current production The Czarina 29 She received good reviews for her small role and the Printed Word described her performance as arresting 30 She was given a part in the following week s show but her second performance was less well received She was criticized for her shrill voice and so left Baltimore to study with a voice tutor in New York City 31 nbsp Hepburn in the 1932 role that brought her to the attention of Hollywood The Warrior s HusbandKnopf decided to produce The Big Pond in New York and appointed Hepburn the understudy to the leading lady A week before opening the lead was fired and replaced with Hepburn which gave her a starring role only four weeks into her theatre career 32 On opening night she turned up late mixed her lines tripped over her feet and spoke too quickly to be understood 31 She was immediately fired and the original leading lady rehired Undeterred Hepburn joined forces with the producer Arthur Hopkins and accepted the role of a schoolgirl in These Days Her Broadway debut came on November 12 1928 at the Cort Theatre but reviews for the show were poor and it closed after eight nights 31 Hopkins promptly hired Hepburn as the lead understudy in Philip Barry s play Holiday In early December after only two weeks she quit to marry Ludlow Ogden Smith a college acquaintance She planned to leave the theatre behind but began to miss the work and quickly resumed the understudy role in Holiday which she held for six months 33 In 1929 Hepburn turned down a role with the Theatre Guild to play the lead in Death Takes a Holiday She felt the role was perfect but again she was fired 34 She went back to the Guild and took an understudy role for minimum pay in A Month in the Country In the spring of 1930 Hepburn joined the Berkshire Playhouse theater company in Stockbridge Massachusetts She left halfway through the summer season and continued studying with a drama tutor 35 In early 1931 she was cast in the Broadway production of Art and Mrs Bottle She was released from the role after the playwright took a dislike to her saying She looks a fright her manner is objectionable and she has no talent but Hepburn was re hired when no other actress could be found 36 It went on to be a small success 37 Hepburn appeared in a number of plays with a summer stock company in Ivoryton Connecticut and she proved to be a hit 36 During the summer of 1931 Philip Barry asked her to appear in his new play The Animal Kingdom alongside Leslie Howard They began rehearsals in November Hepburn feeling sure the role would make her a star but Howard disliked the actress and again she was fired 38 When she asked Barry why she had been let go he responded Well to be brutally frank you weren t very good 38 This unsettled the self assured Hepburn but she continued to look for work 39 She took a small role in an upcoming play but as rehearsals began she was asked to read for the lead in the Greek fable The Warrior s Husband 40 The Warrior s Husband proved to be Hepburn s breakout performance Biographer Charles Higham states that the role was ideal for the actress requiring an aggressive energy and athleticism and she enthusiastically involved herself with its production 41 The play opened March 11 1932 at the Morosco Theatre on Broadway Hepburn s first entrance called for her to leap down a narrow stairway with a stag over her shoulder wearing a short silver tunic The show ran for three months and Hepburn received positive reviews 42 Richard Garland of the New York World Telegram wrote It s been many a night since so glowing a performance has brightened the Broadway scene 43 Hollywood success 1932 1934 edit nbsp Hepburn s first movie appearance in the melodrama A Bill of Divorcement 1932 Critics praised her performance and she became an instant star A scout for the Hollywood agent Leland Hayward spotted Hepburn s appearance in The Warrior s Husband and asked her to test for the part of Sydney Fairfield in the upcoming RKO film A Bill of Divorcement 44 Director George Cukor was impressed by what he saw There was this odd creature he recalled she was unlike anybody I d ever heard He particularly liked the manner in which she picked up a glass I thought she was very talented in that action 45 Offered the role Hepburn demanded 1 500 a week a large amount for an unknown actress 46 Cukor encouraged the studio to accept her demands and they signed Hepburn to a temporary contract with a three week guarantee 27 47 RKO head David O Selznick recounted that he took a tremendous chance in casting the unusual actress 48 Hepburn arrived in California in July 1932 at 25 years old She starred in A Bill of Divorcement opposite John Barrymore but showed no sign of intimidation 49 Although she struggled to adapt to the nature of film acting Hepburn was fascinated by the industry from the start 50 The picture was a success and Hepburn received positive reviews 51 Mordaunt Hall of The New York Times called her performance exceptionally fine Miss Hepburn s characterization is one of the finest seen on the screen 52 The Variety review declared Standout here is the smash impression made by Katharine Hepburn in her first picture assignment She has a vital something that sets her apart from the picture galaxy 53 On the strength of A Bill of Divorcement RKO signed her to a long term contract 54 George Cukor became a lifetime friend and colleague he and Hepburn made ten films together 55 nbsp As Jo March in Little Women 1933 which was one of the most popular movies of its dayHepburn s second film was Christopher Strong 1933 the story of an aviator and her affair with a married man The picture was not commercially successful but Hepburn s reviews were good 56 Regina Crewe wrote in the Journal American that although her mannerisms were grating they compel attention and they fascinate an audience She is a distinct definite positive personality 57 Hepburn s third picture confirmed her as a major actress in Hollywood 58 For playing aspiring actress Eva Lovelace a role intended for Constance Bennett in Morning Glory she won an Academy Award for Best Actress She had seen the script on the desk of producer Pandro S Berman and convinced that she was born to play the part insisted that the role be hers 59 Hepburn chose not to attend the awards ceremony as she would not for the duration of her career but was thrilled with the win 60 Her success continued with the role of Jo in the film Little Women 1933 The picture was a hit one of the film industry s biggest successes to date 48 and Hepburn won the Best Actress prize at the Venice Film Festival Little Women was one of Hepburn s personal favorites and she was proud of her performance later saying I defy anyone to be as good as Jo as I was 58 By the end of 1933 Hepburn was a respected film actress but she yearned to prove herself on Broadway 61 Jed Harris one of the most successful theatre producers of the 1920s was going through a career slump 62 He asked Hepburn to appear in the play The Lake which she agreed to do for a low salary 63 Before she was given leave RKO asked that she film Spitfire 1934 Hepburn s role in the movie was Trigger Hicks an uneducated mountain girl Though it did well at the box office Spitfire is widely considered one of Hepburn s worst films and she received poor reviews for the effort 64 Hepburn kept a photo of herself as Hicks in her bedroom throughout her life to keep me humble 65 The Lake previewed in Washington D C where there was a large advance sale 63 Harris poor direction had eroded Hepburn s confidence and she struggled with the performance 66 Despite this Harris moved the play to New York without further rehearsal It opened at the Martin Beck Theatre on December 26 1933 and Hepburn was roundly panned by the critics 67 Dorothy Parker quipped She runs the gamut of emotions all the way from A to B 68 Already tied to a ten week contract she had to endure the embarrassment of rapidly declining box office sales 69 Harris decided to take the show to Chicago saying to Hepburn My dear the only interest I have in you is the money I can make out of you Hepburn did not want to continue in a failing show so she paid Harris 14 000 most of her life savings to close the production instead 70 She later referred to Harris as hands down the most diabolical person I have ever met 62 and claimed this experience was important in teaching her to take responsibility for her career 71 Career setbacks 1934 1938 edit nbsp In Mary of Scotland 1936 one of a series of unsuccessful films Hepburn made in this periodAfter the failure of Spitfire and The Lake RKO cast Hepburn in The Little Minister 1934 based on a Victorian novel by James Barrie in an attempt to repeat the success of Little Women 72 There was no such recurrence and the picture was a commercial failure 73 The romantic drama Break of Hearts 1935 with Charles Boyer was poorly reviewed and also lost money 74 After three forgettable films success returned to Hepburn with Alice Adams 1935 the story of a girl s desperation to climb the social ladder Hepburn loved the book and was delighted to be offered the role 75 The film was a hit one of Hepburn s personal favorites and gave the actress her second Oscar nomination She received the second most votes after winner Bette Davis 76 Given the choice of her next feature Hepburn decided to star in George Cukor s new project Sylvia Scarlett 1935 which paired her for the first time with Cary Grant 76 Her hair was cut short for the part as her character masquerades as a boy for much of the film Critics disliked Sylvia Scarlett and it was unpopular with the public 77 She next played Mary Stuart in John Ford s Mary of Scotland 1936 which met with a similarly poor reception 78 A Woman Rebels 1936 followed a Victorian era drama where Hepburn s character defied convention by having a child out of wedlock 79 Quality Street 1937 also had a period setting this time a comedy Neither movie was popular with the public which meant she had made four unsuccessful pictures in a row 80 Alongside a series of unpopular films problems arose from Hepburn