Age, Biography, and Wiki
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was born on May 12, 1907, in Hartford, Connecticut. She was the second of six children to Thomas Norval Hepburn, a urologist, and Katharine Martha Houghton Hepburn, a suffragette. Hepburn's early life was marked by a strong emphasis on physical fitness and a progressive upbringing that influenced her independent and adventurous spirit. She passed away on June 29, 2003, at the age of 96 in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.
| Occupation | Stage Actress |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 12 May 1907 |
| Age | 118 Years |
| Birth Place | Hartford, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Taurus |
| Country | U.S |
| Date of death | 29 June, 2003 |
| Died Place | Old Saybrook, Connecticut, U.S. |
Height, Weight & Measurements
While specific details about Katharine Hepburn's height and weight measurements are not widely documented, she was known for her slender figure and athletic build, which played a significant role in her iconic on-screen presence.
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Dating & Relationship Status
Katharine Hepburn was married once, to Ludlow Ogden Smith from 1928 to 1934, but she never remarried. She was famously linked to Spencer Tracy, with whom she had a long-term relationship until his death in 1967.
Raised in Connecticut by wealthy, progressive parents, Hepburn began to act while at Bryn Mawr College. Favorable reviews of her work on Broadway brought her to the attention of Hollywood. Her early years in film brought her international fame, including an Academy Award for Best Actress for her third film, Morning Glory (1933), but this was followed by a series of commercial failures culminating in the critically lauded box office failure Bringing Up Baby (1938). Hepburn masterminded her comeback, buying out her contract with RKO Radio Pictures and acquiring the film rights to The Philadelphia Story, which she sold on the condition that she be the star. That comedy film was a box office success and landed her a third Academy Award nomination. In the 1940s, she was contracted to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where her career focused on an alliance with Spencer Tracy. The screen partnership spanned 26 years and produced nine films.
Hepburn famously shunned the Hollywood publicity machine, and refused to conform to societal expectations of women. She was outspoken, assertive, athletic, and wore pants before it was fashionable. She married once, as a young woman, but thereafter lived independently. A 26-year relationship with her co-star Spencer Tracy was hidden from the public. With her unconventional lifestyle and the independent characters she brought to the screen, Hepburn came to epitomize the "modern woman" in 20th-century America and influenced changing popular perceptions of women. In 1999, she was named the greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute.
Her parents were Thomas Norval Hepburn (1879–1962), a urologist at Hartford Hospital, and Katharine Martha Houghton Hepburn (1878–1951), a feminist campaigner. Both parents fought for social change in the United States: Thomas Hepburn helped establish the New England Social Hygiene Association, which educated the public about venereal disease, while the elder Katharine headed the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association and later campaigned for birth control with Margaret Sanger. As a child, Hepburn joined her mother on several "Votes For Women" demonstrations. The Hepburn children were raised to exercise freedom of speech and encouraged to think and debate on any topic they wished. Her parents were criticized by the community for their progressive views, which stimulated Hepburn to fight against barriers she encountered. Hepburn said she realized from a young age that she was the product of "two very remarkable parents", and credited her "enormously lucky" upbringing with providing the foundation for her success. She remained close with her family throughout her life.
In March 1921, Hepburn, 13, and her 15-year-old brother Tom were visiting New York, staying with a friend of their mother's in Greenwich Village over the Easter break. On March 30, Hepburn discovered the body of her adored older brother dead from an apparent suicide. He had tied a curtain tie around a beam and hanged himself. The Hepburn family denied it was suicide and maintained that Tom's death must have been an experiment that had gone wrong. The incident made the teenage Hepburn nervous, moody, and suspicious of people. She shied away from other children, dropped out of Oxford School (now Kingswood-Oxford School) and was tutored privately. For many years she used Tom's birthday (November 8) as her own. It was not until her 1991 autobiography, Me: Stories of My Life, that Hepburn revealed her true birth date.
In 1924, Hepburn was admitted to Bryn Mawr College. She initially agreed to attend the institution to satisfy her mother, who had studied there, but ultimately found the experience to be unfulfilling. It was the first time she had been in school for several years, and she was self-conscious and uncomfortable with her classmates. She struggled with the scholastic demands of university, and once was suspended for smoking in her room. Hepburn was drawn to acting, but roles in college plays were conditional on good grades. Once her marks had improved, she began performing regularly. She performed the lead role in a production of The Woman in the Moon in her senior year, and the positive response it received cemented Hepburn's plans to pursue a theatrical career. She graduated with a degree in history and philosophy in June 1928.
Hepburn appeared in a number of plays with a summer stock company in Ivoryton, Connecticut, and she proved to be a hit. During the summer of 1931, Philip Barry asked her to appear in his new play, The Animal Kingdom, alongside Leslie Howard. They began rehearsals in November, Hepburn feeling sure the role would make her a star, but Howard disliked the actress and again she was fired. When she asked Barry why she had been let go, he responded, "Well, to be brutally frank, you weren't very good." This unsettled the self-assured Hepburn, but she continued to look for work. She took a small role in an upcoming play, but as rehearsals began, she was asked to read for the lead in the Greek fable The Warrior's Husband.
The Warrior's Husband proved to be Hepburn's breakout performance. Biographer Charles Higham states that the role was ideal for the actress, requiring an aggressive energy and athleticism, and she enthusiastically involved herself with its production. The play opened March 11, 1932, at the Morosco Theatre on Broadway. Hepburn's first entrance called for her to leap down a narrow stairway with a stag over her shoulder, wearing a short silver tunic. The show ran for three months, and Hepburn received positive reviews. Richard Garland of the New York World-Telegram wrote, "It's been many a night since so glowing a performance has brightened the Broadway scene."
A scout for the Hollywood agent Leland Hayward spotted Hepburn's appearance in The Warrior's Husband, and asked her to test for the part of Sydney Fairfield in the upcoming RKO film A Bill of Divorcement. Director George Cukor was impressed by what he saw: "There was this odd creature", he recalled, "she was unlike anybody I'd ever heard." He particularly liked the manner in which she picked up a glass: "I thought she was very talented in that action." Offered the role, Hepburn demanded $1,500 a week, a large amount for an unknown actress. Cukor encouraged the studio to accept her demands and they signed Hepburn to a temporary contract with a three-week guarantee. RKO head David O. Selznick recounted that he took a "tremendous chance" in casting the unusual actress.
Alongside a series of unpopular films, problems arose from Hepburn's attitude. She had a difficult relationship with the press, with whom she could be rude and provocative. When asked if she had any children, she snapped back, "Yes, I have five: two white and three colored." She would not give interviews and denied requests for autographs, which earned her the nickname "Katharine of Arrogance". The public was also baffled by her boyish behavior and fashion choices, and she became a largely unpopular figure. Hepburn sensed that she needed to leave Hollywood, so she returned east to star in a theatrical adaptation of Jane Eyre. It had a successful tour, but, uncertain about the script and unwilling to risk failure after the disaster of The Lake, Hepburn decided against taking the show to Broadway. Towards the end of 1936, Hepburn vied for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind. Producer David O. Selznick refused to offer her the part because he felt she had no sex appeal. He reportedly told Hepburn, "I can't see Rhett Butler chasing you for twelve years."
After the release of Bringing Up Baby, the Independent Theatre Owners of America included Hepburn on a list of actors considered "box office poison". Her reputation at a low, the next film RKO offered her was Mother Carey's Chickens, a B movie with poor prospects. Hepburn turned it down, and instead opted to buy out her contract for $75,000. Many actors were afraid to leave the stability of the studio system at the time, but Hepburn's personal wealth meant she could afford to be independent. She signed on for the film version of Holiday (1938) with Columbia Pictures, pairing her for the third time with Grant, to play a stifled society girl who finds joy with her sister's fiancé. The comedy was positively reviewed, but it failed to draw much of an audience, and the next script offered to Hepburn came with a salary of $10,000—less than she had received at the start of her film career. Reflecting on this change in fortunes, Andrew Britton writes of Hepburn, "No other star has emerged with greater rapidity or with more ecstatic acclaim. No other star, either, has become so unpopular so quickly for so long a time."
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| Husband | Ludlow Ogden Smith (m. 1928-1934) |
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Net Worth and Salary
At the time of her death, Katharine Hepburn's net worth was estimated to be around $20 million, primarily due to the value of her waterfront home in Connecticut. Adjusted for inflation, her net worth is often reported as $30 million. Her wealth was largely derived from her successful film career and property holdings.
