Katharine Hepburn

Katharine Hepburn (May 12, 1907 - June 29, 2003) was a notable American 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 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. 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.

On June 29, 2003 at 2:50 p.m., 96-year-old Katharine Hepburn died at Fenwick, the Hepburn family home, in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.

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

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, CT Shakespeare Theatre
• Antony and Cleopatra, Twelfth Night - 1960, Stratford, CT 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) -- nomination for Academy Award for Best Actress
• 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) -- nomination for Academy Award for Best Actress
• Woman of the Year (1942) -- nomination for Academy Award for Best Actress
• 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) -- nomination for Academy Award for Best Actress
• Pat and Mike (1952)
• Summertime (1955) -- nomination for Academy Award for Best Actress
• The Rainmaker (1956) -- nomination for Academy Award for Best Actress
• The Iron Petticoat (1956)
• Desk Set (1957)
• Suddenly Last Summer (1959) -- nomination for Academy Award for Best Actress
• A Long Day's Journey into Night (1962) -- nomination for Academy Award for Best Actress
• 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)