Katharine Hepburn

Katharine Hepburn (May 12, 1907 - June 29, 2003) was a notable American film actress who was born in Hartford, Connecticut. Educated at Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania, Hepburn received her degree in 1928 and debuted on Broadway that same year in Night Hostess. In 1932 her screen-test for RKO gained her a role in the George Cukor film A Bill of Divorcement (1932), playing opposite John Barrymore. Hepburn won her first Academy Award in 1933 and won three more Oscars and eight additional nominations over the rest of her career.

In Woman of the Year (1942), she made her first of nine appearances opposite Spencer Tracy, launching one of Hollywood's most famous romances, which chemistry continued on-screen as well through Adam's Rib and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Though they were together until Tracy's death in 1967, the couple never married - reportedly because Tracy, a devout Catholic, would not divorce his wife. Hepburn had previously married and divorced Ludlow Ogden Smith (who changed his name to Ogden Ludlow, so that his bride would not have to be known as Kate Smith) and had long-term relationships with Leland Hayward and Howard Hughes.

Her autobiography, , was published in 1991. She died on June 29, 2003 at 2:50 p.m., at Fenwick, the Hepburn family home, in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. She was 96.

Hepburn's niece Katharine Houghton (nee Katharine Houghton Grant) is an award-winning stage and film actress who co-starred with her aunt in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

A one-woman stage play about the life of Hepburn called Tea at Five starring Kate Mulgrew "premiered on February 7, 2002 at the Hartford Stage Company in Hartford, Connecticut." [1]

Table of contents

1 Stage Work 2 Filmography 3 Further reading

Stage Work

• These Days - 1928
• Art and Mrs. Bottle - 1930
• The Warrior's Husband - 1932
• The Lake - 1933
• The Philadelphia Story - 1939
• Without Love - 1942
• As You Like It - 1950
• The Millionairess - 1952
• The Merchant of Venice; Measure for Measure; The Taming of the Shrew - 1955, On tour in Australia with the Old Vic
• The Merchant of Venice; Much Ado About Nothing - 1957, Stratford, Connecticut Shakespeare Theatre
• Antony and Cleopatra, Twelfth Night - 1960, Stratford, Connecticut Shakespeare Theatre
• Coco - 1969
• A Matter of Gravity - 1976
• The West Side Waltz - 1981

• A Bill of Divorcement (1932)
• Christopher Strong (1933)
• Morning Glory (1933) -- Academy Award for Best Actress
• Little Women (1933)
• Spitfire (1934)
• The Little Minister (1934)
• Break of Hearts (1935)
• Alice Adams (1935) -- Best Actress nomination
• Sylvia Scarlett (1936)
• Mary of Scotland (1936)
• A Woman Rebels (1936)
• Quality Street (1937)
• Stage Door (1937)
• Bringing Up Baby (1938)
• Holiday (1938)
• The Philadelphia Story (1940) -- Best Actress nomination
• Woman of the Year (1942) -- Best Actress nomination
• Keeper of the Flame (1942)
• Stage Door Canteen (1943)
• Dragon Seed (1944)
• Without Love (1945)
• Undercurrent (1946)
• The Sea of Grass (1947)
• Song of Love (1947)
• State of the Union (1948)
• Adam's Rib (1949)
• The African Queen (1951) -- Best Actress nomination
• Pat and Mike (1952)
• Summertime (1955) -- Best Actress nomination
• The Rainmaker (1956) -- Best Actress nomination
• The Iron Petticoat (1956)
• Desk Set (1957)
• Suddenly Last Summer (1959) -- Best Actress nomination
• A Long Day's Journey into Night (1962) -- Best Actress nomination
• Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) -- Academy Award for Best Actress
• The Lion in Winter (1968) -- Academy Award for Best Actress
• The Madwoman of Chaillot
• The Trojan Women (1971)
• A Delicate Balance (1974)
• Rooster Cogburn (1975)
• Olly Olly Oxen Free (1978)
• On Golden Pond (1981) -- Academy Award for Best Actress
• The Ultimate Solution of Grace Quigley (1985)
• Love Affair (1994)

• Me, Stories of My Life, Katharine Hepburn, Knopf, 1991
• The Making of the African Queen Katharine Hepburn, Knopf, 1987
• IMDb filmography