Katharine Hepburn: the story on HearLore

Katharine Hepburn

Katharine Hepburn was born on the 12th of May 1907 in Hartford, Connecticut, into a family that treated her like a revolutionary before she ever stepped onto a stage. Her mother, Katharine Martha Houghton Hepburn, was a leading figure in the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association, and her father, Thomas Norval Hepburn, was a urologist who helped establish the New England Social Hygiene Association. The Hepburn children were raised with a radical freedom of speech, encouraged to debate any topic and to use their minds and bodies to the limit. Young Katharine was a tomboy who called herself Jimmy, cut her hair short, and took ice-cold baths every morning because she believed the bitterer the medicine, the better it was for you. She swam in Long Island Sound, wrestled, and became so adept at golf that she reached the semi-final of the Connecticut Young Women's Golf Championship. This upbringing instilled in her a fierce independence and a refusal to conform to societal expectations, traits that would define her entire career. When her older brother Tom died in March 1921 at the age of 15, the family denied it was suicide, claiming it was an experiment that went wrong. The incident made the teenage Hepburn nervous, moody, and suspicious of people, causing her to drop out of Oxford School and be tutored privately. For many years, she used Tom's birthday, the 8th of November, as her own, only revealing her true birth date in her 1991 autobiography, Me: Stories of My Life. This early trauma and the progressive environment of her childhood forged a woman who would spend the rest of her life fighting against barriers, whether they were gender norms or the rigid structures of the film industry.

From Stage Fumbles to Screen Domination

Hepburn's entry into the professional theater was a series of humiliating failures that nearly ended her career before it began. After graduating from Bryn Mawr College in June 1928, she traveled to Baltimore to meet Edwin H. Knopf, who cast her in The Czarina. She received good reviews for her small role, but in the following week's show, she was criticized for her shrill voice and left to study with a voice teacher in New York City. Her Broadway debut came on the 12th of November 1928 in These Days, but the reviews were poor and the show closed after eight nights. She was fired from The Big Pond just a week before opening for being late, mixing her lines, and speaking too quickly to be understood. Even when she was rehired as an understudy in Philip Barry's Holiday, she quit after two weeks to marry Ludlow Ogden Smith, only to return to the role six months later. The turning point came in 1932 with The Warrior's Husband, a breakout performance that required aggressive energy and athleticism. Biographer Charles Higham noted that the role was ideal for the actress, and she enthusiastically involved herself with its production. The play opened on the 11th of March 1932 at the Morosco Theatre, and Hepburn's first entrance called for her to leap down a narrow stairway with a stag over her shoulder, wearing a short silver tunic. Richard Garland of the New York World-Telegram wrote that it had been many a night since so glowing a performance had brightened the Broadway scene. This success caught the eye of Hollywood agent Leland Hayward, who asked her to test for the part of Sydney Fairfield in A Bill of Divorcement. Director George Cukor was impressed by what he saw, calling her an odd creature unlike anybody he had ever heard. He particularly liked the manner in which she picked up a glass, thinking she was very talented in that action. RKO head David O. Selznick recounted that he took a tremendous chance in casting the unusual actress, and Hepburn arrived in California in July 1932 at 25 years old. She starred in A Bill of Divorcement opposite John Barrymore, showing no sign of intimidation, and received positive reviews from Mordaunt Hall of The New York Times, who called her performance exceptionally fine.

When was Katharine Hepburn born and where?

Katharine Hepburn was born on the 12th of May 1907 in Hartford, Connecticut. Her parents were Katharine Martha Houghton Hepburn and Thomas Norval Hepburn.

How many Academy Awards did Katharine Hepburn win?

Katharine Hepburn won four Academy Awards for Best Actress. She received her first win for Morning Glory in 1933 and her final win for On Golden Pond in 1981.

Who was Katharine Hepburn married to?

Katharine Hepburn was married once to Ludlow Ogden Smith from 1928 until their divorce was finalized on the 8th of May 1934. She never remarried and chose not to have children.

When did Katharine Hepburn die and where?

Katharine Hepburn died on the 29th of June 2003 at her home in Fenwick, Connecticut. She was buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford.

How long was Katharine Hepburn's partnership with Spencer Tracy?

Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy had a partnership that spanned 26 years and produced nine films. They met in 1941 and remained together until Tracy's death on the 10th of June 1967.

