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 Katharine Houghton Hepburn was born on May 12, 1907 in Hartford, Connecticut to a suffragist, Katharine Martha (Houghton), and a doctor, Thomas Norval Hepburn, who both 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 very close to her brother Tom; at 14 she was devastated to find him dead, the apparent result of accidentally hanging himself while practicing a hanging trick their father had taught them. For many years afterward, she used his November 8 birth date as her own. She became shy around girls her age and was largely schooled at home. She did attend Bryn Mawr College, where 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, especially for her role in "Art and Mrs. Bottle" (1931). 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; 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 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 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 1950s, 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 1960s, as she devoted her time to the ailing 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 1970s, she turned to making made-for-TV films, with The Glass Menagerie (1973), Love Among the Ruins (1975), and The Corn Is Green (1979). 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 still the record.She made more TV-films in the 1980s 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). With her health declining, she retired from public life in the mid-1990s. She died at 96 at her home in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.
Bio:
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was born on May 12, 1907 in Hartford, Connecticut to a suffragist, Katharine Martha (Houghton), and a doctor, Thomas Norval Hepburn, who both 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 very close to her brother Tom; at 14 she was devastated to find him dead, the apparent result of accidentally hanging himself while practicing a hanging trick their father had taught them. For many years afterward, she used his November 8 birth date as her own. She became shy around girls her age and was largely schooled at home. She did attend Bryn Mawr College, where 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, especially for her role in "Art and Mrs. Bottle" (1931). 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; 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 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 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 1950s, 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 1960s, as she devoted her time to the ailing 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 1970s, she turned to making made-for-TV films, with The Glass Menagerie (1973), Love Among the Ruins (1975), and The Corn Is Green (1979). 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 still the record.She made more TV-films in the 1980s 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). With her health declining, she retired from public life in the mid-1990s. She died at 96 at her home in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.
Tivia:
In The Lion in Winter (1968) she plays the mother of Richard the Lionheart, who is played by Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins later said that Hepburn's voice was, in part, the basis for Hannibal Lecter's voice.Despite her success at the Oscars, she never attended an Academy Awards ceremony as a nominee. Her only appearance was at The 46th Annual Academy Awards (1974) to present the Irving Thalberg Award to her friend Lawrence Weingarten. When she went onstage to a standing ovation, she said "I'm living proof that a person can wait forty-one years to be unselfish.".Was with Spencer Tracy the night he died. According to her, he had gotten up in the middle of the night to get a glass of milk. She followed the sickly Tracy to the kitchen but before she got there she heard a glass shatter and then a loud thud. She found Tracy dead on the floor; he had suffered a massive heart attack.Did all her own stunts because the stunt woman never stood up straight enough.Was a direct descendant of England's King John through one of his illegitimate children. Hepburn played King John's mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, in The Lion in Winter (1968).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 blunt and feisty.A leading contender for Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939), she later served as Maid of Honor at Vivien Leigh's and Laurence Olivier's wedding.She never watched Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) because it was Spencer Tracy's last film.Had a relationship with Spencer Tracy from 1941 until his death in 1967.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.Did not suffer from Parkinson's disease. She set the record straight in the 1993 TV documentary Katharine Hepburn: All About Me (1993), 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 whiskey 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!".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".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.Was known for being an avid golfer, tennis player, and swimmer. She was also known for taking cold showers and for riding her bicycle around Manhattan.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.Her final screen appearance was Truman Capote's One Christmas (1994) which John Philip Dayton produced/executive produced for her - their fourth film together - her final line was, 'I can sit back in my old age and not regret a single moment, not wish to change a single thing. It's what I wish for you...a life with no regrets'.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.As of 2021, "Only Tie in Oscars For Best Actress", Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl (1968) and Katharine Hepburn for The Lion in Winter (1968) in 1969.During what is argued by film historians to be the greatest year in classic American cinema, she was a rare star who did not appear in a film in 1939. Instead, she was on stage playing Tracy Lord in "The Philadelphia Story," which proved to be her comeback (The Philadelphia Story (1940)) after being branded as box-office poison (shortly after Bringing Up Baby (1938)).She was nearly decapitated by an aeroplane propeller when she was rushing about an airport, avoiding the press.Although she never committed to her marriage with Ludlow Ogden Smith, and she admitted to treating him poorly, they remained friends for the rest of their lives.According to her friend and biographer A. Scott Berg, although she said often that Alice Adams (1935) was her favorite film role, it was actually her performance as Mary Tyrone in Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962) that she regarded as her greatest achievement in film.Thought very highly of the acting talents of Jeremy Irons and John Lithgow. She particularly disliked Meryl Streep, claiming she could recognize Streep's constant search for tactics during a performance. Hepburn also thought Glenn Close talented, but said openly Close's feet were too big for audiences to take her seriously as an actress.Her first name is often misspelled as Katherine, it is actually spelled Katharine with a second A. She was known for correcting those who spelled it wrong.She and Walter Brennan are the only actors to win 3 Oscars on 3 consecutive nominations.Received academy awards for her first as well as her final three nominations, with 34 years between her first and second win.In 2010, Jason Bateman, who was in one of Hepburn's last movies, This Can't Be Love (1994), told New York Magazine that the legend only wore white Reebok high-top sneakers on and off the set. If a scene called for her to be wearing something fancier, she would wear black socks over the white sneakers.Graduated from Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania in 1928, with a degree in history and philosophy.Survived the Great New England Hurricane of Sept. 21, 1938 while at her summer home in the Borough of Fenwick in Old Saybrook, CT. Reportedly she was there considering a marriage proposal by Howard Hughes. The storm killed at least 682. Hepburn, her family and servants barely escaped with their lives: Soon after fleeing it on foot in the storm, her home was washed away along with her Oscar for her film Morning Glory (1933) which was later found intact. Hepburn rebuilt the home in 1939, and was locally famous for running people off "her" (public) beach in her later years.Admitted to using her brother's birthdate as her own for years.Her former maid, Emma Faust Tillman, held the title of "World's Oldest Person" for only four days (January 24-28, 2007). Her four-day reign, which was certified by the Guinness World Records committee was also the shortest one on record.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".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".As of 2021, has the longest gap of any actress between her first and second Best Actress Oscar wins, a gap of 34 years between Morning Glory (1933) and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), and the largest gap of any actor between her first and last acting Oscars, which was 48 years between Morning Glory (1933) and On Golden Pond (1981).Did not attend Spencer Tracy's funeral out of respect to his family. Instead she went to the home of writer/director Richard Brooks where she watched, and wept, as he screened Tracy 's Oscar-winning performance in Captains Courageous (1937) for her. Later, Brooks and his wife Jean Simmons named their only child, Kate Brooks, after Hepburn.Her favorite actress was Bette Davis.In her book "Me: Stories of My Life", she admitted to posing for nude photos when she was in her 20s. The pictures were later lost.Was a natural redhead.Aunt of actress Katharine Houghton, who portrayed her character's daughter in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967).Was fired by the producer of Travels with My Aunt (1972) early in the filming for demanding too many script changes. Was replaced by Maggie Smith.Is one of 14 Best Actress Oscar winners to have not accepted their Academy Award in person. Hepburn did not accept any of her 4 wins (for Morning Glory (1933), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), The Lion in Winter (1968) and On Golden Pond (1981). The others are Claudette Colbert, Judy Holliday, Joan Crawford, Vivien Leigh, Anna Magnani, Ingrid Bergman, Sophia Loren, Anne Bancroft, Patricia Neal, Elizabeth Taylor, Maggie Smith, Glenda Jackson and Ellen Burstyn.Godmother of Sam Robards, son of Lauren Bacall and Jason Robards.The scene in which her character falls into the canal in Summertime (1955) left her with a permanent eye infection as the water was contaminated.On June 2004 Sotheby's auction house hosted a two-day estate sale auctioning personal belongings of the legendary actress to collectors. The 700-plus items included Hepburn's furniture, jewelry (which included the platinum, diamond and sapphire brooch from one-time lover 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, which sold for $27,000. Also 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", which 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 included a ring from 1968's The Lion in Winter (1968), and Gertrude, the canoe from the film On Golden Pond (1981) which was bought for $19,200 by entertainer Wayne Newton. The most sought-after piece and the most expensive item was the bronze bust of Spencer Tracy that Hepburn created herself and that was also featured in their Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). The audience cheered when the three-inch sculpture sold for $316,000, compared to the estimated $3,000-$5,000. The only awards won by the actress that were auctioned were her 1958 Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year, the annual Shakespeare Club of New York City award, the Fashion Desinger Lifetime Achievement, a few Box Office Blue Ribbons, her Hollywood Walk of Fame plaque and the 1990 Kennedy Center Honor. Hepburn's four Oscars were not included due to contract reasons.She was of mostly English, with distant Scottish, ancestry. She had deep Colonial American roots in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Virginia.Spencer Tracy wanted her to play his wife in Father of the Bride (1950), but it was felt that they were too romantic a team to play a happily domesticated couple with children, so Joan Bennett got the part.She is a descendant of "Eleanor of Aquitaine", whom she portrayed in The Lion in Winter (1968).She was voted the "2nd Greatest Movie Star of All Time" by Entertainment Weekly.According to Anthony Harvey - the director of The Lion in Winter (1968) - she kept the Oscar she received for the film in a paper bag and in a cupboard for years after he'd delivered it to her.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 very portly radio singer named 'Kate Smith'. |
| Name: |
Katharine Hepburn |
Type: |
Actress,Writer,Soundtrack (IMDB) |
| Area: |
All World |
Platform: |
IMDB |
| Category: |
|
Business scope: |
Actress,Writer,Soundtrack |
| Products for sale: |
Actress,Writer,Soundtrack |
| Model rank: |
224 |
| Last update: |
2024-07-01 03:28:09 |
Katharine Hepburn profile
| Height: |
5' 7?' (1.72 m) |
| Biography: |
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was born on May 12, 1907 in Hartford, Connecticut to a suffragist, Katharine Martha (Houghton), and a doctor, Thomas Norval Hepburn, who both always encouraged her to speak her mind, develop it fully, and exercise her body |
| Trivia: |
In The Lion in Winter (1968) she plays the mother of Richard the Lionheart, who is played by Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins later said that Hepburn's voice was, in part, the basis for Hannibal Lecter's voice.Despite her success at the Oscars, she never attended an Academy Awards ceremony as a nominee. Her only appearance was at The 46th Annual Academy Awards (1974) to present the Irving Thalberg Award to her friend Lawrence Weingarten. When she went onstage to a standing ovation, she said "I'm living proof that a person can wait forty-one years to be unselfish.".Was with Spencer Tracy the night he died. According to her, he had gotten up in the middle of the night to get a glass of milk. She followed the sickly Tracy to the kitchen but before she got there she heard a glass shatter and then a loud thud. She found Tracy dead on the floor; he had suffered a massive heart attack.Did all her own stunts because the stunt woman never stood up straight enough.Was a direct descendant of England's King John through one of his illegitimate children. Hepburn played King John's mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, in The Lion in Winter (1968).