Nicknamed the First Lady of Cinema, Katharine Hepburn is one name that reverberates throughout Hollywood’s history. Hepburn was an icon and a maverick, jokingly considered the patron saint of the independent American female. She was known for her contributions to theater and film.
A non-conformist by every standard, Hepburn was one of Hollywood’s early tall leading ladies, standing over 1.73 m in an era when most actresses were only a little over 1.5 m. Although critics argued she had little versatility with her roles, Katharine Hepburn remains one of the most recognized actresses in Hollywood. Honoring her work and contribution to the industry, these are 8 things you didn’t know about Katharine Hepburn.
Katharine Hepburn Was Born To Wealthy Parents
The actress was born Katharine Houghton Hepburn in Hartford, Connecticut, on May 12, 1907. Her father, Thomas Norval Hepburn, was a urologist, while her mother, Katharine Martha Houghton Hepburn, was a feminist social reformer. Hepburn openly admitted that the type of upbringing she had helped shaped her strong-willed, independent personality for which she was known. Her parents allowed their children to be open-minded and question public views.
A young Hepburn was tomboyish, often calling herself Jimmy, and loved to cut her hair short. Hepburn’s family’s social status gave them access to opportunities many of their mates weren’t accustomed to at the time. Hepburn’s father taught his children to play tennis, golf, swim, wrestle, ride, dive, and run. This was something that followed Hepburn into adulthood, as she was known to love playing golf, swimming, and taking ice-cold baths each morning.
She Celebrated Her Brother’s Birthday As Hers After He Died
Until she released her autobiography Me: Stories of My Life (1991), Katharine Hepburn’s birthday was often thought to be November 8. However, there’s a backstory to why she chose to settle with that date. Hepburn was the family’s second child, having an older brother, Tom, whom she was fond of and extremely close to. During the Easter break of 1921, a then-13-year-old Hepburn and her brother were in New York visiting a friend of their mother. Hepburn entered the room to find her older brother Tom, hanging dead, with a curtain tie around his neck, from what seemed like a suicide. Although her family never agreed it was suicide, but an experiment gone wrong, Tom’s death left a great vacuum in the life of the young Hepburn. It was Tom who was born on November 8, but Hepburn chose to honor him by celebrating her birthday on Tom’s birthday.
Katharine Hepburn’s Early Acting Career
Even from a young age, Katharine Hepburn had been a fan of films. Thanks to being born into a well-to-do family, Hepburn went to see a movie every Saturday night. However, it wasn’t only watching films that appealed to her; Hepburn also loved to perform. She would stage plays for family, friends, and neighbors and charge 50 cents for tickets. Although young, she used the money to raise money for a just cause, to assist the Navajo people. Although homeschooled after the death of her older brother, she first began performing in stage plays after enrolling in Bryn Mawr College.
After receiving praise for her lead role performance in the college’s play, The Woman in the Moon, she was determined to pursue a career as an actor. Although she graduated in 1928 with a degree in History and Philosophy, Hepburn actively sought to begin a professional acting career. Like many success stories, Hepburn went through a series of highs and lows – receiving praise one day to getting fired the next. Hepburn got her breakthrough performance in 1932, playing the lead in the Greek fable play The Warrior’s Husband.
She Was Labeled A Box-Office Poison In Her Earlier Career
With the success and little fame she had achieved in theater, Hollywood agent Leland Hayward‘s agent convinced her to audition for A Bill of Divorcement. Katherine Hepburn landed the role and was signed to the production company RKO Radio Pictures. A Bill of Divorcement (1932) began Hepburn’s on-screen debut. The next year, she starred in Christopher Strong (1933), her breakthrough film Morning Glory (1933), and Little Women (1933). After Morning Glory (1933), Hepburn struggled to appear in any hit, except Alice Adams (1935), until the 1940 The Philadelphia Story. With most of his films being commercial failures in the 30s, she was soon referred to as a “Box-office poison.” It didn’t help that she was unpopular with the press.
