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.
Hepburn, with her unconventional lifestyle and the independent females she played on the screen (such as Tess Harding in Woman of the Year, pictured), represented the emancipated woman.
(Admired and beloved by movie audiences for over sixty yea...)
Admired and beloved by movie audiences for over sixty years, four-time Academy Award-winner Katharine Hepburn is an American classic. Now Miss Hepburn breaks her long-kept silence about her private life in this absorbing and provocative memoir.
A NEW YORK TIMES Notable Book of the Year
A Book-of-the-Month-Club Main Selection
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress.
Background
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was born on May 12, 1907, in Hartford, Connecticut, United States. Her father was Thomas Norval Hepburn (1879–1962), a prominent surgeon and her mother Katharine Martha Houghton (1878–1951), a crusading suffragette. Her parents were criticized by the community for their progressive views, which stimulated Hepburn to fight against barriers she encountered.
Education
In 1924 Hepburn entered Bryn Mawr College. She graduated with a degree in history and philosophy in June 1928.
She began her acting career after graduating in June 1928. In 1932 she had her first success on the stage as the Amazon Queen in The Warrior's Husband, a role that won her a Hollywood contract. The same year she made her film debut as John Barrymore's daughter in A Bill of Divorcement. Despite this acclaim, Hepburn's early film career was not entirely successful. Though she starred in such successes as Little Women (1933), Holiday (1938), and Bringing Up Baby (1938), such failures as Sylvia Scarlett (1935) labeled her as "box office poison," and she returned to Broadway to revitalize her career.
In 1939 Philip Barry wrote the part of Tracy Lord in The Philadelphia Story for her. The play was a great success, and Hepburn's subsequent return to films found her a solidly established star. Her major film roles include the prim missionary in The African Queen (1951), the wistful spinster in Summertime (1955), and the drug-addicted mother in Long Day's Journey into Night (1962).
However, her most famous films are those that paired her with her lifetime companion, Spencer Tracy (1900 - 1967), in a series of sparkling comedies about modern love between equals, which include Woman of the Year (1942), State of the Union (1948), Adam's Rib (1949), and Pat and Mike (1952).
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."
Politics
Hepburn told an interviewer, "I always just say be on the affirmative and liberal side. Don't be a 'no' person." 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. Later in life, she openly promoted birth control and supported abortion.
Views
Typically, she played independent women who preferred to make their way in the world through intelligence and courage rather than sex appeal.
Quotations:
"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."
Personality
Hepburn was known for being fiercely private, and would not give interviews or talk to fans for much of her career. She distanced herself from the celebrity lifestyle. She wore casual clothes that went strongly against convention in an era of glamour. She rarely appeared in public, even avoiding restaurants.
The actress led an active private life, reportedly swimming and playing tennis every morning.
Quotes from others about the person
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."
American president George W. Bush said Hepburn "will be remembered as one of the nation's artistic treasures."
Connections
Her husband was Ludlow Ogden Smith, a socialite-businessman from Philadelphia whom she met while a student at Bryn Mawr. The couple married on December 12, 1928, when she was 21 and he was 29. She never fully committed to the marriage and prioritized her career and in 1934, she traveled to Mexico to get a quick divorce.
Soon after moving to California, Hepburn began a relationship with her agent, Leland Hayward, although they were both married. Hayward proposed to the actress once they had each divorced but she declined, later explaining, "I liked the idea of being my own single self." They were involved for four years. Hepburn stuck to her decision not to remarry, and made a conscious choice not to have children.
Hepburn was recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and received the 6th Academy Award (1934): Best Actress for Morning Glory.
Hepburn was recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and received the 6th Academy Award (1934): Best Actress for Morning Glory.
Best Actress,
United States
In 1968 she received the Academy Award: Best Actress for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.
In 1968 she received the Academy Award: Best Actress for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.
Best Actress,
United States
In 1982 she received the Academy Award: Best Actress for On Golden Pond.
In 1982 she received the Academy Award: Best Actress for On Golden Pond.
Screen Actors Guild Award
Hepburn filmed one final role, in the television film One Christmas (1994), for which she received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination at 87 years old.
Hepburn filmed one final role, in the television film One Christmas (1994), for which she received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination at 87 years old.
Humanist Arts Award
The American Humanist Association awarded her the Humanist Arts Award in 1985.
The American Humanist Association awarded her the Humanist Arts Award in 1985.
Lifetime Achievement Award
She won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild in 1979.
She won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild in 1979.
Best Actress
In 1969 she received Best Actress for The Lion in Winter (shared with Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl)
In 1969 she received Best Actress for The Lion in Winter (shared with Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl)