Katharine Hepburn

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  • KATHARINE HEPBURN


    INFORMATION FROM IMDb


    Date of birth
    12 May 1907
    Hartford, Connecticut, USA


    Date of death
    29 June 2003
    Old Saybrook, Connecticut, USA. (natural causes)


    Birth name
    Katharine Houghton Hepburn


    Nickname
    First Lady of Cinema
    Kate


    Height
    5' 7½" (1.71 m)


    Spouse
    Ludlow Ogden Smith (12 December 1928 - 1934) (divorced)


    Sometimes Credited As:
    Katherine Hepburn


    Trade mark
    Playing strong independent women with minds of their own.


    Often wore slacks instead of dresses, decades before it became fashionable for women to do so


    Trivia
    Graduated from Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania in 1928, with a degree in history and philosophy.


    Was named Best Classic Actress of the 20th Century in an Entertainment Weekly on-line poll, just barely (21.5% to 20.6%) beating out runner-up Audrey Hepburn. [September 1999]


    Has never watched Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) because it was Spencer Tracy's last film.


    Ranked #1 woman in the AFI's "50 Greatest Movie Legends." [June 1999]


    Walked around the studio in her underwear in the early 1930s when the costume department stole her slacks from her dressing room. She refused to put anything else on until they were returned.


    She was nearly decapitated by an aeroplane propeller when she was rushing about an airport, avoiding the press.


    Was a leading choice to play "Scarlett O'Hara" in Gone with the Wind (1939).


    Had a relationship with Spencer Tracy from 1940 until his death in 1967.


    Ranked #68 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]


    Born at 3:47pm-EST.


    Aunt of actress Katharine Houghton, who portrayed her character's daughter in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967).


    Admitted to using her brother's birthdate as her own for years.


    Does not suffer from Parkinson's disease. She set the record straight in the 1993 TV documentary Katharine Hepburn: All About Me (1993) (TV), which she narrated herself. Quote: "Now to squash a rumor. No, I don't have Parkinson's. I inherited my shaking head from my grandfather Hepburn. I discovered that whisky helps stop the shaking. Problem is, if you're not careful, it stops the rest of you too. My head just shakes, but I promise you, it ain't gonna fall off!"


    Was admitted to a Hartford hospital for treatment for a urinary infection. Her release was delayed because doctors wanted to monitor her walking. [18 July 2001]


    Was a direct descendant of Britain's King John through one of his illegitimate children.


    Great-aunt of Schuyler Grant.


    Turned down the role of Marilla in Anne of Green Gables (1985) (TV), but recommended her great-neice, Schuyler Grant for the role of Anne. Schuler ended up playing Diana instead.


    On American Film Institute's list of "Top 100 U.S. Love Stories," compiled in June 2002, Hepburn led all actresses with six of her films on the list. (Actor Cary Grant, co-star with her in two of them, led the male field, also with six films on list). The duo's The Philadelphia Story (1940) was ranked #44 and their Bringing Up Baby (1938) ranked #51. Hepburn's four other movies on AFI Top "100 Love Movies list" are: - #14 The African Queen (1951) - #22 On Golden Pond (1981) - #58 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) - #74 Woman of the Year (1942)


    Meryl Streep beat her in the number of Oscar nominations, when she received her 13th Oscar nod for Adaptation. (2002). However, Hepburn still reigns as the only 4-time Oscar recipient for acting.


    As of 2003, "Only Tie in Oscars For Best Actress", Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl (1968) and Katharine Hepburn for The Lion in Winter (1968) in 1969.


    Her father's name was Thomas and her mother's name was Katharine.


    Was nominated for two Tony Awards: in 1970 as Best Actress (Musical), for playing the title character, Coco Chanel in "Coco," and in 1982 as Best Actress (Play), for "The West Side Waltz." She lost both times.


    Her maternal grandfather; her father's brother, Charlie; and her older brother, Tom, all committed suicide. These tragedies were never talked about in her family. Ms. Hepburn said of her parents, "There was nothing to be done about these matters and [my parents] simply did not believe in moaning about anything."


    Measurements: 34B-22-33 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)


    Made nine films with Spencer Tracy, the first of which was Woman of the Year (1942).


    Admitted that she was menstruating while making The African Queen (1951), which resulted in giving her fellow crew members the impression that she was moody and difficult.