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 blunt and feisty.A leading contender for Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939), she later served as Maid of Honor at Vivien Leigh's and Laurence Olivier's wedding.She never watched Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) because it was Spencer Tracy's last film.Had a relationship with Spencer Tracy from 1941 until his death in 1967.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.Did not suffer from Parkinson's disease. She set the record straight in the 1993 TV documentary Katharine Hepburn: All About Me (1993), 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 whiskey 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!".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".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.Was known for being an avid golfer, tennis player, and swimmer. She was also known for taking cold showers and for riding her bicycle around Manhattan.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.Her final screen appearance was Truman Capote's One Christmas (1994) which John Philip Dayton produced/executive produced for her - their fourth film together - her final line was, 'I can sit back in my old age and not regret a single moment, not wish to change a single thing. It's what I wish for you...a life with no regrets'.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.As of 2021, "Only Tie in Oscars For Best Actress", Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl (1968) and Katharine Hepburn for The Lion in Winter (1968) in 1969.During what is argued by film historians to be the greatest year in classic American cinema, she was a rare star who did not appear in a film in 1939. Instead, she was on stage playing Tracy Lord in "The Philadelphia Story," which proved to be her comeback (The Philadelphia Story (1940)) after being branded as box-office poison (shortly after Bringing Up Baby (1938)).She was nearly decapitated by an aeroplane propeller when she was rushing about an airport, avoiding the press.Although she never committed to her marriage with Ludlow Ogden Smith, and she admitted to treating him poorly, they remained friends for the rest of their lives.According to her friend and biographer A. Scott Berg, although she said often that Alice Adams (1935) was her favorite film role, it was actually her performance as Mary Tyrone in Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962) that she regarded as her greatest achievement in film.Thought very highly of the acting talents of Jeremy Irons and John Lithgow. She particularly disliked Meryl Streep, claiming she could recognize Streep's constant search for tactics during a performance. Hepburn also thought Glenn Close talented, but said openly Close's feet were too big for audiences to take her seriously as an actress.Her first name is often misspelled as Katherine, it is actually spelled Katharine with a second A. She was known for correcting those who spelled it wrong.She and Walter Brennan are the only actors to win 3 Oscars on 3 consecutive nominations.Received academy awards for her first as well as her final three nominations, with 34 years between her first and second win.In 2010, Jason Bateman, who was in one of Hepburn's last movies, This Can't Be Love (1994), told New York Magazine that the legend only wore white Reebok high-top sneakers on and off the set. If a scene called for her to be wearing something fancier, she would wear black socks over the white sneakers.Graduated from Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania in 1928, with a degree in history and philosophy.Survived the Great New England Hurricane of Sept. 21, 1938 while at her summer home in the Borough of Fenwick in Old Saybrook, CT. Reportedly she was there considering a marriage proposal by Howard Hughes. The storm killed at least 682. Hepburn, her family and servants barely escaped with their lives: Soon after fleeing it on foot in the storm, her home was washed away along with her Oscar for her film Morning Glory (1933) which was later found intact. Hepburn rebuilt the home in 1939, and was locally famous for running people off "her" (public) beach in her later years.Admitted to using her brother's birthdate as her own for years.Her former maid, Emma Faust Tillman, held the title of "World's Oldest Person" for only four days (January 24-28, 2007). Her four-day reign, which was certified by the Guinness World Records committee was also the shortest one on record.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".