s attitude 81 She had a difficult relationship with the press with whom she could be rude and provocative 82 When asked if she had any children she snapped back Yes I have five two white and three colored 83 She would not give interviews and denied requests for autographs 84 which earned her the nickname Katharine of Arrogance 85 The public was also baffled by her boyish behavior and fashion choices and she became a largely unpopular figure 82 86 Hepburn sensed that she needed to leave Hollywood 87 so she returned east to star in a theatrical adaptation of Jane Eyre It had a successful tour 88 but uncertain about the script and unwilling to risk failure after the disaster of The Lake Hepburn decided against taking the show to Broadway 87 Towards the end of 1936 Hepburn vied for the role of Scarlett O Hara in Gone with the Wind 89 Producer David O Selznick refused to offer her the part because he felt she had no sex appeal He reportedly told Hepburn I can t see Rhett Butler chasing you for twelve years 90 nbsp Hepburn made four films with Cary Grant They are seen here in Bringing Up Baby 1938 which flopped on release but has since become renowned as a classic screwball comedy 91 Hepburn s next feature Stage Door 1937 paired her with Ginger Rogers in a role that mirrored her own life that of a wealthy society girl trying to make it as an actress 92 Hepburn was praised for her work at early previews which gave her top billing over Rogers 93 The film was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards but it was not the box office hit RKO had hoped for 92 Industry pundits blamed Hepburn for the small profit but the studio continued its commitment to resurrecting her popularity 94 She was cast in Howard Hawks screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby 1938 where she played a flighty heiress who loses a leopard while trying to woo a palaeontologist Cary Grant She approached the physical comedy of the film with confidence 94 and took tips on comedic timing from her co star Walter Catlett 95 Bringing Up Baby was acclaimed by critics but it was nevertheless unsuccessful at the box office 96 With the genre and Grant both hugely popular at the time biographer A Scott Berg believes the blame lay with moviegoers rejection of Hepburn 97 After the release of Bringing Up Baby the Independent Theatre Owners of America included Hepburn on a list of actors considered box office poison 97 Her reputation at a low the next film RKO offered her was Mother Carey s Chickens a B movie with poor prospects 97 Hepburn turned it down and instead opted to buy out her contract for 75 000 98 Many actors were afraid to leave the stability of the studio system at the time but Hepburn s personal wealth meant she could afford to be independent 99 She signed on for the film version of Holiday 1938 with Columbia Pictures pairing her for the third time with Grant to play a stifled society girl who finds joy with her sister s fiance The comedy was positively reviewed but it failed to draw much of an audience 100 and the next script offered to Hepburn came with a salary of 10 000 less than she had received at the start of her film career 101 Reflecting on this change in fortunes Andrew Britton writes of Hepburn No other star has emerged with greater rapidity or with more ecstatic acclaim No other star either has become so unpopular so quickly for so long a time 102 Revival 1939 1942 edit nbsp Hepburn on Broadway in The Philadelphia Story 1939 nbsp As Tracy Lord in The Philadelphia Story 1940 alongside James Stewart Hepburn said of the role I gave her life and she gave me back my career 28 Following this decline in her career Hepburn took action to create her own comeback vehicle She left Hollywood to look for a stage project and signed on to star in Philip Barry s new play The Philadelphia Story It was tailored to showcase the actress with the character of socialite Tracy Lord incorporating a mixture of humor aggression nervousness and vulnerability 103 Howard Hughes Hepburn s partner at the time sensed that the play could be her ticket back to Hollywood stardom and bought her the film rights before it even debuted on stage 104 The Philadelphia Story first toured the United States to positive reviews and then opened in New York at the Shubert Theatre on March 28 1939 105 106 It was a big hit critically and financially running for 417 performances and then going on a second successful tour 27 Several of the major film studios approached Hepburn to produce the movie version of Barry s play 107 She chose to sell the rights to Metro Goldwyn Mayer MGM Hollywood s number one studio 108 on the condition that she be the star As part of the deal she also received the director of her choice George Cukor and picked James Stewart and Cary Grant to whom she ceded top billing as co stars 109 Before filming began Hepburn shrewdly noted I don t want to make a grand entrance in this picture Moviegoers think I m too la di da or something A lot of people want to see me fall flat on my face Thus the film began with Grant knocking the actress flat on her backside 110 Berg describes how the character was crafted to have audiences laugh at her enough that they would ultimately sympathize with her which Hepburn felt was crucial in recreating her public image 111 The Philadelphia Story was one of the biggest hits of 1940 breaking records at Radio City Music Hall 27 The review in Time declared Come on back Katie all is forgiven 112 Herb Golden of Variety stated It s Katharine Hepburn s picture The perfect conception of all flighty but characterful Main Line socialite gals rolled into one the story without her is almost inconceivable 113 Hepburn was nominated for her third Academy Award for Best Actress and won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress while Stewart won his only Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance 114 115 Hepburn was also responsible for the development of her next project the romantic comedy Woman of the Year about a political columnist and a sports reporter whose relationship is threatened by her self centered independence The idea for the film was proposed to her in 1941 by Garson Kanin who recalled how Hepburn contributed to the script 116 She presented the finished product to MGM and demanded 250 000 half for her half for the authors 117 Her terms accepted Hepburn was also given the director and co star of her choice George Stevens and Spencer Tracy On Hepburn and Tracy s first day on set together she allegedly told Tracy I m afraid I m too tall for you to which Tracy replied Don t worry Miss Hepburn I ll soon cut you down to my size It started a relationship on screen and off that lasted until Tracy s death in 1967 with them appearing in another eight films together 118 Released in 1942 Woman of the Year was another success Critics praised the chemistry between the stars and says Higham noted Hepburn s increasing maturity and polish 119 The World Telegram commended two brilliant performances 120 and Hepburn received a fourth Academy Award nomination During the course of the movie Hepburn signed a star contract with MGM 109 Slowing in the 1940s 1942 1949 edit In 1942 Hepburn returned to Broadway to appear in another Philip Barry play Without Love which was also written with the actress in mind 120 Critics were unenthusiastic about the production but with Hepburn s popularity at a high it ran for 16 sold out weeks 121 MGM was eager to reunite Tracy and Hepburn for a new picture and settled on Keeper of the Flame 1942 A dark mystery with a propaganda message on the dangers of fascism the film was seen by Hepburn as an opportunity to make a worthy political statement 122 It received poor notices but was a financial success confirming the popularity of the Tracy Hepburn pairing 123 nbsp The majority of films Hepburn did in this period were with Spencer Tracy She later said the partnership did much to advance her career as he was the more popular star at the time 124 Seen here in Adam s Rib 1949 Since Woman of the Year Hepburn had committed to a romantic relationship with Tracy and dedicated herself to helping the star who suffered from alcoholism and insomnia 125 Her career slowed as a result and she worked less for the remainder of the decade than she had done in the 1930s notably by not appearing on stage again until 1950 126 Her only appearance in 1943 was a cameo in the morale building wartime film Stage Door Canteen playing herself She took an atypical role in 1944 playing a Chinese peasant in the high budget drama Dragon Seed Hepburn was enthusiastic about the film but it met with a tepid response and she was described as miscast 127 She then reunited with Tracy for the film version of Without Love 1945 after which she turned down a role in The Razor s Edge to support Tracy through his return to Broadway 128 Without Love received poor reviews but a new Tracy Hepburn picture was a big event and it was popular on release selling a record number of tickets over the Easter weekend in 1945 129 Hepburn s next film was Undercurrent 1946 a film noir with Robert Taylor and Robert Mitchum that was poorly received 130 A fourth film with Tracy came in 1947 a drama set in the American Old West entitled The Sea of Grass Similarly to Keeper of the Flame and Without Love a lukewarm response from critics did not stop it from being a financial success both at home and abroad 131 The same year Hepburn portrayed Clara Wieck Schumann in Song of Love She trained intensively with a pianist for the role 132 By the time of its release in October Hepburn s career had been significantly affected by her public opposition to the growing anti communist movement in Hollywood Viewed by some as dangerously progressive she was not offered work for nine months and people reportedly threw things at screenings of Song of Love 133 Her next film role came unexpectedly as she agreed to replace Claudette Colbert only days before shooting began on Frank Capra s political drama State of the Union 1948 134 Tracy had long been signed to play the male