    On June 2004 Sotheby's auction house hosted a two-day estate of Katharine Hepburn, auctioning of personal belongings of the legendary actress to collectors. The auction included her furniture, jewelry (which included the platinum, diamond and sapphire given to her by then-boyfriend Howard Hughes which fetched $120,000, six times its estimated price), paperwork (such as personal checks, telegrams, birth certificates, letters, film contracts, movie scripts), and nomination certificates from the Academy Awards. Among other items were casual clothes, and gowns that included her unusual wedding dress to Ludlow Ogden Smith in 1928, made of crushed white velvet with antiqued gold embroidery, sold for $27,000. Also consisted in the lot were house decorations drawings and paintings done by the actress herself, glamour portraits, and a glass bronze sculpture entitled "Angel on a Wave" sold for $90,000 while a self-portrait entitled "Breakfast in Bed and a Self-Portrait in Brisbane, Australia", fetched $33,000, some 40 times the estimated price. Movie memorabilia comprised of a ring from her 1968 film The Lion in Winter (1968), Gertrud (1964), the canoe from the film On Golden Pond (1981) sold for $19,200 to entertainer Wayne Newton and the most sought after piece and the most expensive item was the bronze bust of Spencer Tracy that Hepburn created herself and was featured in _Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (1967)_ . The audience cheered when the 3-inch sculpture sold for $316,000, compared to an estimate of $3,000-$5,000. The only awards that were won by the actress to be auctioned of were the 1958 Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year, the annual Shakespeare club of New York City, the Fashion Desinger Lifetime Achievment, a few Box Office Blue Ribbons, the Walk of Fame plaque and the 1990 Kennedy Center Honor. Her four Oscars were not included due to contract reasons.


    She was one of the few great stars in Hollywood who made no attempt to sugarcoat her true personality for anyone, a personality that was by all accounts feisty and some would say nasty. She was infamous for letting those whom she disliked know it.


    Was a natural red head.


    Her affair with Howard Hughes was portrayed by Cate Blanchett and Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator (2004).


    She was voted the "2nd Greatest Movie Star of All Time" by Entertainment Weekly.


    Was a self-confessed fan of John Gilbert and Greta Garbo.


    In The Lion in Winter (1968) she plays the mother of Richard Lionheart, who is played by Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins later said that Hepburn's voice was, in part, the basis for Hannibal Lecter's voice.


    She was of Scottish and English descent.


    Expressed great fondness for actors Harrison Ford, John Travolta, Melanie Griffith and Julia Roberts, and great disdain for Meryl Streep, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and - in particular - Woody Allen.


    In a letter to Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences President Gregory Peck, she claimed that sentiment for the passing away of her long-time lover and co-star Spencer Tracy had been part of the reason she won her second Oscar for "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" (1967). She told Peck that she modeled her award-winning characterization of Christina Drayton on her mother.


    When Cate Blanchett won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for _The Aviator (2004)_ , Hepburn became the first previous Oscar winner to become an Oscar-winning movie role.


    She was voted the 14th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Premiere Magazine.


    According to Kenneth Lloyd Billingsley's book "Hollywood Party: How Communism Seduced the American Film Industry in the 1930s and 1940s", Hepburn was a leftist in her politics in the 1940s. When the Conference of Studio Unions, headed by suspected Communist Party member Herb Sorrell, launched a strike in 1946-47 against the studios and fought other unions for control over Hollywood's collective bargaining, she expressed support for him. (Sorrell had been kidnapped, beaten, and left as dead during the strike, possibly by by the Mafia, which up until the early 1940s, had controlled the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which was contesting the CSU for jurisdiction over Hollywood unions.) At a Screen Writers Guild meeting during the CSU strike, Hepburn made a speech which anti-communist, anti-CSU SAG activist Ronald Reagan recognized as being based word for word on a CSU strike bulletin. Hepburn's lover Spencer Tracy's admonition that actors should stay out of politics ("Remember who shot Lincoln") was ignored by Hepburn, whose mother had been sympathetic to Marxism and the Soviet Union, despite their family's wealth. On May 19, 1947, Hepburn addressed a Progressive Party rally at the Hollywood Legion Stadium with Progressive Party stalwart and later presidential candidate Henry Wallace, the former vice president of the U.S. who had been sacked from President Truman's cabinet for being pro-Soviet. Wearing a red dress, Hepburn delivered a speech, written by Communist Party member and soon-to-be Hollywood Ten indictee Dalton Trumbo. When screenwriter Ring Lardner Jr. (winner of an Oscar for writing her picture "Woman of the Year" and one of the Hollywood Ten) was jailed, she wrote a letter of support for him. Years later, in 1964, when Lardner was trying to get Tracy to star in "The Cincinnatti Kid," he thanked Hepburn for her support. She told him she didn't remember writing the letter and refused to talk about it.


