Katharine Hepburn

'Katharine Hepburn' (qv) was born on May 12, 1907 in Hartford, Connecticut to a suffragist and a doctor 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 birthdate 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 make a few screen tests, she was cast in _A Bill of Divorcement (1932)_ (qv), opposite 'John Barrymore' (qv). 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)_ (qv), she won her first Academy Award. Her fourth, _Little Women (1933)_ (qv), 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)_ (qv), which brought her her second Oscar nomination, and _Stage Door (1937)_ (qv); the many flops included _Break of Hearts (1935)_ (qv), _Sylvia Scarlett (1935)_ (qv), _Mary of Scotland (1936)_ (qv), _Quality Street (1937)_ (qv) and the now-classic _Bringing Up Baby (1938)_ (qv).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)_ (qv), 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)_ (qv), she was paired with 'Spencer Tracy' (qv), 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)_ (qv), _Pat and Mike (1952)_ (qv), and _Desk Set (1957)_ (qv).With _The African Queen (1951)_ (qv), 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)_ (qv), _The Rainmaker (1956)_ (qv) and _Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)_ (qv). Her film roles became fewer and farther between in the 60s, as she devoted her time to her ailing partner 'Spencer Tracy' (qv). For one of her film appearances in this decade, in _Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962)_ (qv), she received her ninth Oscar nomination. After a five-year absence from films, she then made _Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)_ (qv), 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)_ (qv), 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)_ (qv), _Love Among the Ruins (1975)_ (qv) and _The Corn Is Green (1979)_ (qv). She still continued to make an occasional appearance in feature films, such as _Rooster Cogburn (1975)_ (qv), with 'John Wayne' (qv), and _On Golden Pond (1981)_ (qv), with 'Henry Fonda' (qv). 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 1980s, and wrote her autobiography, 'Me', in 1991. Her last feature film was _Love Affair (1994)_ (qv), with 'Warren Beatty' (qv) and 'Annette Bening' (qv), and her last TV- film was _One Christmas (1994)_ (qv). With her health declining she retired from public life in the mid-nineties. She died at 96 at her home in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.::Tommy Peter