Katharine Hepburn

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Birthday:

12 May 1907, Hartford, Connecticut, USA

Birth Name:

Katharine Houghton Hepburn

Height:

171 cm

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), 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 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). 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. Show less «

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 each other. Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then.

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 conclusi...Show more »

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. Show less «

[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'r...Show more »

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. Show less «

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 th...Show more »

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. Show less «

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

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 f...Show more »

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. Show less «

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, m...Show more »

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. Show less «

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...Show more »

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. Show less «

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 heav...Show more »

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. Show less «

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 tire.

1993] 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 ...Show more »

[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. Show less «

[1993] The lack of work destroys people.

[Describing Cary Grant] He is personality functioning.

[asked what star quality is] It's either some kind of electricity or some kind of energy. I don't know what it is, but whatever it is, I've ...Show more »

[asked what star quality is] It's either some kind of electricity or some kind of energy. I don't know what it is, but whatever it is, I've got it. Show less «

[When Barbara Walters asked her if she owned a skirt] I have one, Ms. Walters. I'll wear it to your funeral.

[pn Marlon Brando] I don't think he's a limited actor at all - I think he's a very gifted actor. Although I'm afraid he may be a limited per...Show more »

[pn Marlon Brando] I don't think he's a limited actor at all - I think he's a very gifted actor. Although I'm afraid he may be a limited person. Show less «

[on director George Cukor] He has the ability to make me trust myself.

[on Humphrey Bogart] Bogart was like Henry Fonda -- proud and happy to be an actor.

[on Humphrey Bogart] He was a real man -- nothing feminine about him. He knew he was a natural aristocrat -- better than anybody.

[on Peter O'Toole] He can do anything. A bit cuckoo, but sweet and terribly funny.

[1954 comment on Judy Holliday] My, I like Judy Holliday! She looks like a Monet model. And she's so -- so defenseless. I like defenseless p...Show more »

[1954 comment on Judy Holliday] My, I like Judy Holliday! She looks like a Monet model. And she's so -- so defenseless. I like defenseless people. They're the best. Show less «

[on good parts] If it interests you, they don't have to pay you. It's a fascinating business anyway--it's very nice to be paid--but when you...Show more »

[on good parts] If it interests you, they don't have to pay you. It's a fascinating business anyway--it's very nice to be paid--but when you do *thrilling* material, it's like buying a piece of furniture that's really good. When you buy it, and it's great, you get *enormous* pleasure out of seeing it, and you never remember how much it cost. Show less «

If you have fame, you never feel that you have fame, if you have the brains of a flea. Because fame is something that's over back of you. It...Show more »

If you have fame, you never feel that you have fame, if you have the brains of a flea. Because fame is something that's over back of you. It ain't ahead.... Not ahead at all. I mean, if you've done it that's great, but "what are you going to do now?" is the *only* thing that matters. Show less «

Cold sober, I find myself absolutely fascinating.

Most people, I figure, have a reservoir that you walk into town with your little box of goodies, you know. And this is me, and this is what ...Show more »

Most people, I figure, have a reservoir that you walk into town with your little box of goodies, you know. And this is me, and this is what I have to offer. Then, after a while, you've *sold* all those goodies, and if you don't go away and fill up another box ... you're just repeating. Then you're just growing *old*, and then, for a you know, certain people, there's a time when you're switching from, uh, uh, you're too old to do this, and you're too young to do that, and you have to figure out: what are you? And what really interests you? You see, we're *all* creatures of habit, and we get in a rut, and we run down that rut, happy as bugs. Well, sometimes you're bloody sick of what you're doing. And you haven't got the brains to stop. You know. And you could change, change. Show less «

[about her first TV interview, in 1973] I thought, can you think of any really *good* reason not to do it? Except that, oh, I'm so shy, or o...Show more »

[about her first TV interview, in 1973] I thought, can you think of any really *good* reason not to do it? Except that, oh, I'm so shy, or oh, my private life, or oh, are they going to find out how boring I am? You know? And that was the only reason *now*, in a sense, *not* to do television. Because it certainly is a method of expression, which has to be accepted as these things come along. Show less «

On personal power: As one goes through life one learns that if you don't paddle your own canoe, you don't move.

On work: Without discipline, there's no life at all.

On art: I think most of the people involved in any art always secretly wonder whether they are really there because they're good or they're ...Show more »

On art: I think most of the people involved in any art always secretly wonder whether they are really there because they're good or they're because they're lucky. If they have time to think. Show less «

What makes you a star is horsepower.

[1991] I've made forty-three pictures. Naturally I'm adorable in all of them.

When I tested for the movies, it was immediately a warm experience. Exciting but not scary. Why this is I do not know. I just find this medi...Show more »

When I tested for the movies, it was immediately a warm experience. Exciting but not scary. Why this is I do not know. I just find this medium sympathetic, friendly. It must be that there is no audience, and no critics, in the immediate situation. And the camera never talks back to you. It was fun. Show less «

If you can live for other people away from yourself you will be happy and if you live for yourself then you will not be happy and you won't ...Show more »

If you can live for other people away from yourself you will be happy and if you live for yourself then you will not be happy and you won't be able to sleep or do anything else. Show less «

[Observation, 1967] I think they're beginning to think I'm not going to be around much longer. And what do you know. They'll miss me like an...Show more »

[Observation, 1967] I think they're beginning to think I'm not going to be around much longer. And what do you know. They'll miss me like an old monument. Like the Flatiron Building. Show less «

[on selecting Virginia Weidler to play her sister in The Philadelphia Story (1940)] We got lucky again with the girl-this time little Virgin...Show more »

[on selecting Virginia Weidler to play her sister in The Philadelphia Story (1940)] We got lucky again with the girl-this time little Virginia Weidler, who had me in stitches. She was so terrifyingly funny I truly had a difficult time doing scenes with her. Honestly, I couldn't look at her, she was so funny. Show less «

[on remaining childless] I had such a wonderful upbringing that I had a very high standard of how a father and mother should behave. I could...Show more »

[on remaining childless] I had such a wonderful upbringing that I had a very high standard of how a father and mother should behave. I couldn't be that way and carry on a movie career. Show less «

[on Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire] She gave him sex. He gave her class.

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 peop...Show more »

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 people. Show less «

[speaking in 1979] We must reform. We must reform. And I don't know how we're going to reform. We're sitting looking at a lot of filth. And ...Show more »

[speaking in 1979] We must reform. We must reform. And I don't know how we're going to reform. We're sitting looking at a lot of filth. And I'm disgusted with the movies. Disgusted. Because they're kidding themselves into saying its a sort of intellectual past time. Bunk. Its 42nd street filth. Filth being sold for too much. And now its respectable to go and see them. And the critics I think have lost their minds. Show less «

[reflecting on her performances] I think I'm always the same.

I never played with a sort of fancy accent of any kind. So, was I an actor? I don't know.

Acting is the most minor of gifts and not a very high-class way to earn a living. After all, Shirley Temple could do it at the age of four.