    Became very fond of Christopher Reeve, both as an actor and as a person, when he made his Broadway debut opposite her in the 1978 production of "A Matter of Gravity". She became so fond of him that she used to tease him that she wanted him to take care of her when she retired. Ironically, his reply was "Miss Hepburn, I don't think I'll live that long."


    She is portrayed by Marianne Taylor in The Scarlett O'Hara War (1980) (TV), by Tovah Feldshuh in The Amazing Howard Hughes (1977) (TV) and by Cate Blanchett in The Aviator (2004).


    Is one of the many movie stars mentioned in Madonna's song "Vogue"


    She and Spencer Tracy acted together in 9 movies: Adam's Rib (1949), Desk Set (1957), Keeper of the Flame (1942), Pat and Mike (1952), The Sea of Grass (1947), State of the Union (1948), Without Love (1945), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) and Woman of the Year (1942).


    After marrying Ludlow Ogden Smith in 1928, she forced him to change his name to S. Ogden Ludlow. She objected to her married name being "Katharine Smith" because there was already a well-known (and rather portly) radio singer with the same name.


    One of Hollywood's early tall leading ladies, standing over 5' 7" in an era when most actresses were only a little over 5' 0".


    Kate Bosworth has said that Hepburn was her primary inspiration for her portrayal of Lois Lane in Superman Returns (2006).


    She thought Melanie Griffith was a good actress, but would fade away quickly. She also saw Julia Roberts as the next big thing. But the Actress she loved above all was Vanessa Redgrave. She adored every performance Ms Redgrave has ever given and would tell people that she was, "A thrill to look at and to listen to".


    Did not attend Spencer Tracy's funeral out of respect to his family.


    A resident of Manhattan's Turtle Bay Gardens for most of her life, Hepburn actually lived in a four-story brownstone at 244 East 49th Street (between 2nd & 3rd Avenue). Famous neighbors over the years have included, Robert Benton, Stephen Sondheim, Garson Kanin and wife Ruth Gordon


    Is the only movie star to win four Academy Awards, all for her leading roles in "Morning Glory" (1932), "Guess Who's coming to Dinner" (1967), "The Lion In the Winter" (1968), and "On Golden Pond" (1980).


    Gained an eye infection while failing to close her eyes when she was asked to fall into a Venic Canal.


    Did all her own stunts because the stunt woman never stood up straight enough.


    Is known for being an avid golfer, tennis player, and swimmer. She is also known for taking cold showers.


    Is in the Guinness World Records-book for "Most 'Best Actress' Oscars Won".


    Personal quotes
    "People have grown fond of me, like some old building."


    "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."


    "Wouldn't it be great if people could get to live suddenly as often as they die suddenly?"


    "I don't regret anything I've ever done; As long as I enjoyed it at the time."


    "Love' has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get - only with what you are expecting to give - which is everything."


    "I often wonder whether men and women really suit eachother. Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then."


    "I've been loved, and I've been in love. There's a big difference."


    "Not everyone is lucky enough to understand how delicious it is to suffer."


    "There are no laurels in life...just new challenges."


    On Hollywood: "They didn't like me until I got into a leg show."


    "I can't say I believe in prizes. I was a whiz in the three-legged race - that's something you CAN win."


    "Afraid of death? Not at all. Be a great relief. Then I wouldn't have to talk to you."


    "Once a crowd chased me for an autograph. 'Beat it, ' I said, 'go sit on a tack!' 'We made you, ' they said. 'Like hell you did, ' I told them."


    On fashion: "I wear my sort of clothes to save me the trouble of deciding which clothes to wear."


    "My father, a surgeon and urologist, studied sex professionally all his life. Before he died at 82, he told me he hadn't come to any conclusions about it at all."


    On marriage: "It's bloody impractical. 'To love, honor, and obey.' If it weren't, you wouldn't have to sign a contract."


    "At my age, you don't get much variety - usually some old nut who's off her track."


    "With all the opportunities I had, I could have done more. And if I'd done more, I could have been quite remarkable."


    "I find a woman's point of view much grander and finer than a man's."


    "I remember as a child going around with Votes For Women balloons. I learnt early what it is to be snubbed for a good cause."


    "Life is full of censorship. I can't spit in your eye."


    "Only when a woman decides not to have children, can a woman live like a man. That's what I've done."


    "Acting is a nice childish profession - pretending you're someone else and at the same time selling yourself."


    "It's a bore - B-O-R-E - when you find you've begun to rot."


    "Plain women know more about men than beautiful ones do."


    "Life is hard. After all, it kills you."


    "I think most of the people involved in any art always secretly wonder whether they are really there because they're good - or because they're lucky."


    "I never realized until lately that women were supposed to be inferior."