lead and so Hepburn was already familiar with the script and stepped up for the fifth Tracy Hepburn picture 133 Critics responded positively to the film and it performed well at the box office 135 Tracy and Hepburn appeared onscreen together for a third consecutive year in the 1949 film Adam s Rib Like Woman of the Year it was a battle of the sexes comedy and was written specifically for the duo by their friends Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon A story of married lawyers who oppose each other in court Hepburn described it as perfect for Tracy and me 136 Although her political views still prompted scattered picketing at theatres around the country Adam s Rib was a hit favorably reviewed and the most profitable Tracy Hepburn picture to date 137 The New York Times critic Bosley Crowther was full of praise for the film and hailed the duo s perfect compatibility 138 Professional expansion 1950 1952 edit nbsp Hepburn often worked abroad in the 1950s beginning with The African Queen with co star Humphrey Bogart The 1950s saw Hepburn take on a series of professional challenges and stretch herself further than at any other point in her life at an age when most other actresses began to retreat 139 Berg describes the decade as the heart of her vast legacy and the period in which she truly came into her own 140 In January 1950 Hepburn ventured into Shakespeare playing Rosalind on stage in As You Like It She hoped to prove that she could play already established material 28 and said It s better to try something difficult and flop than to play it safe all the time 141 It opened at the Cort Theatre in New York to a capacity audience and was virtually sold out for 148 shows 142 The production then went on tour Reviews for Hepburn varied but she was noted as the only leading lady in Hollywood who was performing high caliber material onstage 143 In 1951 Hepburn filmed The African Queen her first movie in Technicolor She played Rose Sayer a prim missionary living in German East Africa at the outbreak of World War I Co starring Humphrey Bogart The African Queen was shot mostly on location in the Belgian Congo an opportunity Hepburn embraced 144 It proved a difficult experience however and Hepburn became ill with dysentery during filming 145 Later in life she released a memoir about the experience 146 The movie was released at the end of 1951 to popular support and critical acclaim 147 and gave Hepburn her fifth Best Actress nomination at the Academy Awards while garnering Bogart his only Academy Award for Best Actor The first successful film she had made without Tracy since The Philadelphia Story a decade earlier it proved that she could be a hit without him and fully reestablished her popularity 148 Hepburn went on to make the sports comedy Pat and Mike 1952 the second film written specifically as a Tracy Hepburn vehicle by Kanin and Gordon She was a keen athlete and Kanin later described this as his inspiration for the film As I watched Kate playing tennis one day it occurred to me that her audience was missing a treat 149 Hepburn was under pressure to perform several sports to a high standard many of which did not end up in the film 150 Pat and Mike was one of the team s most popular and critically acclaimed films and it was also Hepburn s personal favorite of the nine films she made with Tracy 151 The performance brought her a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress Motion Picture Musical or Comedy 152 In the summer of 1952 Hepburn appeared in London s West End for a ten week run of George Bernard Shaw s The Millionairess Her parents had read Shaw to her when she was a child which made the play a special experience for the actress 153 Two years of intense work had left her exhausted however and her friend Constance Collier wrote that Hepburn was on the verge of a nervous breakdown 154 Widely acclaimed The Millionairess was taken to Broadway 155 In October 1952 it opened at the Shubert Theatre where despite a lukewarm critical response it sold out its ten week run 154 Hepburn subsequently tried to get the play adapted into a film a script was written by Preston Sturges and she offered to work for nothing and pay the director herself but no studio picked up the project 156 She later referred to this as the biggest disappointment of her career 153 Mid career and Shakespeare 1953 1962 edit nbsp In David Lean s romantic drama Summertime 1955 Jane Hudson is one of the roles Hepburn played in the 1950s Pat and Mike was the last film Hepburn completed on her MGM contract making her free to select her own projects 155 She spent two years resting and traveling before committing to David Lean s romantic drama Summertime 1955 The movie was filmed in Venice with Hepburn playing an unmarried woman who has a passionate love affair She described it as a very emotional part and found it fascinating to work with Lean 157 At her own insistence Hepburn performed a fall into a canal and developed a chronic eye infection as a result 158 The role earned her another Academy Award nomination and has been cited as some of her finest work 159 160 Lean later said it was his personal favorite of the films he made and Hepburn his favorite actress 161 The following year Hepburn spent six months touring Australia with the Old Vic theatre company playing Portia in The Merchant of Venice Kate in The Taming of the Shrew and Isabella in Measure for Measure The tour was successful and Hepburn earned significant plaudits for the effort 162 Hepburn received an Academy Award nomination for the second year running for her work opposite Burt Lancaster in The Rainmaker 1956 Again she played a lonely woman empowered by a love affair and it became apparent that Hepburn had found a niche in playing mature unmarried women 163 Hepburn said of playing such roles With Lizzie Curry The Rainmaker and Jane Hudson Summertime and Rosie Sayer The African Queen I was playing me It wasn t difficult for me to play those women because I m the maiden aunt 163 Less success that year came from The Iron Petticoat 1956 a reworking of the classic comedy Ninotchka with Bob Hope Hepburn played a cold hearted Soviet pilot a performance Bosley Crowther called horrible 164 It was a critical and commercial failure and Hepburn considered it the worst film on her resume 165 Tracy and Hepburn reunited on screen for the first time in five years for the office based comedy Desk Set 1957 Berg notes that it worked as a hybrid of their earlier romantic comedy successes 166 but it performed poorly at the box office 167 That summer Hepburn returned to Shakespeare Appearing in Stratford Connecticut at the American Shakespeare Theatre she repeated her Portia in The Merchant of Venice and played Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing The shows were positively received 166 nbsp From the trailer for Suddenly Last Summer 1959 based on the play by Tennessee WilliamsAfter two years away from the screen Hepburn starred in a film adaptation of Tennessee Williams controversial play Suddenly Last Summer 1959 with Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift The movie was shot in London and was a completely miserable experience for Hepburn 168 She clashed with director Joseph L Mankiewicz during filming which culminated with her spitting at him in disgust 169 The picture was a financial success and her work as creepy aunt Violet Venable gave Hepburn her eighth Oscar nomination 170 Williams was pleased with the performance writing Kate is a playwright s dream actress She makes dialogue sound better than it is by a matchless beauty and clarity of diction 171 He wrote The Night of the Iguana 1961 with Hepburn in mind but the actress although flattered felt the play was wrong for her and declined the part which went to Deborah Kerr 172 Hepburn returned to Stratford in the summer of 1960 to play Viola in Twelfth Night and Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra The New York Post wrote of her Cleopatra Hepburn offers a highly versatile performance once or twice going in for her famous mannerisms and always being fascinating to watch 173 Hepburn herself was proud of the role 174 Her repertoire was further improved when she appeared in Sidney Lumet s film version of Eugene O Neill s Long Day s Journey Into Night 1962 It was a low budget production and she appeared in the film for a tenth of her established salary 175 She called it the greatest play this country has ever produced and the role of morphine addicted Mary Tyrone the most challenging female role in American drama and felt her performance was the best screen work of her career 176 Long Day s Journey Into Night earned Hepburn an Oscar nomination and the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival It remains one of her most praised performances 177 Success in later years 1963 1970 edit nbsp In Guess Who s Coming to Dinner 1967 which won Hepburn her second of four Academy AwardsFollowing the completion of Long Day s Journey Into Night Hepburn took a break in her career to care for ailing Spencer Tracy 178 She did not work again until 1967 s Guess Who s Coming to Dinner her ninth film with Tracy The movie dealt with the subject of interracial marriage with Hepburn s niece Katharine Houghton playing her daughter Tracy was dying by this point suffering the effects of heart disease 179 and Houghton later commented that her aunt was extremely tense during the production 180 Tracy died 17 days after filming his last scene Guess Who s Coming to Dinner was a triumphant return for Hepburn and her most commercially successful picture to that point 181 She won her second Best Actress Award at the Oscars 34 years after winning her first Hepburn felt the award was not just for her but was also given to honor Tracy 181 Hepburn quickly returned to acting after Tracy s death choosing to occupy herself as a remedy against grief 182 She received numerous scripts 183 and chose to play Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter 1968 a part she called fascinating 184 She read extensively in preparation for the role in which she starred opposite Peter O Toole 185 Filming took place in Montmajour Abbey in the south of France an experience she loved despite being according to director Anthony Harvey enormously vulnerable throughout 186 John Russell Taylor of The Times suggested that Eleanor was the performance of her career and proved that she was a growing developing still surprising actress 187 The movie was nominated in all the major categories at the Academy Awards and for the second year running Hepburn won the Oscar for Best Actress shared with Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl 188 The role combined with her performance in Guess Who s Coming to Dinner also received a British Academy Film Award BAFTA for Best Actress Hepburn s next appearance was in The Madwoman of Chaillot 1969 which she filmed in Nice immediately after completing The Lion in Winter 189 The picture was a failure critically and financially and reviews targeted Hepburn for giving a misguided performance 190 By the end of 1969 she was voted the most popular female star in America by Quigley s Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll making a rare occurrence of an actress over 50 to achieve such a position From December 1969 to August 1970 Hepburn starred in the Broadway musical Coco about the life of Coco Chanel She admitted that before the show she had never sat through a theatrical musical 191 She was not a strong singer but found the offer irresistible and as Berg puts it what she lacked in euphony she made up for in guts 192 The actress took vocal lessons six times a week in preparation for the show 192 She was nervous about every performance and recalled wondering what the hell I was doing there 193 Reviews for the production were mediocre but Hepburn herself was praised and Coco was popular with the public with its run twice extended 194 She later said Coco marked the first time she accepted that the public was not against her but actually seemed to love her 28 Her work earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical 195 Film television and theatre 1971 1983 edit Hepburn stayed active throughout the 1970s focusing on roles described by Andrew Britton as either a devouring mother or a batty old lady living alone 1 First she traveled to Spain to film a version of Euripides The Trojan Women 1971 alongside Vanessa Redgrave When asked why she had taken the role she responded that she wanted to broaden her range and try everything while she still had time 196 The movie was poorly received 196 but the Kansas City Film Critics Circle named Hepburn s performance the best from an actress that year In 1971 she signed on to star in an adaptation of Graham Greene s Travels with My Aunt but was unhappy with early versions of the script and took to rewriting it herself The studio disliked her changes so Hepburn abandoned the project and was replaced with Maggie Smith 197 Her next film an adaptation of Edward Albee s A Delicate Balance 1973 directed by Tony Richardson had a small release and received generally unfavorable reviews 198 In 1973 Hepburn ventured into television for the first time starring in a production of Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie She had been wary of the medium but it proved to be one of the main television events of the year scoring high in the Nielsen ratings 199 Hepburn received an Emmy Award nomination for playing wistful Southern mother Amanda Wingfield which opened her mind to future work on the small screen 200 Her next project was the television movie Love Among the Ruins 1975 a London based Edwardian drama with her friend Laurence Olivier It received positive reviews and high ratings and earned Hepburn her only Emmy Award 201 nbsp In the western Rooster Cogburn 1975 where Hepburn costarred with John WayneHepburn made her only appearance at the Academy Awards in 1974 to present the Irving G Thalberg Memorial Award to Lawrence Weingarten She received a standing ovation and joked with the audience I m very happy I didn t hear anyone call out It s about time 202 The following year she was paired with John Wayne in the western Rooster Cogburn a sequel to his Oscar winning film True Grit Echoing her African Queen character Hepburn played a deeply religious unmarried woman who teams up with a masculine loner to avenge a family member s death 198 The movie received mediocre reviews Its casting was enough to draw some people to the box office but it did not meet studio expectations and was only moderately successful 203 In 1976 Hepburn returned to Broadway for a three month run of Enid Bagnold s play A Matter of Gravity The role of eccentric Mrs Basil was deemed a perfect showcase for the actress 204 and the play was popular despite poor reviews 205 It later went on a successful nationwide tour 206 During its Los Angeles run Hepburn fractured her hip but she chose to continue the tour performing in a wheelchair 207 That year she was voted Favorite Motion Picture Actress by the People s Choice Awards 208 During the summer of 1976 Hepburn starred in the low budget family film Olly Olly Oxen Free The feature failed to find a major studio distributor and was finally released independently in 1978 Because of its poor distribution it played in relatively few theaters resulting in one of the biggest misfires of Hepburn s career The screenwriter James Prideaux who worked with Hepburn later wrote that it died at the moment of release and referred to it as her lost film 209 Hepburn claimed the main reason she had done it was the opportunity to ride in a hot air balloon 210 The television movie The Corn Is Green 1979 which was filmed in Wales followed It was the last of ten films Hepburn made with George Cukor and gained her a third Emmy nomination 211 By the 1980s Hepburn had developed a noticeable tremor giving her a permanently shaking head 202 212 She did not work for two years saying in a television interview I ve had my day let the kids scramble and sweat it out 213 During this period she saw the Broadway production On Golden Pond and was impressed by its depiction of an elderly married couple coping with the difficulties of old age 214 Jane Fonda had purchased the screen rights for her father actor Henry Fonda and Hepburn sought to play opposite him in the role of quirky Ethel Thayer 215 On Golden Pond was a success the second highest grossing film of 1981 216 It demonstrated how energetic the 74 year old Hepburn was as she dived fully clothed into Squam Lake and gave a lively singing performance 214 The film won her a second BAFTA and a record fourth Academy Award Homer Dickens in his book on Hepburn notes that it was widely considered a sentimental win a tribute to her enduring career 217 Hepburn also returned to the stage in 1981 She received a second Tony nomination for her portrayal in The West Side Waltz of a septuagenarian widow with a zest for life Variety observed that the role was an obvious and entirely acceptable version of Hepburn s own public image 218 Walter Kerr of The New York Times wrote of Hepburn and her performance One mysterious thing she has learned to do is breathe unchallengeable life into lifeless lines 219 She hoped to make a film out of the production but nobody purchased the rights 220 Hepburn s reputation as one of America s best loved actors was firmly established by this point as she was named favorite movie actress in a survey by People magazine and again won the popularity award from People s Choice 221 222 Focus on television 1984 1994 edit In 1984 Hepburn starred in the dark comedy Grace Quigley the story of an elderly woman who enlists a hitman Nick Nolte to kill her Hepburn found humor in the morbid theme but reviews were negative and the box office was poor 223 In 1985 she presented a television documentary about the life and career of Spencer Tracy 224 The majority of Hepburn s roles from this point were in television movies which did not receive the critical praise of her earlier work in the medium but remained popular with audiences 225 With each release Hepburn would declare it her final screen appearance but she continued to take on new roles 226 She received an Emmy nomination for 1986 s Mrs Delafield Wants to Marry then two years later returned for the comedy Laura Lansing Slept Here which allowed her to act with her grandniece Schuyler Grant 227 nbsp Hepburn s final film role was in Love Affair 1994 Critics commented that the 87 year old had lost none of her powerful screen presence In 1991 Hepburn released her autobiography Me Stories of My Life which topped best seller lists for over a year 228 She returned to television screens in 1992 for The Man Upstairs co starring Ryan O Neal for which she received a Golden Globe nomination In 1994 she worked opposite Anthony Quinn in This Can t Be Love which was largely based on Hepburn s own life with numerous references to her personality and career These later roles have been described as a fictional version of the typically feisty Kate Hepburn character and critics have remarked that Hepburn was essentially playing herself 219 226 Hepburn s final appearance in a theatrically released film and her first since Grace Quigley nine years earlier was Love Affair 1994 At 87 years old she played a supporting role alongside Annette Bening and Warren Beatty It was the only film of Hepburn s career other than the cameo appearance in Stage Door Canteen in which she did not play a leading role 229 Roger Ebert noted that it was the first time she had looked frail but that the magnificent spirit was still there and said her scenes steal the show 230 A writer for The New York Times reflected on the actress s final big screen appearance If she moved more slowly than before in demeanor she was as game and modern as she had ever been 219 Hepburn played her final role in the television film One Christmas 1994 for which she received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination at 87 years old 231 Personal life editPublic image and character edit Hepburn was known for being fiercely private 