Hepburn hardly granted interviews and autographs and often gave rude replies to questions when she did. Coupled with her boyish attitude and dressing, she was quickly nicknamed “Katharine of Arrogance.” Hepburn stepped away from Hollywood and moved East to focus on her theater career. It was there she found success on Broadway with The Philadelphia Story (1939). This was the beginning of her career comeback. She bought out her contract with RKO, secured the film rights to the play, and returned to Hollywood to adapt it to film and found success. Of her role and the film, Hepburn said, “I gave her life, and she gave me back my career.”
Katharine Hepburn Dated And Co-Starred With Spencer Tracy Eight Times
There were many speculations that Katharine Hepburn was a lesbian, especially as she wasn’t known to have a public relationship after her divorce. It also didn’t help that she was considered boyish and independent for a woman of that century. However, the public perception of her changed with her collaborations with actor Spencer Tracy. They first worked together in the 1942 romantic comedy-drama Woman of the Year. They first met during filming in 1941 and began a relationship lasting 26 years until Tracy died in 1967. Hepburn co-starred with Tracy in a total of nine films. However, Tracy’s health began to decline in the early 60s.
After completing the filming of Long Day’s Journey into Night (1962), Hepburn took a break from acting to focus on taking care of Tracy. She refused all scripts and didn’t star in any film until the 1967 Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, which she co-starred with Spencer Tracy. During filming, Tracy struggled with his health but insisted he continued. Worried about his health, Hepburn was mostly tense throughout the shoot. Tracy successfully finished his scenes but sadly passed away 17 days later. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner was an all-round success, earning Hepburn her second Oscar for Best Actress. However, Hepburn never watched the movie and reportedly took many scripts after Tracy’s death to keep her mind busy.
She Holds An Academy Award Record
Throughout her career, Katharine Hepburn received 12 Academy Award nominations. Although this isn’t a record in itself, especially with actress Meryl Streep having 21 nominations as of 2023, Hepburn stands out with her win. Hepburn currently holds the record as the only performer to have won four Oscars in the acting category (Best Actress). Winning her last three Academy Awards nomination (1968, 1969, and 1982), she holds a joint record with Walter Brennan for winning three consecutive nominations. Hepburn is also one of 14 actresses who have won Best Actress and did not accept any of the Oscars in person.
Katharine Hepburn’s Public Relationships
Katharine Hepburn was only married once. She met her husband, Ludlow Ogden Smith when she was still at Bryn Mawr College. He was a socialite-businessman, and the two married the year Hepburn graduated college on December 12, 1928. Not wanting to change her name to Katharine Smith, Hepburn compelled her husband to change his name. Smith, in love with Hepburn, changed his name to S. Ogden Ludlow. However, for the six years the marriage lasted, Hepburn wasn’t fully committed to it. Hepburn was hellbent on pursuing an acting career and channeled all her energy to her career instead of her marriage. She chose to move to Hollywood in 1932 and filed for divorce on April 30, 1934. The divorce was finalized in about a week on May 8, 1934.
In retrospect, Hepburn always had nice words for her ex-husband. Admitting he committed his finances and moral support for her career. Although they stayed as friends after the divorce, Hepburn admits in her autobiography that she exploited Smith’s love during their marriage. While still married to Smith after she arrived in Hollywood in 1932, she began an affair with Leland Hayward, her acting agent at the time. The relationship didn’t last long, especially with Hayward proposing marriage. Two years after her divorce, she began dating businessman, filmmaker, and investor Howard Hughes.
With Hughes’ status and her newfound fame, their relationship made the tabloids. It ended after Hepburn chose to leave Hollywood when her career took a downturn in 1938. Then, she began dating Spencer Tracy until he died in 1967. With her love and admiration for Tracy, Hepburn was never involved in any other public relationship, even though she was 60 at the time of Tracy’s death.
Katharine Hepburn’s Death
Katharine Hepburn’s last on-screen appearance was in 1994, playing Ginny in the romantic drama Love Affair. Hepburn’s health began deteriorating after filming the film in 1993, and had to be hospitalized. In 1996, she was diagnosed with pneumonia and reportedly showed signs of dementia before her death. She was again admitted in 2001 for pneumonia and urinary tract infection. By May 2003, an aggressive tumor was found in her neck. Although it was agreed it wouldn’t be operated on, about a month later, on June 29, 2003, Hepburn died in her Fenwick, Connecticut home from cardiac arrest. Katharine Hepburn was 96 years old at the time of her death.
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