Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn | |
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MGM studio publicity portrait, c. 1941 | |
Born | Katharine Houghton Hepburn May 12, 1907 Hartford, Connecticut, U.S. |
Died | June 29, 2003 Fenwick, Connecticut, U.S. | (aged 96)
Resting place | Cedar Hill Cemetery |
Education | Bryn Mawr College (BA) |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1928–1995 |
Works | Full list |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse |
Ludlow Ogden Smith
(m. 1928; div. 1934) |
Partner | Spencer Tracy (1941–1967; his death) |
Parent |
|
Relatives | Katharine Houghton (niece) Schuyler Grant (grandniece) |
Family | See Houghton family |
Awards | Full list |
Signature | |
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Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress whose career as a Hollywood
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.
Hepburn famously shunned the Hollywood publicity machine, and refused to conform to societal expectations of women. She was outspoken, assertive, athletic, and wore pants before it was fashionable. She married once, as a young woman, but thereafter lived independently. A 26-year affair with her co-star Spencer Tracy was hidden from the public. With her unconventional lifestyle and the independent characters she brought to the screen, Hepburn came to epitomize the "modern woman" in 20th-century America and influenced changing popular perceptions of women. In 1999, she was named the greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute.
Early life and education
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
The young Hepburn was a tomboy who liked to call herself Jimmy and cut her hair short.
In March 1921, Hepburn, 13, and her 15-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.
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 unfulfilling.[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
Breaking into theatre (1928–1932)
Hepburn left university determined to become an actress.
Knopf decided to produce
In 1929, Hepburn turned down a role with the
Hepburn appeared in a number of plays with a
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)
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]
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)
After the failure of Spitfire and The Lake, RKO cast Hepburn in
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'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)
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,
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)
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]
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
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)
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
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)
Pat and Mike was the last film Hepburn completed on her MGM contract, making her free to select her own projects.
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
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
Success in later years (1963–1970)
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.
From December 1969 to August 1970, Hepburn starred in the Broadway musical
Film, television, and theatre (1971–1983)
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'
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
Focus on television (1984–1994)
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]
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
Personal life
Public image and character
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 life and was not interested 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 and once wrestled a camera out of a photographer's hand when he took a picture without asking.[234][235] Despite her zeal for privacy, she enjoyed her fame and later confessed that she would not have liked the press to ignore her.[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 and her headstrong independence became key to her celebrity status.[239][82][219][240] This self-assurance came with a tendency to be controlling and difficult; her friend Garson Kanin likened her to a schoolmistress and she was famously blunt and outspoken.[241][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" but did not believe in religion or the afterlife.[248][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
Relationships
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
Spencer Tracy
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
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
"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.
“I liked Katerhine Hepburn’s face on the screen, no matter what was said about her pretentiousness...”—Novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald in his The Crack-Up, April 1936 Esquire[301]
According to reports, Hepburn was not an instinctive actor.[302] 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[303] and insisted on learning any necessary skills and performing stunts herself.[304] She was known to learn not only her own lines but also those of her co-stars.[305] Commenting on her motivation, Stanley Kramer said, "Work, work, work. She can work till everyone drops."[306] 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.[307]
The characters Hepburn played were, with very few exceptions, wealthy and intelligent, and often strong and independent.[308] These tough characters tended to be humbled in some form and revealed to have a hidden vulnerability.[309] 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."[310] Due to this repeated character arc, Hepburn embodied the "contradictions" of the "nature and status of women",[311] and the strong females she depicts are eventually "restored to a safe position within the status quo".[312] 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,[313] 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."[314] Another repeated criticism is that her demeanor was too cold.[275]
Legacy
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,[315] Variety magazine's "100 Icons of the Century",[316] and she is number 84 on VH1's list of the "200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons of All Time".[317] In 1999, the American Film Institute named Hepburn the "greatest American screen legend" among females.[318]
Regarding Hepburn's film legacy, one of her biographers, Sheridan Morley, said she "broke the mould" for women in Hollywood,[319] 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",[312] and pinpoints her "central" influence in bringing feminist issues to the screen.[311]
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][320] 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."[321] 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.[322] She helped make trousers acceptable for women, and fans began to imitate her clothing.[219][323] 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.[324] Adam's Rib and Woman of the Year were included in the AFI's list of the Greatest American Comedies.[325] Her clipped, patrician voice is considered one of the most distinctive in film history.[177]
Memorials
Hepburn has been honored with several memorials. The
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences library[331] 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.[332] 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.[333] 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.[334] Hepburn has also been honored with her own postal stamp as part of the "Legends of Hollywood" stamp series.[335] In 2015, the British Film Institute held a two-month retrospective of Hepburn's work.[336]
Characterizations
Hepburn is the subject of a one-woman play,
Acting credits
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
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
Hepburn won four
Hepburn was recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:
Year | Ceremony | Award | Results | Works/s |
1934 | 6th Academy Awards | Best Actress | Won | Morning Glory |
1936 | 8th Academy Awards | Nominated | Alice Adams | |
1941 | 13th Academy Awards | Nominated | The Philadelphia Story | |
1943 | 15th Academy Awards | Nominated | Woman of the Year | |
1952 | 24th Academy Awards | Nominated | The African Queen | |
1956 | 28th Academy Awards | Nominated | Summertime | |
1957 | 29th Academy Awards | Nominated | The Rainmaker | |
1960 | 32nd Academy Awards | Nominated | Suddenly, Last Summer | |
1963 | 35th Academy Awards | Nominated | Long Day's Journey Into Night | |
1968 | 40th Academy Awards | Won | Guess Who's Coming to Dinner | |
1969 | 41st Academy Awards | Won | The Lion in Winter (shared with Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl) | |
1982 | 54th Academy Awards | Won | On Golden Pond |
See also
- List 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 Fame
References
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General and cited sources
- ISBN 978-0-7553-1350-1.
- 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.
- ISBN 978-1-907532-01-6.
- 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.
- ISBN 978-0-688-04528-9.
- 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.
- 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.
- ISBN 978-0-670-72293-8.
- 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.
- 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
- Katharine Hepburn at IMDb
- Katharine Hepburn at the Internet Broadway Database
- Katharine Hepburn at the TCM Movie Database
- Katharine Hepburn collected news and commentary at The Guardian
- 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