    "Life is to be lived. If you have to support yourself, you had bloody well find some way that is going to be interesting. And you don't do that by sitting around wondering about yourself."


    "If you want to sacrifice the admiration of many men for the criticism of one, go ahead, get married."


    "The lack of work destroys people."


    "Life's what's important. Walking, houses, family. Birth and pain and joy. Acting's just waiting for a custard pie. That's all."


    "Life can be wildly tragic at times, and I've had my share. But whatever happens to you, you have to keep a slightly comic attitude. In the final analysis, you have got not to forget to laugh."


    "If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased."


    "It's life isn't it? You plow ahead and make a hit. And you plow on and someone passes you. Then someone passes them. Time levels."


    "If you survive long enough, you're revered - rather like an old building."


    "Enemies are so stimulating."


    "I can remember walking as a child. It was not customary to say you were fatigued. It was customary to complete the goal of the expedition."


    "I have many regrets, and I'm sure everyone does. The stupid things you do, you regret if you have any sense, and if you don't regret them, maybe you're stupid."


    "I welcome death. In death there are no interviews!"


    "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 each other."


    "I'm what is known as gradually disintegrating. I don't fear the next world, or anything. I don't fear hell, and I don't look forward to heaven."


    "Listen to the song of life."


    "Who is Katharine Hepburn? It took me a long time to create that creature."


    "I don't fear death, it must be like a long sleep."


    "I always wanted to be a movie actress. I thought it was very romantic. And it was."


    'Isn't it fun getting older' is really a terrible fallacy. That's like saying I prefer driving an old car with a flat tyre.


    "I have loved and been in love. There's a big difference." (1993)


    "In some ways I've lived my life like a man, made my own decisions etc.. I've been as terrified as the next person, but you've got to keep going." (1993)


    "The lack of work destroys people." (1993)


    [Describing Cary Grant]: "He is personality functioning."


    Salary
    Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) $200,000
    The African Queen (1951) $130,000 + 10% of profits
    Spitfire (1934) $60,000
    A Bill of Divorcement (1932) $1,500/week


    Mini Biography
    Born May 12, 1907 in Hartford, Connecticut, she was the daughter of a doctor and a suffragette, both of whom always encouraged her to speak her mind, develop it fully, and exercise her body to its full potential. An athletic tomboy as a child, she was also very close to her brother, Tom, and was devastated at age 14 to find him dead, the apparent result of accidentally hanging himself while practicing a hanging trick their father had taught them. For many years after this, Katharine used his birthdate, November 8, as her own. She then became very shy around girls her age, and was largely schooled at home. She did attend Bryn Mawr College, however, and it was here that she decided to become an actress, appearing in many of their productions.


    After graduating, she began getting small roles in plays on Broadway and elsewhere. She always attracted attention in these parts, especially for her role in "Art and Mrs. Bottle" (1931); then, she finally broke into stardom when she took the starring role of the Amazon princess Antiope in "A Warrior's Husband" (1932). The inevitable film offers followed, and after making a few screen tests, she was cast in A Bill of Divorcement (1932), opposite John Barrymore. The film was a hit, and after agreeing to her salary demands, RKO signed her to a contract. She made five films between 1932 and 1934. For her third, Morning Glory (1933) she won her first Academy Award. Her fourth, Little Women (1933) was the most successful picture of its day.


    But stories were beginning to leak out of her haughty behavior off- screen and her refusal to play the Hollywood Game, always wearing slacks and no makeup, never posing for pictures or giving interviews. Audiences were shocked at her unconventional behavior instead of applauding it, and so when she returned to Broadway in 1934 to star in "The Lake", the critics panned her and the audiences, who at first bought up tickets, soon deserted her. When she returned to Hollywood, things didn't get much better. From the period 1935-1938, she had only two hits: Alice Adams (1935), which brought her her second Oscar nomination, and Stage Door (1937); the many flops included Break of Hearts (1935), Sylvia Scarlett (1935), Mary of Scotland (1936), Quality Street (1937) and the now- classic Bringing Up Baby (1938).


    With so many flops, she came to be labeled "box-office poison." She decided to go back to Broadway to star in "The Philadelphia Story" (1938), and was rewarded with a smash. She quickly bought the film rights, and so was able to negotiate her way back to Hollywood on her own terms, including her choice of director and co-stars. The film version of The Philadelphia Story (1940), was a box-office hit, and Hepburn, who won her third Oscar nomination for the film, was bankable again. For her next film, Woman of the Year (1942), she was paired with Spencer Tracy, and the chemistry between them lasted for eight more films, spanning the course of 25 years, and a romance that lasted that long off-screen. (She received her fourth Oscar nomination for the film.) Their films included the very successful Adam's Rib (1949), Pat and Mike (1952), and Desk Set (1957).