219 and would not give interviews or talk to fans for much of her career 84 She distanced herself from the celebrity lifestyle and was uninterested in a social scene she saw as tedious and superficial 232 She wore casual clothes that went strongly against convention in an era of glamour 233 She rarely appeared in public avoided restaurants 234 and once wrestled a camera out of a photographer s hand when he took a picture without asking 235 Despite her zeal for privacy she enjoyed her fame and later confessed that she would not have liked the press to ignore her completely 236 The protective attitude toward her private life thawed as she aged beginning with a two hour long interview on The Dick Cavett Show in 1973 Hepburn became more open with the public 237 I strike people as peculiar in some way although I don t quite understand why Of course I have an angular face an angular body and I suppose an angular personality which jabs into people 219 I m a personality as well as an actress Show me an actress who isn t a personality and you ll show me a woman who isn t a star 238 Hepburn commenting on her personality Hepburn s relentless energy and enthusiasm for life are often cited in biographies 239 and her headstrong independence became key to her celebrity status 82 219 240 This self assuredness came with a tendency to be controlling and difficult her friend Garson Kanin likened her to a schoolmistress 241 and she was famously blunt and outspoken 233 Katharine Houghton commented that her aunt could be maddeningly self righteous and bossy 242 Hepburn confessed to being especially early in life a me me me person 243 She saw herself as having a happy nature reasoning I like life and I ve been so lucky why shouldn t I be happy 178 A Scott Berg knew Hepburn well in her later years and said that while she was demanding she retained a sense of humility and humanity 244 The actress led an active life reportedly swimming and playing tennis every morning 149 In her eighties she was still playing tennis regularly as indicated in her 1993 documentary All About Me 28 She also enjoyed painting which became a passion later in life 245 Asked about politics Hepburn told an interviewer I always just say be on the affirmative and liberal side Don t be a no person 5 The anti Communist attitude in 1940s Hollywood prompted her to political activity as she joined the Committee for the First Amendment Her name was mentioned at the hearings of the House Un American Activities Committee but Hepburn denied being a Communist sympathizer 246 Later in life she openly promoted birth control and supported the legal right to abortion 28 82 She described herself as a dedicated Democrat 247 She practiced Albert Schweitzer s theory of Reverence for Life 248 but did not believe in religion or the afterlife 5 In 1991 Hepburn told a journalist I m an atheist and that s it I believe there s nothing we can know except that we should be kind to each other and do what we can for other people 249 Her public declarations of these beliefs led the American Humanist Association to award her the Humanist Arts Award in 1985 250 Hepburn liked to go barefoot 251 and for her first acting role in the play The Woman in the Moon she insisted that her character Pandora should not wear shoes 252 Offscreen she usually dressed in slacks and sandals even for formal occasions such as television interviews 253 She said the thing that drove me out of skirts was the stocking situation That s why I ve always worn pants that way you can always go barefoot 254 Relationships edit Hepburn s only marriage was to Ludlow Ogden Smith a socialite businessman from Philadelphia whom she met while a student at Bryn Mawr The couple wed on December 12 1928 when she was 21 and he was 29 255 Smith changed his name to S Ogden Ludlow at her behest so that she would not be Kate Smith which she considered too plain 33 She never fully committed to the marriage and prioritized her career 255 The move to Hollywood in 1932 cemented the couple s estrangement 256 Hepburn filed for divorce in Yucatan on April 30 1934 and it was finalized on May 8 257 Hepburn often expressed her gratitude toward Smith for his financial and moral support in the early days of her career and in her autobiography she called herself a terrible pig for exploiting his love 258 The pair remained friends until his death in 1979 259 Soon after moving to California Hepburn began a relationship with her agent Leland Hayward although they were both married 65 Hayward proposed to the actress after they had both divorced but she declined later explaining I liked the idea of being my own single self 260 The affair lasted four years 261 In 1936 while she was touring Jane Eyre Hepburn began a relationship with entrepreneur Howard Hughes She had been introduced to him a year earlier by their mutual friend Cary Grant 262 Hughes wished to marry her and the tabloids reported their impending nuptials but Hepburn stayed focused on resurrecting her failing career 263 They separated in 1938 when Hepburn left Hollywood after being labeled box office poison 264 Hepburn stuck to her decision not to remarry and made a conscious choice not to have children She believed that motherhood required a full time commitment and said it was not one she was willing to make 5 I would have been a terrible mother she told Berg because I m basically a very selfish human being 265 She felt she had partially experienced parenthood through her much younger siblings which fulfilled any need to have children of her own 266 Rumors have existed since the 1930s that Hepburn was a lesbian or bisexual which she often joked about 267 In 2007 William J Mann released a biography of the actress in which he argued this was the case 268 In response to this speculation her niece Katharine Houghton said I ve never discovered any evidence whatsoever that she was a lesbian 269 However in a 2017 documentary columnist Liz Smith who was a close friend 270 attested that she was 271 272 Spencer Tracy edit nbsp Spencer Tracy and Hepburn in a publicity photo for Desk SetThe most significant relationship of Hepburn s life was with Spencer Tracy her co star in nine films In her autobiography she wrote It was a unique feeling that I had for Tracy I would have done anything for him 273 Lauren Bacall a close friend later wrote of how blindingly in love Hepburn was with the actor 274 The relationship has subsequently been publicized as one of Hollywood s legendary love affairs 219 237 275 Meeting in 1941 when she was 34 and he was 41 Tracy was initially wary of Hepburn unimpressed by her dirty fingernails and suspecting that she was a lesbian but Hepburn said she knew right away that she found him irresistible 276 Tracy remained married throughout their relationship Although he and his wife Louise had been living separate lives since the 1930s there was never an official split and neither party pursued a divorce 277 Hepburn did not interfere 278 With Tracy determined to conceal the relationship with Hepburn from his wife it had to remain private 279 They were careful not to be seen in public together and maintained separate residences 275 280 Tracy was an alcoholic and was frequently depressed Hepburn described him as tortured 281 and she devoted herself to making his life easier 282 Reports from people who saw them together describe how Hepburn s entire demeanor changed when around Tracy 283 She reportedly mothered and obeyed him and he reportedly became dependent on her 284 They often spent stretches of time apart due to their work particularly in the 1950s when Hepburn was frequently abroad for career commitments 285 Tracy s health declined in the 1960s and Hepburn took a five year break in her career to care for him 178 She moved into Tracy s house for this period and was with him when he died on June 10 1967 286 Out of consideration for Tracy s family she did not attend his funeral 287 It was only after Louise Tracy s death in 1983 that Hepburn began to speak publicly about her feelings for her frequent co star 288 In response to the question of why she stayed with Tracy for so long despite the nature of their relationship she said I honestly don t know I can only say that I could never have left him 178 She claimed to not know how he felt about her and that they just passed twenty seven years together in what was to me absolute bliss 289 Final years and death edit nbsp Hepburn s gravestone in Cedar Hill CemeteryHepburn stated in her eighties I have no fear of death Must be wonderful like a long sleep 28 Her health began to deteriorate not long after her final screen appearance and she was hospitalized in March 1993 for exhaustion 290 In the winter of 1996 she was hospitalized with pneumonia 291 By 1997 she had become very weak and was speaking and eating very little and it was feared she would die 292 She showed signs of dementia in her final years 293 By 2000 she was regarded by her niece to be a private person 294 In July 2001 she was admitted to a hospital for pneumonia and a urinary tract infection 295 In May 2003 an aggressive tumor was found in Hepburn s neck The decision was made not to medically intervene 296 and she died from cardiac arrest on June 29 2003 at the Hepburn family home in Fenwick Connecticut 297 She was buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford Hepburn requested there be no memorial service 298 Hepburn s death received considerable public attention Many tributes were held on television and newspapers and magazines dedicated issues to the actress 299 American president George W Bush said Hepburn will be remembered as one of the nation s artistic treasures 297 In honor of her extensive theatre work the lights of Broadway were dimmed for the evening of July 1 2003 297 In 2004 in accordance with Hepburn s wishes her belongings were put up for auction with Sotheby s in New York City The event garnered 5 8 million which Hepburn willed to her family 300 Acting style and screen persona editHer best films were when she was presented as a woman on her high horse with slightly