The First Lady of Cinema died Saturday. Cause of death was not released. She was 96.
Katharine Hepburn, who was ranked the number one actress in the American Film Institute’s list of “50 Greatest Movie Legends,” acted for more than 60 years, both on stage and in film.
Her first starring role on Broadway occurred in 1932 as an Amazon princess in “A Warrior’s Husband.” Later that year, Hepburn made her film debut in “A Bill of Divorcement,” starring opposite John Barrymore. She made five more movies in the next two years, including “Morning Glory,” for which she won her first Academy Award.
At the time, Hollywood was not prepared for someone like Hepburn. She relished her privacy, skipped the interview process and chose her own wardrobe (she favored pants). Studio executives declared her to be “demanding,” and her next few movies flopped.
Undaunted, Hepburn returned to Broadway to star in “The Philadelphia Story.” It was a huge hit and Hepburn used its success to buy the film rights and return to Hollywood on her own terms. The 1940 film version, which costarred Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant, was a box office hit and earned Hepburn her third Oscar nomination.
In 1942, Hepburn worked with Spencer Tracy on the film, “Woman of the Year.” They fell in love off-screen, and began a relationship that lasted 25 years and eight more movies together. Her last film with Tracy was “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” She received her 10th Oscar nomination and her second win, though it was a movie she never actually watched. Tracy died weeks after it wrapped.
Even as she aged, Hepburn continued working. In the ’70s, she made TV movies like “The Glass Menagerie” and “Love Among the Ruins.” In the ’80s, she made “On Golden Pond” with Henry Fonda. She received her 12th Oscar nomination for the film, and her fourth win. In 1994, she appeared in the remake of “An Affair to Remember,” with Warren Beatty and Annette Bening.
Until 2002, Hepburn held the record for being the actress with the most Oscar nominations and most Oscar wins. (Meryl Streep finally beat her in the nominations category with her nod for “Adaptation.”)
“I welcome death,” Hepburn once said. “In death there are no interviews!”
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Katharine Hepburn
Categories: Actors