    With The African Queen (1951), Hepburn moved into middle-aged spinster roles, receiving her fifth Oscar nomination for the film. She played more of these types of roles throughout the 50s, and won more Oscar nominations for many of them, including her roles in Summertime (1955), The Rainmaker (1956) and Suddenly, Last Summer (1959). Her film roles became fewer and farther between in the 60s, as she devoted her time to her ailing partner Spencer Tracy. For one of her film appearances in this decade, in Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962), she received her ninth Oscar nomination. After a five-year absence from films, she then made Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), her last film with Tracy and the last film Tracy ever made; he died just weeks after finishing it. It garnered Hepburn her tenth Oscar nomination and her second win. The next year, she did The Lion in Winter (1968), which brought her her eleventh Oscar nomination and third win.


    In the 70s, she turned to making made-for-TV films, with The Glass Menagerie (1973) (TV), Love Among the Ruins (1975) (TV) and The Corn Is Green (1979) (TV). She still continued to make an occasional appearance in feature films, such as Rooster Cogburn (1975), with John Wayne, and On Golden Pond (1981), with Henry Fonda. This last brought her her twelfth Oscar nomination and fourth win - the latter currently still a record for an actress.


    She made more TV-films in the 80s, and wrote her autobiography, 'Me', in 1991. Her last feature film was Love Affair (1994), with Warren Beatty and Annette Bening, and her last TV- film was One Christmas (1994) (TV). With her health declining she retired from public life in the mid-nineties. She died at the age of 96 at her home in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.
    IMDb mini-biography by
    Tommy Peter


    Mini Biography-2
    from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia:
    She was branded "box-office poison" by the nation's exhibitors in 1938, but Katharine Hepburn has come to be regarded as a national treasure. One of the most frequently honored screen actresses (with eight Academy nominations and four Oscars to her credit), Hepburn came to films in A Bill of Divorcement (1932), as John Barrymore's daughter, following a sometimes tempestuous career on stage in amateur theatricals, college shows, stock, and finally on Broadway. Her unusual looks and manner-and her unique New England voice-put off some moviegoers at first, but her endearing performance as a naive, impulsive young actress trying to crash Broadway, in 1933's Morning Glory won her her first Academy Award. Hepburn proved her versatility in such pictures as Little Women (1933), The Little Minister (1934), Alice Adams (1935, for which she received an Oscar nomination), Mary of Scotland (1936), and the wonderful Stage Door (1937, an interesting companion piece to Morning Glory But for every success in her early Hollywood career, there was also a major misfireincluding such all-time oddities as Christopher Strong (1933, in which she played an aviatrix) and Sylvia Scarlett (1935, in which she disguised herself as a boy).


    By the time she made the classic screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby (1938, for which the understandably nervous actress took comedy "pointers" from veteran screen funnyman Walter Catlett) and the equally delightful comedy-drama Holiday (also 1938), Hepburn's film career was on the skids. (Although it was that same year that Walt Disney immortalized her in cartoon form, as a haughty Little Bo-Peep in his animated short subjectMother Goose Goes Hollywood She returned to Broadway to star as spoiled socialite Tracy Lord in Philip Barry's "The Philadelphia Story," forsaking a huge salary for a percentage of profits and title to the screen rights. Her successful gamble paid off, and led to an equally triumphant return to Hollywood in the 1940 film version, which earned her another Oscar nomina tion. She was nominated again for her next film, Woman of the Year (1942) which cast her as an opinionated newspaper columnist opposite Spencer Tracy (as a down-to-earth sportswriter). It was a match made in movie heaven; the two would star in eight subsequent films over the next 25 years. (They also commenced an offscreen relationship that lasted until his death.)


    Some of the early Tracy-Hepburn collaborations were heavy dramas such as Keeper of the Flame (1942) and The Sea of Grass (1947). Dramatic fireworks flew as well in State of the Union (1948), but the team is best remembered for its humorous skirmishes in the battle of the sexes with Without Love (1945), Adam's Rib (1949), Pat and Mike (1952), and Desk Set (1957). While Hepburn's work in the 1930s and 1940s receives the most attention today, many of the star's peak achievements were realized in the 1950s and 1960s. She picked up Oscar nominations for her work in The African Queen (1951, opposite Humphrey Bogart, as a missionary whose personality she patterned after Eleanor Roosevelt), Summertime (1955), The Rainmaker (1956), Suddenly, Last Summer (1959, as Elizabeth Taylor's shrewish, sinister aunt), and Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962). Offscreen for five years, she returned to costar with Tracy in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), which proved to be his final film; it won her a second Oscar. Hepburn received her third gold statuette the following year for her work in the period drama The Lion in Winter as Eleanor of Aquitaine, which showed the aging actress in full command of her inestimable talent. She followed this triumph by making her Broadway musical debut as couturier Coco Chanel in "Coco." Other films around this time include The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969), The Trojan Women (1972), and A Delicate Balance (1973).