pretentious often comically stated ideas about the world It was for men to bring her down and get her to reveal herself as quite a good gal sporty and democratic We liked the idea that aristocratic people would be humanized by democratic values in her case by slightly rough necked and good natured males 177 Film historian and critic Richard Schickel explains the typical Hepburn role and its appeal According to reports Hepburn was not an instinctive actor 301 She liked to study the text and character carefully beforehand making sure she knew them thoroughly and then to rehearse as much as possible and film multiple takes of a scene 185 With a genuine passion for acting she committed heavily to each role 302 and insisted on learning any necessary skills and performing stunts herself 303 She was known to learn not only her own lines but also those of her co stars 304 Commenting on her motivation Stanley Kramer said Work work work She can work till everyone drops 305 Hepburn involved herself in the production of each of her films making suggestions for the script and stating her opinion on everything from costumes to lighting to camerawork 306 The characters Hepburn played were with very few exceptions wealthy and intelligent and often strong and independent 307 These tough characters tended to be humbled in some form and revealed to have a hidden vulnerability 308 Garson Kanin described what he called the formula for a Hepburn success A high class or stuck up girl is brought down to earth by an earthy type or a lowbrow or a cataclysmic situation It seems to have worked time and time again 309 Due to this repeated character arc Hepburn embodied the contradictions of the nature and status of women 310 and the strong females she depicts are eventually restored to a safe position within the status quo 311 Film critic Molly Haskell has commented on the importance of this to Hepburn s career With an intimidating presence it was necessary that her characters do some kind of self abasement to stay on the good side of the audience 82 Hepburn is one of the most celebrated American actresses 312 but she has also been criticized for a lack of versatility Her on screen persona closely matched her own real personality something Hepburn admitted herself In 1991 she told a journalist I think I m always the same I had a very definite personality and I liked material that showed that personality 275 Playwright and author David Macaray has said Picture Katharine Hepburn in every movie she ever starred in and ask yourself if she s not playing essentially the same part over and over Icon or no icon let s not confuse a truly fascinating and unique woman with a superior actress 313 Another repeated criticism is that her demeanor was too cold 275 Legacy edit nbsp Hepburn with her unconventional lifestyle and the independent female roles she played on screen such as Tess Harding in Woman of the Year pictured represented the emancipated woman Hepburn is considered an important and influential cultural figure Ros Horton and Sally Simmons included her in their book Women Who Changed The World which honors 50 women who helped shape world history and culture She is also named in Encyclopaedia Britannica s list of 300 Women Who Changed the World 233 Ladies Home Journal s book 100 Most Important Women of the 20th century 314 Variety magazine s 100 Icons of the Century 315 and she is number 84 on VH1 s list of the 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons of All Time 316 In 1999 the American Film Institute named Hepburn the greatest American screen legend among females 317 Regarding Hepburn s film legacy one of her biographers Sheridan Morley said she broke the mould for women in Hollywood 318 where she brought a new breed of strong willed females to the screen 233 Film academic Andrew Britton wrote a monograph studying Hepburn s key presence within classical Hollywood a consistent potentially radical disturbance 311 and pinpoints her central influence in bringing feminist issues to the screen 310 Off screen Hepburn s lifestyle was ahead of her time 240 coming to symbolize the modern woman and playing a part in changing gender attitudes 82 319 Horton and Simmons write Confident intelligent and witty four time Oscar winner Katharine Hepburn defied convention throughout her professional and personal life Hepburn provided an image of an assertive woman whom females could watch and learn from 320 After Hepburn s death film historian Jeanine Basinger stated What she brought us was a new kind of heroine modern and independent She was beautiful but she did not rely on that 177 Mary McNamara an entertainment journalist and reviewer for the Los Angeles Times wrote More than a movie star Katharine Hepburn was the patron saint of the independent American female 82 She was not universally revered by feminists however who were angered by her public declarations that women cannot have it all meaning a family and a career 82 Hepburn s legacy extends to fashion where she pioneered wearing trousers at a time when it was a radical move for a woman 321 She helped make trousers acceptable for women and fans began to imitate her clothing 219 322 In 1986 she received a lifetime achievement award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America in recognition of her influence on women s fashion 219 A number of Hepburn s films have become classics of American cinema with four of her pictures The African Queen The Philadelphia Story Bringing Up Baby and Guess Who s Coming to Dinner featured on the American Film Institute s list of the 100 Greatest American Films of all time 323 Adam s Rib and Woman of the Year were included in the AFI s list of the Greatest American Comedies 324 Her clipped patrician voice is considered one of the most distinctive in film history 177 Memorials edit nbsp East 49th Street in New York City named after Katharine HepburnHepburn has been honored with several memorials The Turtle Bay community in New York City where she maintained a residence for over 60 years dedicated a garden in her name located in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza in 1997 325 After Hepburn s death in 2003 the intersection of East 49th Street and 2nd Avenue was renamed Katharine Hepburn Place 326 Three years later Bryn Mawr College Hepburn s alma mater launched the Katharine Houghton Hepburn Center It is dedicated to both the actress and her mother and encourages women to address important issues affecting their gender The center awards the annual Katharine Hepburn Medal which recognizes women whose lives work and contributions embody the intelligence drive and independence of the four time Oscar winning actress and whose award recipients are chosen on the basis of their commitment and contributions to the Hepburn women s greatest passions civic engagement and the arts 327 The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center was opened in 2009 in Old Saybrook Connecticut the location of the Hepburn family beach home which she loved and later owned 328 The building includes a performance space and a Katharine Hepburn museum 329 The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences library 330 and the New York Public Library hold collections of Hepburn s personal papers Selections from the New York collection which documents Hepburn s theatrical career were presented in a five month exhibition Katharine Hepburn In Her Own Files in 2009 331 Other exhibitions have been held to showcase Hepburn s career One Life Kate A Centennial Celebration was held at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington from November 2007 to September 2008 332 Kent State University exhibited a selection of her film and theatre costumes from October 2010 to September 2011 in Katharine Hepburn Dressed for Stage and Screen 333 Hepburn has also been honored with her own postal stamp as part of the Legends of Hollywood stamp series 334 In 2015 the British Film Institute held a two month retrospective of Hepburn s work 335 Characterizations edit Hepburn is the subject of a one woman play Tea at Five written by Matthew Lombardo The first act features Hepburn in 1938 after being labeled box office poison and the second act in 1983 where she reflects on her life and career 336 It premiered in 2002 at the Hartford Stage 337 Hepburn has been portrayed in Tea at Five by Kate Mulgrew 336 Tovah Feldshuh 338 Stephanie Zimbalist 339 and Charles Busch 340 A revised version of the play eliminating the first act and expanding the second premiered on June 28 2019 at Boston s Huntington Theater with Faye Dunaway playing Hepburn Feldshuh also appeared as Hepburn in The Amazing Howard Hughes a 1977 television movie while Mearle Ann Taylor later portrayed her in The Scarlett O Hara War 1980 In Martin Scorsese s Howard Hughes biographical film The Aviator Hepburn was portrayed by Cate Blanchett which earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress This marked the first instance where the portrayal of an Academy Award winning actress itself won an Academy Award 341 Acting credits editMain article Katharine Hepburn on screen and stage During her 66 year career Hepburn appeared in 44 feature films 8 television movies and 33 plays Her movie career covered a range of genres including screwball comedies period dramas and adaptations of works by top American playwrights She appeared on the stage in every decade from the 1920s to the 1980s performing plays by Shakespeare and Shaw and a Broadway musical 342 343 344 Select filmography A Bill of Divorcement 1932 Morning Glory 1933 Christopher Strong 1933 Little Women 1933 Alice Adams 1935 Stage Door 1937 Bringing Up Baby 1938 Holiday 1938 The Philadelphia Story 1940 Woman of the Year 1942 State of the Union 1948 Adam s Rib 1949 The African Queen 1951 Pat and Mike 1952 Summertime 1955 The Rainmaker 1956 Desk Set 1957 Suddenly Last Summer 1959 Long Day s Journey into Night 1962 Guess Who s Coming to Dinner 1967 The Lion in Winter 1968 Love Among the Ruins 1975 Rooster Cogburn 1975 On Golden Pond 1981 Grace Quigley 