Hepburn, Katharine, 1907–2003, American actress, b. Hartford, Conn. She made periodic stage appearances from 1928 on and debuted in the first of her 43 films in 1932; in her early roles she was usually cast as rather brittle, one-dimensional characters. With the classic romantic comedy The Philadelphia Story (1940), she softened her image and began playing more interesting women who were also more evenly matched to their romantic partners. Hepburn also established her lifelong image as a high-spirited, intelligent, witty, idiosyncratic, and sophisticated woman, a persona mirrored in her private life. In Woman of the Year (1942) she found her ideal leading man (and life partner) in Spencer Tracy Tracy, Spencer, 1900–1967, American film actor, b. Milwaukee, Wis. He began his career as an actor in summer stock and went into film work in 1930. His fine character portrayals won him Academy Awards for Captains Courageous (1937) and Boys Town
..... Click the link for more information. , whose solidity balanced her sophistication in a total of nine comedies spanning 25 years. Their other films include State of the Union (1948), Adam's Rib (1949), and Pat and Mike (1952).

Hepburn won four Academy Awards, for Morning Glory (1933), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? (1967), The Lion in Winter (1968), and On Golden Pond (1981). Among her other outstanding films are Little Women (1933), Alice Adams (1935), Stage Door (1937), Bringing Up Baby (1938), The African Queen (1951), The Rainmaker (1956), Long Day's Journey into Night (1962), and The Trojan Women (1970). For television she did Love among the Ruins (1975), in which she costarred with Laurence Olivier Vivien Leigh, 1913–67, a delicate brunette who made a spectacular American film debut in Gone with the Wind (1939), winning the Academy Award. She followed this with Waterloo Bridge (1940), Lady Hamilton (with Olivier as Nelson, 1941), and
..... Click the link for more information. , and several other productions. Later stage appearences include Coco (1969) and The West Side Waltz (1981).

Bibliography

See her autobiographical writings, The Making of The African Queen (1987) and Me (1991); A. Edwards, A Remarkable Woman (1985); G. Kanin, Tracy and Hepburn (1988); B. Leaming, Katharine Hepburn (1995); A. S. Berg, Kate Remembered (2003); W. J. Mann, Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn (2006); Katharine Hepburn: All about Me (television documentary, 1993).

Hepburn, Katharine (Houghton)

Katharine Hepburn.

(credit: Brown Brothers)

(born May 12, 1907, Hartford, Conn., U.S.—died June 29, 2003, Old Saybrook, Conn.) U.S. actress. She made her Broadway debut in 1928 and became a star with her first film, A Bill of Divorcement (1932). Her following grew with Morning Glory (1933, Academy Award), Little Women (1933), and Bringing Up Baby (1938), to which she brought a spirited individuality and strength of character. She starred in the Broadway hit The Philadelphia Story (1939; film, 1940). Among her other notable films were The African Queen (1951), Summertime (1955), and Suddenly Last Summer (1959). She made eight films with her longtime lover Spencer Tracy, including Woman of the Year (1942), Pat and Mike (1952), and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967, Academy Award), and won two more Oscars for The Lion in Winter (1968) and On Golden Pond (1981).

Hepburn, Katharine (Houghton) (1909– ) film actress; born in Hartford, Conn. Strong-willed and outspoken, she began her career on Broadway, but came to Hollywood in 1932. She won Academy Awards for Morning Glory (1933), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), The Lion in Winter (1968), and On Golden Pond (1981). Her 27-year off-screen romance with Spencer Tracy lasted until his death.