    A much-anticipated pairing of Hepburn with John Wayne yielded disappointing results, as Rooster Cogburn (1975) turned out to be a watered-down retread of The African Queen But her teaming with another screen giant, Henry Fonda, in On Golden Pond (1981), brought her a fourth Best Actress Academy Award, and proved to be her finest latter-day film. Hepburn's TV work has largely been confined to long-form dramas. She received Emmy nominations for Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie" (1973), and "The Corn Is Green" (1979), directed by her longtime friend and collaborator, George Cukor. She won an Emmy for "Love Among the Ruins" (1975), also directed by Cukor and costarring Laurence Olivier. Since that time she has starred in several "star-vehicle" TV movies, including Laura Lansing Slept Here (1988), The Man Upstairs (1992), and This Can't Be Love (1994). Her 1991 autobiography, "Me," was a best-seller, as was her more specific 1987 memoir, "The Making of The African Queen or How I Went to Africa with Bogart, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind." After years away from the big screen, Hepburn was coaxed back to do Love Affair (1994); she provided that film's highlight, as Warren Beatty's aunt.
    Copyright © 1994 Leonard Maltin, used by arrangement with Signet, a division of Penguin Putnam, Inc.


    Filmography
    Actress
    1. One Christmas (1994) (TV) .... Cornelia Beaumont
    ... aka Truman Capote's One Christmas (USA: complete title)
    2. Love Affair (1994) .... Ginny
    3. This Can't Be Love (1994) (TV) .... Marion Bennett
    4. The Man Upstairs (1992) (TV) .... Victoria Brown
    5. Laura Lansing Slept Here (1988) (TV) .... Laura Lansing
    6. Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry (1986) (TV) .... Margaret Delafield
    7. Grace Quigley (1984) .... Grace Quigley
    ... aka The Ultimate Solution of Grace Quigley
    8. On Golden Pond (1981) .... Ethel Thayer
    9. The Corn Is Green (1979) (TV) .... Miss Lilly Moffat
    10. Olly, Olly, Oxen Free (1978) .... Miss Pudd
    ... aka The Great Balloon Adventure
    ... aka The Great Balloon Race
    11. Rooster Cogburn (1975) .... Eula Goodnight
    ... aka Rooster Cogburn... and the Lady
    12. Love Among the Ruins (1975) (TV) .... Jessica Medlicott
    13. The Glass Menagerie (1973) (TV) .... Amanda Wingfield
    ... aka Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie (USA: complete title)
    14. A Delicate Balance (1973) .... Agnes
    15. The Trojan Women (1971) .... Hecuba
    16. The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969) .... Countess Aurelia
    17. The Lion in Winter (1968) .... Eleanor of Aquitaine
    18. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) .... Christina Drayton
    19. Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962) .... Mary Tyrone
    20. Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) .... Mrs. Violet Venable
    21. Desk Set (1957) .... Bunny Watson
    ... aka His Other Woman (UK)
    22. The Iron Petticoat (1956) .... Vinka Kovelenko
    ... aka Not for Money
    23. The Rainmaker (1956) .... Lizzie Curry
    24. Summertime (1955) .... Jane Hudson
    ... aka Summer Madness (UK)
    25. Pat and Mike (1952) .... Patricia 'Pat' Pemberton
    26. The African Queen (1951) .... Rose Sayer
    27. The Schumann Story (1950) .... Clara Wieck Schumann
    28. Adam's Rib (1949) .... Amanda Bonner
    29. State of the Union (1948) (as Katherine Hepburn) .... Mary Matthews
    ... aka The World and His Wife (UK)
    30. Song of Love (1947) .... Clara Wieck Schumann
    31. The Sea of Grass (1947) .... Lutie Cameron Brewton
    32. Undercurrent (1946) .... Ann Hamilton
    33. American Creed (1946) .... Narrator
    34. Without Love (1945) .... Jamie Rowan
    35. Dragon Seed (1944) .... Jade
    36. Keeper of the Flame (1942) .... Mrs. Christine Forrest
    37. Woman of the Year (1942) .... Tess Harding
    38. The Philadelphia Story (1940) .... Tracy Lord
    39. Holiday (1938) .... Linda Seton
    ... aka Free to Live (UK)
    ... aka Unconventional Linda (UK: reissue title)
    40. Bringing Up Baby (1938) .... Susan Vance
    41. Stage Door (1937) .... Terry Randall
    42. Quality Street (1937) .... Phoebe Throssel
    43. A Woman Rebels (1936) .... Pamela 'Pam' Thistlewaite
    44. Mary of Scotland (1936) .... Mary, Queen of Scots
    45. Sylvia Scarlett (1935) .... Sylvia Scarlett
    46. Alice Adams (1935) .... Alice Adams
    ... aka Booth Tarkington's Alice Adams (USA: complete title)
    47. Break of Hearts (1935) .... Constance Dane Roberti
    48. The Little Minister (1934) .... Barbara 'Babbie'
    49. Spitfire (1934) .... Trigger Hicks
    50. Little Women (1933) .... Josephine 'Jo' March
    51. Morning Glory (1933) .... Eva Lovelace
    52. Christopher Strong (1933) .... Lady Cynthia Darrington
    53. A Bill of Divorcement (1932) .... Sydney Fairfield


    Writer
    1. Katharine Hepburn: All About Me (1993) (TV)
    2. Travels with My Aunt (1972) (uncredited)


    Miscellaneous Crew
    1. S1m0ne (2002) (simone wishes to thank the following for their contribution to the making of simone)


    Herself
    1. The Line King: The Al Hirschfeld Story (1996) (voice) (uncredited) .... Herself
    ... aka The Line King
    2. 100 Years of the Hollywood Western (1994) (TV) .... Herself
    3. Katharine Hepburn: All About Me (1993) (TV) .... Herself
    4. The Roots of Roe (1993) (TV) (voice) .... Kit Hepburn
    5. The 63rd Annual Academy Awards (1991) (TV) (voice) (uncredited) .... Herself
    6. The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (1990) (TV) .... Herself (Honoree)
    7. Bacall on Bogart (1988) (TV) .... Herself
    8. Michael Jackson: The Legend Continues (1988) (V) .... Herself
    ... aka Michael Jackson: The Legend Continues (USA: video box title)
    9. "Biography"
    - Katherine Hepburn: On Her Own Terms (????) TV Episode .... Herself
    10. Hollywood The Golden Years: The RKO Story (1987) .... Herself
    11. James Stewart: A Wonderful Life (1987) (TV) .... Herself
    12. The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn (1986) (TV) .... Host
    ... aka The Spencer Tracy Legacy (USA)
    13. George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey (1984) .... Herself
    14. "The Barbara Walters Special"
    ... aka The Barbara Walters Summer Special (USA: repeat compilations title)
    - Episode #5.3 (1981) TV Episode .... Herself
    15. The 46th Annual Academy Awards (1974) (TV) .... Herself - Presenter: Thalberg Award
    16. The 40th Annual Academy Awards (1968) (TV) .... Herself - reviewing Academy's first decade (pre-recorded)
    17. The 35th Annual Academy Awards (1963) (TV) .... Herself (pre-recorded)
    8. Stage Door Canteen (1943) .... Herself
    19. Women in Defense (1941) (voice) .... Narrator


    Archive Footage
    1. Marató 2005, La (2005) (TV) .... Herself
    2. "Sexes"
    - Guerra de sexes (2005) TV Episode .... Amanda Bonner
    3. "History vs. Hollywood"
    - The Aviator (2004) TV Episode .... Herself
    4. The 76th Annual Academy Awards (2004) (TV) .... Herself (Memorial Tribute)
    5. 10th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2004) (TV) .... Herself (Memorial Tribute)
    6. True Love (2003/I) (V) .... Herself
    7. Complicated Women (2003) (TV) (uncredited) .... Herself
    8. AFI's 100 Years, 100 Thrills: America's Most Heart-Pounding Movies (2001) (TV) .... Herself
    9. "The Rat Pack" (1999) .... Herself
    10. The Good, the Bad & the Beautiful (1996) (TV) .... Herself
    11. The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies (1995) (TV) .... Herself
    12. Legends of Entertainment Video (1995) (V) .... Herself
    13. That's Entertainment! III (1994) (uncredited) .... Herself
    14. One on One: Classic Television Interviews (1993) (TV) .... Herself
    15. "MGM: When the Lion Roars" (1992) (mini)
    16. Oscar's Greatest Moments (1992) (V) .... Herself
    17. 60 Minutes: The Entertainers (1991) (TV) .... Herself
    18. The Tales of Helpmann (1990) .... Herself
    19. Sixty Years of Seduction (1981) (TV)
    20. Starring Katharine Hepburn (1981) (TV)
    21. That's Entertainment, Part II (1976)
    22. Hollywood: The Dream Factory (1972) (TV)
    23. Black History: Lost Stolen, or Strayed (1968) (TV) (uncredited) .... Herself/Mrs. Drayton
    24. The Big Parade of Comedy (1964)
    25. The Costume Designer (1950)

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited 5 times, last by ethanedwards ().