The Box Office Poison and The Comeback

Despite her early success, Hepburn's career took a nosedive that would become one of the most famous comebacks in Hollywood history. After winning an Academy Award for Best Actress for her third film, Morning Glory, in 1933, she faced a string of commercial failures. Her role as Trigger Hicks in Spitfire was widely considered one of her worst films, and she kept a photo of herself in the role in her bedroom throughout her life to keep her humble. The play The Lake, which she starred in on Broadway, was a disaster, with Dorothy Parker quipping that she ran the gamut of emotions all the way from A to B. Hepburn paid Harris $14,000, most of her life savings, to close the production, later referring to him as hands-down the most diabolical person she had ever met. RKO cast her in a series of forgettable films, including The Little Minister, Break of Hearts, and Sylvia Scarlett, which was unpopular with the public. Her attitude toward the press, which she could be rude and provocative with, earned her the nickname Katharine of Arrogance. The public was baffled by her boyish behavior and fashion choices, and she became a largely unpopular figure. After the release of Bringing Up Baby in 1938, which was acclaimed by critics but unsuccessful at the box office, the Independent Theatre Owners of America included Hepburn on a list of actors considered box office poison. Her reputation was at an all-time low, and the next film RKO offered her was Mother Carey's Chickens, a B movie with poor prospects. Hepburn turned it down and instead opted to buy out her contract for $75,000, a move that many actors were afraid to make. She signed on for the film version of Holiday with Columbia Pictures, but it failed to draw much of an audience. The script offered to Hepburn next came with a salary of $10,000, less than she had received at the start of her film career. Andrew Britton wrote that no other star has emerged with greater rapidity or with more ecstatic acclaim, and no other star, either, has become so unpopular so quickly for so long a time. Hepburn masterminded her comeback by buying out her contract and acquiring the film rights to The Philadelphia Story, which she sold on the condition that she be the star. The film was a box office success and landed her a third Academy Award nomination, proving that she could control her own destiny.

The Tracy Partnership and The African Queen

In 1942, Hepburn signed a star contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, beginning a partnership with Spencer Tracy that would span 26 years and produce nine films. The screen partnership was an alliance that focused on an alliance with Spencer Tracy, and the relationship on screen and off lasted until Tracy's death in 1967. On their 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. Hepburn dedicated herself to helping the star, who suffered from alcoholism and insomnia, and her career slowed as a result. 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. 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, but it met with a tepid response and she was described as miscast. The partnership produced a series of films, including Keeper of the Flame, Without Love, Undercurrent, The Sea of Grass, Song of Love, State of the Union, and Adam's Rib. The majority of films Hepburn did in this period were with Spencer Tracy, and she later said the partnership did much to advance her career, as he was the more popular star at the time. In 1951, Hepburn filmed The African Queen, her first movie in Technicolor, co-starring Humphrey Bogart. The movie was shot mostly on location in the Belgian Congo, an opportunity Hepburn embraced, though it proved a difficult experience as she became ill with dysentery during filming. The movie was released at the end of 1951 to popular support and critical acclaim, 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. Hepburn went on to make the sports comedy Pat and Mike in 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, noting that as he watched Kate playing tennis one day, it occurred to him that her audience was missing a treat.

Shakespearean Stages and Later Triumphs

Hepburn challenged herself in the latter half of her life as she tackled Shakespearean stage productions and a range of literary roles. In January 1950, she ventured into Shakespeare, playing Rosalind on stage in As You Like It, hoping to prove that she could play already established material. She said it's better to try something difficult and flop than to play it safe all the time. The production opened on Broadway at the Cort Theatre in New York to a capacity audience and was virtually sold out for 148 shows. The following year, she 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. She received an Academy Award nomination for the second year running for her work opposite Burt Lancaster in The Rainmaker in 1956, and it became apparent that Hepburn had found a niche in playing mature, unmarried women. She said of playing such roles, with Lizzie Curry, Jane Hudson, and Rosie Sayer, I was playing me. It wasn't difficult for me to play those women, because I'm the maiden aunt. Less success that year came from The Iron Petticoat, a reworking of the classic Greta Garbo comedy Ninotchka, which was a critical and commercial failure, and Hepburn considered it the worst movie of her career. In 1959, she starred in a film adaptation of Tennessee Williams' controversial play Suddenly, Last Summer, which was a completely miserable experience for her. She clashed with director Joseph L. Mankiewicz during filming, which culminated with her spitting at him in disgust. The movie was a financial success, and her work as creepy aunt Violet Venable gave Hepburn her eighth Oscar nomination. Williams was pleased with the performance, writing that Kate is a playwright's dream-actress. She made her final screen appearance at the age of 87, and in the 1970s, she began appearing in television films, which later became her focus. She received an Emmy Award for Love Among the Ruins in 1975, and in 1981, she won a record fourth Academy Award for On Golden Pond, demonstrating how energetic the 74-year-old Hepburn was as she dived fully clothed into Squam Lake and gave a lively singing performance.