1985 Love Affair 1994 Select theatre roles The Warrior s Husband 1932 The Philadelphia Story 1939 1941 As You Like It 1950 The Millionairess 1952 The Taming of the Shrew 1955 Measure for Measure 1955 The Merchant of Venice 1955 and 1957 Much Ado About Nothing 1957 Twelfth Night 1960 Antony and Cleopatra 1960 Coco 1969 1970 A Matter of Gravity 1976 1977 The West Side Waltz 1981 Awards and nominations editMain article List of awards and nominations received by Katharine Hepburn Hepburn won four Academy Awards the record number for a performer and received a total of 12 Oscar nominations for Best Actress a number surpassed only by Meryl Streep 345 Hepburn also holds the record for the longest time span between first and last Oscar nominations at 48 years 345 She received two awards and five nominations from the British Academy Film Awards one award and six nominations from the Emmy Awards eight Golden Globe Award nominations two Tony Award nominations and awards from the Cannes Film Festival Venice Film Festival the New York Film Critics Circle Awards the People s Choice Awards and others Hepburn was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1979 She also won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild Awards in 1979 and received the Kennedy Center Honors which recognize a lifetime of accomplishments in the arts in 1990 346 347 Hepburn was recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances Year Ceremony Award Results Works s1934 6th Academy Awards Best Actress Won Morning Glory1936 8th Academy Awards Nominated Alice Adams1941 13th Academy Awards Nominated The Philadelphia Story1943 15th Academy Awards Nominated Woman of the Year1952 24th Academy Awards Nominated The African Queen1956 28th Academy Awards Nominated Summertime1957 29th Academy Awards Nominated The Rainmaker1960 32nd Academy Awards Nominated Suddenly Last Summer1963 35th Academy Awards Nominated Long Day s Journey Into Night1968 40th Academy Awards Won Guess Who s Coming to Dinner1969 41st Academy Awards Won The Lion in Winter shared with Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl 1982 54th Academy Awards Won On Golden PondSee also editList of Academy Award records List of actors with Academy Award nominations List of actors with two or more Academy Awards in acting categories List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees List of actors with Hollywood Walk of Fame motion picture stars List of stars on the Hollywood Walk of FameReferences editCitations edit a b Britton 2003 p 41 Berg 2004 p 40 Chandler 2011 p 37 Higham 2004 p 2 a b c d Katharine Hepburn Part 2 The Dick Cavett Show October 3 1973 American Broadcasting Company Stated by Hepburn in this interview Higham 2004 p 4 Chandler 2011 p 39 Prideaux 1996 p 74 Hepburn 1991 p 21 Katharine Hepburn Part 1 The Dick Cavett Show October 2 1973 American Broadcasting Company Berg 2004 p 47 Hepburn 1991 p 30 Kanin 1971 p 82 Chandler 2011 p 30 Hepburn 1991 p 43 Higham 2004 a b Higham 2004 p 7 Higham 2004 p 3 Chandler 2011 p 34 Higham 2004 p 4 Hepburn 1991 p 44 Hepburn 1991 p 46 Chandler 2011 p 6 Higham 2004 p 5 Hepburn 1991 p 49 Chandler 2011 p 7 Kanin 1971 p 285 Hepburn 1991 p 69 a b Dickens 1990 p 4 Horton amp Simmons 2007 p 119 a b c d Cinema The Hepburn Story Time September 1 1952 Archived from the original on December 27 2013 Retrieved August 21 2011 subscription required a b c d e f g Directed by David Heeley January 18 1993 Katharine Hepburn All About Me Turner Network Television Stated by Hepburn in this documentary Higham 2004 p 8 Hepburn 1991 p 81 a b c Higham 2004 p 9 Berg 2004 p 59 Higham 2004 p 9 a b Berg 2004 p 73 Hepburn 1991 p 109 Higham 2004 Higham 2004 p 16 Hepburn 1991 p 112 a b Higham 2004 p 16 Kanin 1971 p 22 a b Hepburn 1991 p 118 Berg 2004 p 74 Hepburn 1991 p 120 Higham 2004 p 17 Berg 2004 p 75 Dickens 1990 p 229 Hepburn 1991 p 128 Higham 2004 p 23 Higham 2004 p 21 Haver 1980 p 94 a b Haver 1980 p 96 Haver 1980 p 96 Prideaux 1996 p 15 Higham 2004 pp 30 31 Berg 2004 p 82 Hall Mordaunt October 3 1932 A Bill of Divorcement 1932 The New York Times Archived from the original on December 28 2013 Retrieved August 25 2011 A Bill of Divorcement Variety October 1932 Archived from the original on April 2 2015 Retrieved August 25 2011 Higham 2004 p 39 Hepburn 1991 pp 178 181 Berg 2004 p 84 Higham 2004 p 44 a b Berg 2004 p 86 Berg 2004 p 85 Berg 2004 p 88 Berg 2004 p 89 Higham 2004 p 57 a b Berg 2004 p 91 a b Berg 2004 p 92 Berg 2004 p 89 a b Berg 2004 p 90 Higham 2004 p 60 Higham 2004 p 62 Hendrickson 2013 p 311 Hepburn 1991 p 166 Berg 2004 p 93 Hepburn 1991 p 4 Berg 2004 p 105 Higham 2004 p 66 Berg 2004 p 106 Higham 2004 p 68 a b Berg 2004 p 109 Berg 2004 p 110 Berg 2004 pp 111 112 Berg 2004 p 126 Berg 2004 p 112 Horton amp Simmons 2007 p 120 a b c d e f g h McNamara Mary July 1 2003 It was her defining role life Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on January 13 2012 Retrieved October 2 2011 Kanin 1971 p 284 a b Kanin 1971 p 85 Berg 2004 p 111 Britton 2003 p 16 a b Berg 2004 p 114 Chandler 2011 p 105 Haver 1980 pp 237 238 Higham 2004 p 94 Dickstein 2002 pp 48 50 a b Berg 2004 p 116 Hepburn 1991 p 238 a b Berg 2004 p 117 Higham 2004 p 88 Higham 2004 p 90 a b c Berg 2004 p 118 Hepburn 1991 p 201 Verlhac 2009 p 8 Chandler 2011 p 142 Edwards 1985 p 166 Berg 2004 p 119 Britton 2003 p 13 Higham 2004 p 97 Berg 2004 p 132 Berg 2004 p 136 Atkinson Brooks March 29 1939 The Play Katharine Hepburn Appearing in Philip Barry s The Philadelphia Story for the Theatre Guild The New York Times Archived from the original on March 5 2016 Retrieved November 10 2015 Berg 2004 p 137 Curtis 2011 p 224 a b Dickens 1990 p 17 Berg 2004 p 139 Berg 2004 pp 139 140 The New Pictures January 20 1941 Time January 20 1941 Archived from the original on December 27 2013 Retrieved September 27 2011 subscription required Golden Herb November 26 1940 The Philadelphia Story review Variety Archived from the original on July 29 2013 Retrieved September 27 2011 Higham 2004 p 104 1940 Awards New York Film Critics Circle Archived from the original on January 8 2012 Retrieved February 15 2012 Kanin 1971 p 81 Berg 2004 p 147 Natale Richard Gray Timothy M June 29 2003 Katharine Hepburn 1907 2003 Variety Archived from the original on June 21 2021 Retrieved October 25 2020 Higham 2004 p 113 a b Curtis 2011 p 457 Berg 2004 p 178 Berg 2004 p 175 Curtis 2011 p 480 Kanin 1971 p 5 Chandler 2011 p 149 Curtis 2011 pp 508 662 670 702 727 Berg 2004 p 179 Dickens 1990 p 18 Curtis 2011 p 522 Curtis 2011 p 515 Higham 2004 p 129 Curtis 2011 p 549 Higham 2004 p 131 a b Curtis 2011 p 555 Berg 2004 p 182 Curtis 2011 p 564 Hepburn 1991 p 246 Curtis 2011 p 587 Crowther Bosley December 26 1949 Adam s Rib Tight Little Island Amazing Mr Beecham Among Movie Newcomers The New York Times Archived from the original on December 28 2013 Retrieved August 25 2011 Berg 2004 p 192 Berg 2004 p 193 Curtis 2011 p 728 Hepburn 1991 p 267 Berg 2004 p 186 Berg 2004 p 194 Dickens 1990 p 21 The Making of The African Queen or How I went to Africa with Bogart Bacall and Huston and almost lost my mind Goodreads Archived from the original on February 25 2015 Retrieved October 21 2014 Berg 2004 p 198 Curtis 2011 p 633 a b Kanin 1971 p 169 Curtis 2011 p 622 Berg 2004 pp 198 199 Katharine Hepburn Golden Globe Awards history Golden Globe Award Archived from the original on December 10 2015 Retrieved February 15 2012 a b Chandler 2011 p 200 a b Curtis 2011 p 635 a b Dickens 1990 p 22 Kanin 1971 p 163 Berg 2004 p 200 Hepburn 1991 p 253 Edwards 1985 pp 291 292 Berg 2004 p 202 Summertime Film Review Film4 Archived from the original on December 1 2011 Retrieved August 27 2011 Chandler 2011 p 204 Berg 2004 p 203 a b Berg 2004 p 204 Dickens 1990 p 166 Berg 2004 p 104 Dickens 1990 p 166 a b Berg 2004 p 206 Curtis 2011 p 738 Berg 2004 p 209 Kanin 1971 pp 218 219 Berg 2004 p 210 Kanin 1971 p 219 Kanin 1971 p 220 Dickens 1990 p 239 Hepburn 1991 p 270 Kanin 1971 p 242 Berg 2004 p 212 a b c d Baum Geraldine June 30 2003 Classy Film Feminist Had Brains Beauty That Voice Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on January 13 2012 Retrieved October 2 2011 a b c d Hepburn 1991 p 393 Curtis 2011 p 823 Curtis 2011 p 849 a b Berg 2004 p 249 Berg 2004 p 255 Kanin 1971 p 259 Hepburn 1991 p 255 a b Kanin 1971 p 6 Hepburn 1991 p 257 Curtis 2011 p 877 Dickens 1990 p 192 Berg 2004 p 251 Higham 2004 p 210 Higham 2004 p 211 Berg 2004 p 252 a b Berg 2004 p 253 Berg 2004 p 254 Kanin 1971 p 296 297 Kanin 1971 p 302 a b Dickens 1990 p 202 Edwards 1985 pp 374 376 a b Dickens 1990 p 29 Berg 2004 pp 256 257 Higham 2004 p 227 Berg 2004 p 257 Berg 2004 p 258 a b Berg 2004 p 260 Berg 2004 p 29 Dickens 1990 pp 29 30 Edwards 1985 p 390 Dickens 1990 p 30 Berg 2004 p 259 Higham 2004 p 230 People s Choice Awards 1976 Nominees People s Choice Archived from the original on December 2 2011 Retrieved November 8 2011 Prideaux 1996 p 123 Chandler 2011 p 280 Katharine Hepburn Emmy Awards history Primetime Emmy Awards Archived from the original on January 1 2014 Retrieved February 15 2012 Claiborne Ray C July 22 2003 Q amp A Head and Hand Tremors The New York Times Archived from the original on November 13 2013 Retrieved November 3 2013 Dickens 1990 p 31 a b Berg 2004 p 261 Higham 2004 p 234 1981 Domestic Grosses Box Office Mojo Archived from the original on January 1 2012 Retrieved November 27 2011 Dickens 1990 p 218 Dickens 1990 p 245 a b c d e f g h i James Caryn June 30 2003 Katharine Hepburn Spirited Actress Dies at 96 The New York Times Archived from the original on August 26 2011 Retrieved September 25 2011 Berg 2004 p 262 It s Your Turn Reader s Poll People April 19 1982 Archived from the original on January 13 2012 Retrieved November 8 2011 People s Choice Awards 1983 Nominees People s Choice Archived from the original on December 2 2011 Retrieved November 8 2011 Chandler 2011 p 286 Dickens 1990 p 34 Prideaux 1996 p 156 Berg 2004 p 264 a b Hal Erickson 2015 Laura Lansing Slept Here 1988 Overview Movies amp TV Dept The New York Times Archived from the original on