In 1929, Hepburn turned down a role with the Theatre Guild to play the lead in Death Takes a Holiday. She felt the role was perfect, but again, she was fired. She went back to the Guild and took an understudy role for minimum pay in A Month in the Country. In the spring of 1930, Hepburn joined the Berkshire Playhouse theater company in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. She left halfway through the summer season and continued studying with a drama tutor. In early 1931, she was cast in the Broadway production of Art and Mrs. Bottle. She was released from the role after the playwright took a dislike to her, saying "She looks a fright, her manner is objectionable, and she has no talent", but Hepburn was re-hired when no other actress could be found. It went on to be a small success.
By the end of 1933, Hepburn was a respected film actress, but she yearned to prove herself on Broadway. Jed Harris, one of the most successful theatre producers of the 1920s, was going through a career slump. He asked Hepburn to appear in the play The Lake, which she agreed to do for a low salary. Before she was given leave, RKO asked that she film Spitfire (1934). Hepburn's role in the movie was Trigger Hicks, an uneducated mountain girl. Though it did well at the box office, Spitfire is widely considered one of Hepburn's worst films, and she received poor reviews for the effort. Hepburn kept a photo of herself as Hicks in her bedroom throughout her life to "[keep] me humble".
Career, Business, and Investments
Hepburn's career as an actress spanned over six decades, with notable roles in films like "The African Queen," "Suddenly, Last Summer," and "The Lion in Winter." She won a record four Academy Awards for Best Actress and was nominated for a total of 12 Oscars. Her business ventures were largely focused on her film career and real estate investments, particularly her Connecticut estate, which remained a significant part of her life and legacy.
Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress whose career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned six decades. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited personality, and outspokenness, cultivating a screen persona that matched this public image, and regularly playing strong-willed, sophisticated women. She worked in a varied range of genres, from screwball comedy to literary drama, which earned her various accolades, including four Academy Awards for Best Actress—a record for any performer.
Hepburn left college determined to become an actress. The day after graduating, she traveled to Baltimore to meet Edwin H. Knopf, who ran a successful repertory theatre company. Impressed by her eagerness, Knopf cast Hepburn in The Czarina. She received good reviews for her small role and the Printed Word described her performance as "arresting". She was given a part in the following week's show, but in that performance Hepburn was criticized for her shrill voice. She left Baltimore to study with Frances Robinson-Duff, a renowned voice teacher in New York City.
Knopf decided to produce The Big Pond in New York and appointed Hepburn as understudy to the leading lady. A week before opening, the lead was fired and replaced with Hepburn, which gave her a starring role only four weeks into her theatre career. On opening night, she turned up late, mixed her lines, tripped over her feet, and spoke too quickly to be understood. She was immediately fired, and the original leading lady rehired. Undeterred, Hepburn joined forces with the producer Arthur Hopkins and accepted the role of a schoolgirl in These Days. Her Broadway debut came on November 12, 1928, at the Cort Theatre, but reviews for the show were poor, and it closed after eight nights. Hopkins promptly hired Hepburn as the lead understudy in Philip Barry's play Holiday. In early December, after only two weeks, she quit to marry Ludlow Ogden Smith, a college acquaintance. She planned to leave the theatre behind but began to miss the work and quickly resumed the understudy role in Holiday, which she held for six months.
Hepburn arrived in California in July 1932, at 25 years old. She starred in A Bill of Divorcement opposite John Barrymore, but showed no sign of intimidation. Although she struggled to adapt to the nature of film acting, Hepburn was fascinated by the industry from the start. The picture was a success and Hepburn received positive reviews. Mordaunt Hall of The New York Times called her performance "exceptionally fine ... Miss Hepburn's characterization is one of the finest seen on the screen". The Variety review declared, "Standout here is the smash impression made by Katharine Hepburn in her first picture assignment. She has a vital something that sets her apart from the picture galaxy." On the strength of A Bill of Divorcement, RKO signed her to a long-term contract. George Cukor became a lifetime friend and colleague—he and Hepburn made ten films together.
