Katharine (Kate, Kath, Katie or Kathy) Houghton Hepburn was born 1907, May 12th.

She was born into a progressive New England family, whose outlook was very left of center both socially and politically. Her father, a surgeon, Thomas Norval Hepburn and her mother, a women's rights activist and birth control advocate, who helped found the organization that became Planned Parenthood, Katharine (Kit) Martha Houghton Hepburn had 6 children. Thomas known as Tom (1905) the oldest who died a sudden death in 1921 - it was his birthday November the 8th that Kate used as her own for years and years – Kate (1907), Richard known as Dick (1911), Robert known as Bob (1913), Marion (1918) and Margaret known as Peg (1920). Kate and her siblings were taught not to fear - they could do anything they wanted. No subject was forbidden to discuss.

As a child, Kate was an expert wrestler, tumbler, and trapeze performer.

In 1921 after the sudden death of her big brother Tom - Kate withdrew and became almost reclusive. She was educated privately at home.

In 1924 she went to Bryn Mawr College – a college that her mother and aunt had attended. In 1928 she received a Bachelor of the Arts degree in History and Philosophy.

After college, over her father's objections, Kate went into the theatre, where she had her debut in the play The Big Pond (1928) produced by Edwin Knopf. As Kate later said, "I could easily get a job but keeping it was a mystery". Kate finally had a big hit in The Warrior's Husband (1932) (a leg show - as she said), which led to a film contract with RKO. In reality she did not want to go to Hollywood so she demanded much more than usual. But the studio gave in and therefore we today have so many wonderful films starring Katharine Hepburn.

Her film debut was in A Bill of Divorcement (1932), directed by George Cukor. Her entrance in the film was unforgettable as was her performance and it made her an instant star. RKO wanted to capitalize on their new star so in rapid succession, Kate made Christopher Strong (1933), Little Women (1933) and Morning Glory (1933) for which she won her first of four Oscars. The other three Oscars were for Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner (1967), The Lion In Winter (1968) and On Golden Pond (1981).

Following the success of Morning Glory – Kate starred in Alice Adams (1935) for which she received very good reviews. Her next four films were A Woman Rebels(1936), Mary of Scotland (1936), Sylvia Scarlett (1936) and Stage Door (1937). Other than Stage Door, those films didn't meet with the success of her earlier films. Only 6 years after arriving in Hollywood– Kate along with Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford, Mae West, Greta Garbo and Fred Astaire was labelled 'box-office poison'. Holiday (1938) and Bringing Up Baby (1938), the latter counted today as a classic as well as being the finest screwball comedy ever made, did not save her.

In 1939 Kate and Philip Barry made a hit together – The Philadelphia Story – the stage play that reignited her career. As Kate stated, "I gave her [Tracy Lord] life and she gave me my career back". Subsequently, she made, for that time period, an unusual deal with Louis B. Mayer the head of MGM. Kate owned the rights to the play and she sold them to him with the condition that she play the lead in the film as she had on stage. She also wanted George Cukor to direct the film and she requested Spencer Tracy and Clark Gable for the two male leads. Tracy and Gable were unavailable and in their stead she got Cary Grant, with whom she had already made 3 films, and James Stewart, who got his first and only Oscar (except the Honorary Award 1985) for his portrayal of Mike Connor.

The film was a huge success and firmly re-established Kate as a major star a position that she held until the end of her life.

Her dream of working opposite Spencer Tracy came true in 1941 with the film Woman of the Year.

During the shooting of the film, they fill in love and their love lasted until the death of Spencer Tracy in 1967 which occurred just 17 days after they finished filming Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.

As George Stevens commented, "I saw Spence and Kate's friendship develop right under my eyes. They were such unusual people. I became terribly fond of them."

Although the media did not write about them, their love affair was well known in Hollywood. They were treated with a respect from the journalists that we can’t imagine in our present time.

To be continued... 1942



On [a Sunday], June 29, 2003, Kate died at Fenwick, the Hepburn family home in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. She was 96 years old, and was buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Hartford, Connecticut. In honor of her extensive theater work, the lights of Broadway were dimmed by the League of American Theaters and Producers for an hour the follow Tuesday.

To view the Hollywood Hist-O-Rama (1961) video on TCM - where Katharine Hepburn film career is profiled in a short biography - click this link.