The Private Life of a Public Icon

Hepburn famously shunned the Hollywood publicity machine, and refused to conform to societal expectations of women. She 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 life and was not interested in a social scene she saw as tedious and superficial. She wore casual clothes that went strongly against convention in an era of glamour, and rarely appeared in public, usually avoiding restaurants and once wrestling a camera out of a photographer's hand when he took her picture without asking. Her 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 the 12th of December 1928, when she was 21 and he was 29. Smith changed his name to S. Ogden Ludlow at her behest so that she would not be Kate Smith, which she considered too plain. She never fully committed to the marriage, prioritizing her career, and filed for divorce in Mérida, Yucatán, on the 30th of April 1934, which was finalized on the 8th of May. 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. The pair remained friends until his death in 1979. Hepburn's affair with her agent, Leland Hayward, began after she moved to California, although they were both married. 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. The affair lasted four years. In 1936, while she was touring with Jane Eyre, Hepburn began a relationship with entrepreneur Howard Hughes. Hughes wished to marry her, and the tabloids reported their impending nuptials, but Hepburn stayed focused on resurrecting her failing career. They separated in 1938, when Hepburn left Hollywood after being labeled box office poison. 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. I would have been a terrible mother, she told Berg, because I'm basically a very selfish human being. She felt she had partially experienced parenthood through her much younger siblings, which fulfilled any need to have children of her own. Rumors have existed since the 1930s that Hepburn was a lesbian or bisexual, which she often joked about. In 2007, William J. Mann released a biography of the actress in which he argued this was the case. In response to this speculation, her niece, Katharine Houghton said, I've never discovered any evidence whatsoever that she was a lesbian. However, in a 2017 documentary, columnist Liz Smith, who was a close friend, attested that she was.

The Spencer Tracy Secret and Final Years

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. Lauren Bacall, a close friend, later wrote of how blindingly in love Hepburn was with the actor. The relationship has subsequently been publicized as one of Hollywood's legendary love affairs. Hepburn and Tracy met at MGM in 1941, when they were to begin filming Woman of the Year, 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. 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. Hepburn did not interfere. With Tracy determined to conceal the relationship with Hepburn from his wife, it had to remain private. They were careful not to be seen in public together and maintained separate residences. Tracy suffered from a severe alcohol addiction and was extremely moody and frequently depressed; Hepburn described him as tortured, and she devoted herself to making his life easier. Reports from people who saw them together describe how Hepburn's entire demeanor changed when around Tracy. She reportedly mothered and obeyed him, and he soon became dependent on her. They often spent significant stretches of time apart due to their work, especially in the 1950s when Hepburn frequently traveled abroad for film commitments. Tracy's alcoholism took an immense toll on his health and in the early 1960s, Hepburn took a five-year break in her career to care for him. She moved into Tracy's house for this period and was with him when he died on the 10th of June 1967. Out of consideration for Tracy's family, she did not attend his funeral. It was only after Louise Tracy's death in 1983, that Hepburn began to speak publicly about her feelings for Tracy, though their relationship had been an open secret for many years. 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. 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. Hepburn's health began to deteriorate not long after her final screen appearance, and she was hospitalized in March 1993 for exhaustion. In the winter of 1996, she was hospitalized with pneumonia. By 1997, she had become very weak and was speaking and eating very little, and it was feared she would die. She showed signs of dementia in her final years. By 2000, she was regarded by her niece to be a private person. In July 2001, she was admitted to a hospital for pneumonia and a urinary tract infection. In May 2003, an aggressive tumor was found in Hepburn's neck. The decision was made not to medically intervene, and she died from cardiac arrest on the 29th of June 2003, at the Hepburn family home in Fenwick, Connecticut. She was buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford. Hepburn requested there be no memorial service. Hepburn's death received considerable public attention. Many tributes were held on television, and newspapers and magazines dedicated issues to the actress. American president George W. Bush said Hepburn will be remembered as one of the nation's artistic treasures. In honor of her extensive theatre work, the lights of Broadway were dimmed for the evening of the 1st of July 2003. 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.