  • Katharine Hepburn, sadly only made one film with Duke,


    Rooster Cogburn (1975) .... Eula Goodnight




    Katharine is held in the highest esteem, not only as a great actor,
    but amongst us Duke fans, for the wonderful chemistry,
    she had with him in the film.
    There was no doubt, that they respected and liked each other, very much,
    and it is sad, that it was too late to make any other movies with one another.
    Indeed at the time, it was questioned, as to why they hadn't made any previously!!


    Katharine, who admired both his independence and his skill as a film actor,
    said of Duke,

    Quote

    Duke was the kind of man, who blazed trails across our country...
    who reached out into the unknown...
    He was the kind of man, who was willing to live or die
    entirely on his own independant judgement.


    She found Duke, a confident man of enormous charisma,

    Quote

    He's Quick, he's sensitive, he knows all the techniques
    I think he's an awfully good actor and a terribly funny man..


    The two enjoyed many laughs on the set, and Katharine was struck by Duke's
    naturalness, and the reality he brought into a performance.

    Quote

    He has an extraordinary gift....
    a very subtle capacity to think and express and caress the camera...
    with no apparent effort.


    While Duke tended to ad-lib during takes.
    When he over-acted, she told him

    Quote

    You're tippin' your mit, old boy.


    Duke was fascinated with her honesty.


    She remarked,

    Quote

    I love working with Duke,, but he tells everyone what to do, bosses, everyone around.,


    At the end of production party,
    Hepburn teased Duke,

    Quote

    I'm glad I didn't know you with two lungs... you really must have been a b******,
    .Losing a hip, has mellowed me---but you!!


    Duke understood her from of affection, and fired back,

    Quote

    I can't bully you, because I promised Jack Ford, I'd be nice to you.


    Finally Katharine said of Duke,


    Katharine's last few words here says it all,

    Quote

    "No film actor had greater integrity or stature.
    He represented the American folk hero at his best.

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited 3 times, last by ethanedwards ().

  • I find it interesting that there are so few comments about this actor. Is that because she intimidates or does it possibly reflect a reaction to her leftist leanings. I have only seen her in 3 roles. Guesse whos coming to Dinner, The African Queen, and Rooster Cogburn. I liked her in all three. It would seem she was a strong individual who was not lacking courage and did well in what was more of a " mans world" rip Kate.

    Greetings from North of the 49th

  • Actually I have only seen her in two movies, The African Queen and Rooster Cogburn. I knew nothing of her political views whatsoever, she just never really struck a chord with me as to find out more about her. Although I will say this, I would pit Katherine Hepburn against any actress today and bet she would come out on top.

  • one of my favourite leading ladies - she seems a perfect match for Duke, giving as good as she gets and when she makes her speech at the end of Rooster Cogburn, you can believe that she means it - i wish she d starred in more alongside John Wayne

    "Sorry don t get it done, Dude" (Rio Bravo)


    Hooked on The Duke

  • You should check out "The Lion in Winter" where Kate plays against Peter O'Toole. Great script, amazing sets and rousing score by John Barry. It's also the film that introduced Anthony Hopkins who plays Richard the Crusader.
    True, it's not something that would normally appeal to Wayne fans, but give it a rent or wait for TCM to show it.



    We deal in lead, friend.

  • Just wanted to announce that today is Katharine Hepburn's birthday. She would be 105 years old. And want to give acknowledge of her birthday, today. Happy Birthday, Ms. Hepburn. It's a thrill to see some of her movies today.

    Just saw Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? A final movie with Spencer Tracy.

    Cheers :cool: Hondo



    Quote

    "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it"

    - John Wayne quote

  • Just wanted to announce that today is Katharine Hepburn's birthday. She would be 105 years old. And want to give acknowledge of her birthday, today. Happy Birthday, Ms. Hepburn. It's a thrill to see some of her movies today.

    Just saw Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? A final movie with Spencer Tracy.

    Cheers :cool: Hondo

    Thanks for this Mike,
    Happy Birthday Miss Hepburn, somewhere!!!!

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

  • One of the great comedys of all time was on the other day. Bringing Up Baby. I never stop laughing at this fine film.:lol

    ''baby sister i was born game and intend to go out that way.''

  • Did she suffer a stroke at one time? To see her in her late years, she looked like, acted like, she was recuperating from something.