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".As of 2021, has the longest gap of any actress between her first and second Best Actress Oscar wins, a gap of 34 years between Morning Glory (1933) and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), and the largest gap of any actor between her first and last acting Oscars, which was 48 years between Morning Glory (1933) and On Golden Pond (1981).Did not attend Spencer Tracy's funeral out of respect to his family. Instead she went to the home of writer/director Richard Brooks where she watched, and wept, as he screened Tracy 's Oscar-winning performance in Captains Courageous (1937) for her. Later, Brooks and his wife Jean Simmons named their only child, Kate Brooks, after Hepburn.Her favorite actress was Bette Davis.In her book "Me: Stories of My Life", she admitted to posing for nude photos when she was in her 20s. The pictures were later lost.Was a natural redhead.Aunt of actress Katharine Houghton, who portrayed her character's daughter in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967).Was fired by the producer of Travels with My Aunt (1972) early in the filming for demanding too many script changes. Was replaced by Maggie Smith.Is one of 14 Best Actress Oscar winners to have not accepted their Academy Award in person. Hepburn did not accept any of her 4 wins (for Morning Glory (1933), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), The Lion in Winter (1968) and On Golden Pond (1981). The others are Claudette Colbert, Judy Holliday, Joan Crawford, Vivien Leigh, Anna Magnani, Ingrid Bergman, Sophia Loren, Anne Bancroft, Patricia Neal, Elizabeth Taylor, Maggie Smith, Glenda Jackson and Ellen Burstyn.Godmother of Sam Robards, son of Lauren Bacall and Jason Robards.The scene in which her character falls into the canal in Summertime (1955) left her with a permanent eye infection as the water was contaminated.On June 2004 Sotheby's auction house hosted a two-day estate sale auctioning personal belongings of the legendary actress to collectors. The 700-plus items included Hepburn's furniture, jewelry (which included the platinum, diamond and sapphire brooch from one-time lover 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, which sold for $27,000. Also 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", which 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 included a ring from 1968's The Lion in Winter (1968), and Gertrude, the canoe from the film On Golden Pond (1981) which was bought for $19,200 by entertainer Wayne Newton. The most sought-after piece and the most expensive item was the bronze bust of Spencer Tracy that Hepburn created herself and that was also featured in their Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). The audience cheered when the three-inch sculpture sold for $316,000, compared to the estimated $3,000-$5,000. The only awards won by the actress that were auctioned were her 1958 Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year, the annual Shakespeare Club of New York City award, the Fashion Desinger Lifetime Achievement, a few Box Office Blue Ribbons, her Hollywood Walk of Fame plaque and the 1990 Kennedy Center Honor. Hepburn's four Oscars were not included due to contract reasons.She was of mostly English, with distant Scottish, ancestry. She had deep Colonial American roots in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Virginia.Spencer Tracy wanted her to play his wife in Father of the Bride (1950), but it was felt that they were too romantic a team to play a happily domesticated couple with children, so Joan Bennett got the part.She is a descendant of "Eleanor of Aquitaine", whom she portrayed in The Lion in Winter (1968).She was voted the "2nd Greatest Movie Star of All Time" by Entertainment Weekly.According to Anthony Harvey - the director of The Lion in Winter (1968) - she kept the Oscar she received for the film in a paper bag and in a cupboard for years after he'd delivered it to her.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 very portly radio singer named 'Kate Smith'. |
| Trademarks: |
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
Distinctive way of speaking, with what many say is a "Bryn Mawr" accent
Frequently worked with Cary Grant, Spencer Tracy, and George Cukor
Her recognizable angular features |
| Quotes: |
People have grown fond of me, like some old building.
<br />
<hr>
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.
<br />
<hr>
Wouldn't it be great if people could get to live suddenly as often as they die suddenly?
<br />
<hr>
I don't regret anything I've ever done; As long as I enjoyed it at the time.
<br />
<hr>
Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get - only with what you are expecting to give - which is everything. |
| Salaries: |
The Man Upstairs (1992) - $200 .000
<br />
<hr>
Rooster Cogburn (1975) - $250 .000
<br />
<hr>
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) - $200,000
<br />
<hr>
The African Queen (1952) - $130,000 + 10% of profits
<br |
| Job title: |
Actress,Writer,Soundtrack |
| Others works: |
(1928) Stage: Appeared in "The Big Pond" on Broadway
(1928) Stage: Appeared in "These Days" on Broadway.
(1930) Stage: Appeared in "A Month in the Country" on Broadway.
(1930) Stage: Appeared in "The Admirable Crichto |
| Spouse: |
Ludlow Ogden Smith (December 12, 1928 - May 8, 1934) (divorced) |
| Children: |
No Children |
| Parents: |
Katharine Martha Houghton Hepburn
Thomas Hepburn |
| Relatives: |
Katharine Houghton (Niece or Nephew) |
|