June 11 2015 Retrieved October 9 2011 Prideaux 1996 p 210 Berg 2004 p 268 Berg 2004 p 280 Ebert Roger October 21 1994 Love Affair Chicago Sun Times Archived from the original on February 8 2014 Retrieved August 25 2011 The Inaugural Screen Actors Guild Awards Screen Actors Guild Awards Archived from the original on January 5 2012 Retrieved February 15 2012 Higham 2004 pp 35 37 Verlhac 2009 p 8 a b c d 300 Women Who Changed the World Katharine Hepburn Encyclopaedia Britannica Archived from the original on September 18 2020 Retrieved November 19 2011 Kanin 1971 p 100 Berg 2004 p 289 Prideaux 1996 p 20 Curtis 2011 p 464 Chandler 2011 p 114 Prideaux 1996 p 60 a b Rich Frank September 29 1991 A Wild Desire to Be Absolutely Fascinating The New York Times Archived from the original on October 22 2013 Retrieved September 25 2011 Obituary Katharine Hepburn BBC News June 30 2003 Archived from the original on August 22 2012 Retrieved November 25 2011 Higham 2004 pp 18 23 65 172 184 192 Berg 2004 pp 112 188 Kanin 1971 pp 7 8 160 276 Dickens 1990 p 194 Prideaux 1996 pp 19 140 a b Berg 2004 p 313 Kanin 1971 p 54 Curtis 2011 p 514 Hepburn 1991 p 389 Berg 2004 p 275 Kanin 1971 p 208 Curtis 2011 pp 555 943 Edwards 1985 p 235 Kanin 1971 p 251 Blyth Myrna October 1 1991 Kate Talks Straight Ladies Home Journal 215 Humanist Profile Brief Article The Humanist September October 2003 Chandler 2011 p 368 Michael Freedland 1984 Katharine Hepburn W H Allen pp 250 O Connor John October 3 1973 TV Witty Miss Hepburn in Debut The New York Times Archived from the original on January 22 2019 Retrieved January 22 2019 Cantwell Mary November 15 1981 Hepburn I had a corner on the rich arrogant girl The New 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Teather David June 30 2003 Katharine Hepburn film star for 60 years dies at 96 The Guardian Archived from the original on August 27 2013 Retrieved October 21 2011 Bacall 2005 p 485 Hepburn auction in US makes 5 8m BBC News June 13 2004 Archived from the original on December 27 2013 Retrieved August 24 2011 Curtis 2011 p 435 Higham 2004 pp 30 34 Kanin 1971 p 18 Prideaux 1996 p 149 Higham 2004 p 131 Chandler 2011 p 287 Chandler 2011 p 241 Higham 2004 p 53 Higham 2004 p 201 Curtis 2011 pp 508 539 844 Higham 2004 pp 34 126 139 180 Kanin 1971 p 271 Berg 2004 p 144 Prideaux 1996 p 141 Horton amp Simmons 2007 p 118 French Philip April 12 2009 Philip French s Screen Legends Katharine Hepburn The Observer Archived from the original on December 27 2013 Retrieved November 26 2011 Kanin 1971 p 80 a b Britton 2003 p 8 a b Britton 2003 p 6 King Susan May 27 2007 Kate at 100 No one else like her Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on January 13 2012 Retrieved October 3 2011 Macaray David July 14 2003 Admire Hepburn s qualities but not her acting Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on January 13 2012 Retrieved October 3 2011 100 Most Important Women of the 20th Century Barnes amp Noble Archived from the original on April 14 2015 Retrieved October 4 2011 Hepburn is pictured on the book cover Dawes Amy October 16 2005 100 Icons of the Century Katharine Hepburn Variety Archived from the original on January 4 2006 Retrieved October 6 2011 The 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons Complete Ranked List Press release VH1 Archived from the original on January 14 2012 Retrieved October 4 2011 AFI s 100 Years 100 Stars American Film Institute June 16 1999 Archived from the original on January 13 2013 Retrieved October 17 2009 Morley Sheridan June 30 2003 Hepburn s spirited legacy BBC News Archived from the original on February 2 2011 Retrieved August 24 2011 Berg 2004 p 17 Horton amp Simmons 2007 pp 118 121 Herman Cohen Valli July 1 2003 The fashion rebel Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on January 13 2012 Retrieved October 3 2011 Kanin 1971 p 271 AFI s 100 Years 100 Movies American Film Institute Archived from the original on June 11 2016 Retrieved October 9 2011 AFI s 100 Years 100 Laughs American Film Institute Archived from the original on November 16 2015 Retrieved October 9 2011 Katharine Hepburn Garden New York City Department of Parks amp Recreation Archived from the original on August 31 2014 Retrieved September 19 2011 Polsky Sara August 31 2010 Katharine Hepburn s Turtle Bay House for Rent at 27 5K Month Curbed Archived from the original on May 12 2016 Retrieved April 26 2016 Mission and History Katharine Houghton Hepburn Center Bryn Mawr College Archived from the original on October 13 2011 Retrieved August 24 2011 Hepburn 1991 p 59 Fenwick is and always has been my other paradise About The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center Archived from the original on September 5 2009 Retrieved October 17 2009 Hepburn papers donated to library BBC News October 7 2004 Archived from the original on September 22 2013 Retrieved January 27 2012 Katharine Hepburn In Her Own Files New York Public Library 2009 Archived from the original on August 3 2020 Retrieved February 15 2020 Visit One Life Kate a Centennial Celebration National Portrait Gallery Archived from the original on August 25 2011 Retrieved October 27 2011 Katharine Hepburn Exhibition Debuts Kent State University Archived from the original on December 17 2013 Retrieved October 27 2011 Katharine Hepburn Stamp Actress Honored On Postage Stamp The Huffington Post May 13 2010 Archived from the original on May 18 2010 Retrieved September 29 2011 March 2015 at BFI Southbank PDF British Film Institute Archived PDF from the original on June 18 2015 Retrieved September 22 2015 a b Weber Bruce March 18 2003 Theater Review Two Snapshots of a Hollywood Legend at Home The New York Times Archived from the original on October 22 2013 Retrieved November 28 2011 Clay Carolyn February 21 28 2002 Tea and Kate The Boston Phoenix Archived from the original on November 20 2012 Retrieved February 11 2012 Gans Andrew December 19 2007 Feldshuh Is Hepburn in Tour of Lombardo s Tea at Five Beginning Dec 19 Playbill Archived from the original on March 4 2016 Retrieved November 29 2011 Donelan Charles December 2 2009 Tea at Five Tells Hepburn Story The Santa Barbara Independent Archived from the original on October 31 2013 Retrieved November 28 2011 Home Tea at Five Archived from the original on December 17 2011 Retrieved January 7 2012 Cate Blanchett Biography Yahoo Movies Archived from the original on July 25 2013 Retrieved October 13 2011 Katharine Hepburn Filmography by Type Internet Movie Database Archived from the original on April 5 2016 Retrieved November 26 2011 Note the number of 44 feature films is given here because Stage Door Canteen has been added while Internet Movie Database includes that film under the Self section Dickens 1990 pp 225 245gives a full listing of stage performances Katharine Hepburn Performances Playbill Vault Archived from the original on October 8 2015 Retrieved November 2 2015 a b Academy Awards Best Actress filmsite Archived from the original on February 11 2015 Retrieved October 16 2011 Katharine Hepburn Awards Internet Movie Database Archived from the original on October 4 2011 Retrieved September 27 2011 List of Kennedy Center Honorees The Kennedy Center Archived from the original on January 14 2015 Retrieved October 16 2011 General and cited sources edit Bacall Lauren 2005 By Myself and Then Some London Headline ISBN 978 0 7553 1350 1 Berg Scott A 2004 2003 Kate Remembered Katharine Hepburn a Personal Biography London Pocket ISBN 978 0 7434 1563 7 Britton Andrew 2003 1984 Katharine Hepburn Star as Feminist New York City NY Columbia University Press ISBN 978 0 231 13277 0 Chandler Charlotte 2011 2010 I Know Where I m Going Katharine Hepburn a Personal Biography Milwaukee WI Applause ISBN 978 1 907532 01 6 Curtis James 2011 Spencer Tracy A Biography London Hutchinson ISBN 978 0 09 178524 6 Dickens Homer 1990 1971 The Films of Katharine Hepburn New York City NY Carol Publishing Group ISBN 978 0 8065 1175 7 Edwards Anne 1985 A Remarkable Woman A Biography of Katharine Hepburn New York City NY William Morrow amp Company Inc ISBN 978 0 688 04528 9 Haver Ronald 1980 David O Selznick s Hollywood London Martin Secker amp Warburg Ltd ISBN 978 0 394 42595 5 Hendrickson Robert 2013 God Bless America The Origins of Over 1 500 Patriotic Words and Phrases New York City NY Skyhorse Publishing ISBN 978 1 62087 597 1 Hepburn Katharine 1991 Me Stories of My Life New York City NY Alfred A Knopf ISBN 978 0 679 40051 6 Higham Charles 2004 1975 Kate The Life of Katharine Hepburn New York City NY W W Norton ISBN 978 0 393 32598 0 Horton Ros Simmons Sally 2007 Women Who Changed the World London Quercus Publishing Plc ISBN 978 1 84724 026 2 Kanin Garson 1971 Tracy and Hepburn An Intimate Memoir New York City NY Viking ISBN 978 0 670 72293 8 Mann William J 2007 Kate The Woman Who Was Hepburn New York City NY Picador ISBN 978 0 312 42740 5 Dickstein Morris 2002 Bringing Up Baby 1938 in The A List The National Society of Film Critics 100 Essential Films Cambridge Da Capo ISBN 978 0 306 81096 1 Prideaux James 1996 Knowing Hepburn and Other Curious Experiences Boston MA Faber and Faber ISBN 978 0 571 19892 4 Verlhac Pierre Henri 2009 Katharine Hepburn A Life in Pictures San Francisco CA Chronicle Books ISBN 978 0 8118 6947 8 External links editKatharine Hepburn at Wikipedia s sister projects nbsp Media from Commons nbsp Quotations from Wikiquote nbsp Data from Wikidata Katharine Hepburn at IMDb Katharine Hepburn at the Internet Broadway Database nbsp Katharine Hepburn at the TCM Movie Database nbsp Katharine Hepburn collected news and commentary at The Guardian nbsp Katharine Hepburn in libraries WorldCat catalog Katharine Hepburn papers at the Margaret Herrick Library One Life Kate A Centennial Celebration Online exhibition from the National Portrait Gallery Smithsonian Institution Katharine Hepburn papers held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Katharine Hepburn amp oldid 1206625721, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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