The Lake previewed in Washington, D.C., where there was a large advance sale. Harris' poor direction had eroded Hepburn's confidence, and she struggled with the performance. Despite this, Harris moved the play to New York without further rehearsal. It opened at the Martin Beck Theatre on December 26, 1933, and Hepburn was roundly panned by the critics. Dorothy Parker quipped, "She runs the gamut of emotions all the way from A to B." Already tied to a ten-week contract, she had to endure the embarrassment of rapidly declining box office sales. Harris decided to take the show to Chicago, saying to Hepburn, "My dear, the only interest I have in you is the money I can make out of you." Hepburn did not want to continue in a failing show, so she paid Harris $14,000, most of her life savings, to close the production instead. She later referred to Harris as "hands-down the most diabolical person I have ever met", and claimed this experience was important in teaching her to take responsibility for her career.
Hepburn's next feature, Stage Door (1937), paired her with Ginger Rogers in a role that mirrored her own life—that of a wealthy society girl trying to make it as an actress. Hepburn was praised for her work at early previews, which gave her top billing over Rogers. The film was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, but it was not the box-office hit RKO had hoped for. Industry pundits blamed Hepburn for the small profit, but the studio continued its commitment to resurrecting her popularity. She was cast in Howard Hawks' screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby (1938), where she played a flighty heiress who loses a leopard while trying to woo a palaeontologist (Cary Grant). She approached the physical comedy of the film with confidence, and took tips on comedic timing from her co-star Walter Catlett. Bringing Up Baby was acclaimed by critics, but it was nevertheless unsuccessful at the box office. With the genre and Grant both hugely popular at the time, biographer A. Scott Berg believes the blame lay with moviegoers' rejection of Hepburn.
Social Network
During her lifetime, Katharine Hepburn was not known for engaging with traditional social networking platforms, as these technologies were not prevalent during her active career. However, her influence and legacy continue to be celebrated through various fan pages and tributes on social media platforms today.
Hepburn's second film was Christopher Strong (1933), the story of an aviator and her affair with a married man. The picture was not commercially successful, but Hepburn's reviews were good. Regina Crewe wrote in the Journal-American that although her mannerisms were grating, "they compel attention, and they fascinate an audience. She is a distinct, definite, positive personality." Hepburn's third picture confirmed her as a major actress in Hollywood. For playing aspiring actress Eva Lovelace—a role intended for Constance Bennett—in Morning Glory, she won an Academy Award for Best Actress. She had seen the script on the desk of producer Pandro S. Hepburn chose not to attend the awards ceremony—as she would not for the duration of her career—but was thrilled with the win. Her success continued with the role of Jo in the film Little Women (1933). The picture was a hit, one of the film industry's biggest successes to date, and Hepburn won the Best Actress prize at the Venice Film Festival. Little Women was one of Hepburn's personal favorites and she was proud of her performance, later saying, "I defy anyone to be as good [as Jo] as I was".
After the failure of Spitfire and The Lake, RKO cast Hepburn in The Little Minister (1934), based on a Victorian novel by James Barrie, in an attempt to repeat the success of Little Women. There was no such recurrence, and the picture was a commercial failure. The romantic drama Break of Hearts (1935) with Charles Boyer was poorly reviewed and also lost money. After three forgettable films, success returned to Hepburn with Alice Adams (1935), the story of a girl's desperation to climb the social ladder. Hepburn loved the book and was delighted to be offered the role. The film was a hit, one of Hepburn's personal favorites, and gave the actress her second Oscar nomination. She received the second most votes, after winner Bette Davis.
Following this decline in her career, Hepburn took action to create her own comeback vehicle. She left Hollywood to look for a stage project, and signed on to star in Philip Barry's new play, The Philadelphia Story. It was tailored to showcase the actress, with the character of socialite Tracy Lord incorporating a mixture of humor, aggression, nervousness, and vulnerabili
Education
Katharine Hepburn attended Bryn Mawr College, where she studied drama and graduated in 1928. Her education played a pivotal role in shaping her early career as an actress.
Katharine Hepburn's enduring legacy as a trailblazing actress and cultural icon continues to inspire new generations of artists and fans worldwide. Her commitment to her craft and her progressive values have left a lasting impact on the entertainment industry.
