The Story of Katharine Hepburn Who Conquered Hollywood and Won 4 Oscars, More Than Any Other Actor in History
“I strike people as peculiar in some way, although I don’t quite understand why. Of course, I have an angular face, an angular body, and, I suppose, an angular personality, which jabs into people.” This is what the classic Hollywood star Katharine Hepburn said about herself. She managed to achieve success thanks to her hard work and bright personality, and leave a mark in the movie history.
At CHEERY, we are impressed by Katharine Hepburn who played dozens of roles of strong-willed women and was one of them in real life too. And in the bonus section, we’ll tell you about another famous actress who portrayed Katharine on screen.
She was born into the family of a doctor and a feminist campaigner.
Katharine Hepburn was born in Hartford, Connecticut on May 12, 1907. She was the second of 6 children in the family of urologist Thomas Norval Hepburn and feminist campaigner Katharine Martha Houghton Hepburn.
Kate’s parents fought for social change in the United States. Her father, for example, helped establish the New England Social Hygiene Association, and her mother headed the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association which fought for women’s right to vote. Katharine even joined her mother in several “Votes For Women” demonstrations.
The Hepburns raised their children in the spirit of freedom and encouraged them to think and debate on any topic they wished. Katharine said once that this upbringing provided the foundation for her success. The actress remained close to her family throughout her life.
She dropped out of the university to become an actress.
As a child, Hepburn was a fan of movies and went to see one every Saturday night. She would also put on plays and perform for her neighbors with friends and siblings. But when the time came to choose a profession, Katharine wanted to become a doctor just like her father and her elder brother would have had he lived. She entered Bryn Mawr College but was unable to master a basic chemistry course and she also had poor grades in other subjects.
Eventually, she focused on college theater and performed on stage regularly. In her senior year, she performed the lead role in a production of The Woman in the Moon. The positive response it received encouraged Hepburn to pursue a theatrical career. In June 1928, she graduated with a degree in history and philosophy and went to conquer the theater stage.
Her talent conquered Hollywood.
Katharine’s first steps on stage were not successful. She was fired thrice, and once she quit herself because of bad reviews and her coming marriage. But in 1932, she had a major breakthrough — Katharine was invited to play an Amazon queen in the satire The Warrior’s Husband. After that, she was noticed in Hollywood.
That year, she signed a contract with the film studio RKO and made her film debut in A Bill of Divorcement. Hepburn demanded $1,500 a week for her work which was a large amount for an unknown actress.
The film director George Cukor asked the studio to accept her terms. He said, “There was this odd creature. She was unlike anybody I’d ever heard.” Eventually, the studio agreed to sign a temporary contract with Katharine. When the movie was released, she became famous overnight. The studio immediately signed a long-term contract with the aspiring actress.
Hepburn’s second movie, Christopher Strong, wasn’t commercially successful, but her performance received positive reviews. Hepburn got the status of a major actress in Hollywood after playing the role of the aspiring actress Eva Lovelace in the picture Morning Glory. This role earned her the first Oscar.
She won 3 more Oscars, but she never came to a ceremony to receive them.
Katharine’s career lasted for more than 50 years. For the most part, she played strong, energetic and decisive characters. This type of a persona earned her 3 more Oscars apart from that first one. In 1968, she won for her performance in the movie Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner; in 1969 for the movie The Lion in Winter; and in 1982 for the movie On Golden Pond. She was also nominated for an Academy Award 8 times, and in 1975, the role in the TV film Love Among the Ruins earned her an Emmy.
4 acting Oscars made her a record holder among both men and women. And this record still hasn’t been broken. But Katharine Hepburn never came to a ceremony to receive them.
She avoided giving interviews, but she enjoyed her fame.
Katharine was a strong, impulsive and sometimes contradictory woman. She had a difficult relationship with the press. She avoided giving interviews and refused to give autographs which earned her the nickname “Katharine of Arrogance.” Once, she wrestled a camera out of a photographer’s hand when he took a photo without asking.
Katharine was very fierce about her privacy. In her free time, she distanced herself from the celebrity lifestyle, she was not interested in the social scene which she regarded as tedious and superficial. She rarely appeared in public avoiding even restaurants. Nevertheless, she enjoyed her fame. Once, Katharine confessed that she would not have liked the press to ignore her completely. Her attitude changed in 1973 when the actress gave a 2-hour-long interview on The Dick Cavett Show.
She got divorced and never married again.
While still at college, Katharine met businessman Ludlow Ogden Smith. He desperately wanted to marry her, but she refused because she didn’t want to be known as “Mrs. Smith.” So, the man changed his name to S. Ogden Ludlow, and the couple married in 1928. In fact, the marriage lasted for 3 weeks. Katharine realized she didn’t want to live in Philadelphia. She wanted to shine in New York. The couple quickly separated and divorced in 1934, but they remained friends.
Since then, Katharine never married, even though she had a few affairs. After moving to California, the actress started dating her agent, Leland Hayward, even though they were both married at the time. When both got divorced, Hayward proposed to Hepburn, but she refused later explaining “I liked the idea of being my own single self.”
The following loud affair was her relationship with the famous entrepreneur and millionaire Howard Hughes which was reflected in the movie The Aviator starring Leonardo DiCaprio. They split in 1938 when Hepburn decided to leave Hollywood for some time.
Katharine’s last and main love was Spencer Tracy, her co-star in 9 movies. This was a quiet, tender, and private affair that lasted till the end of his life in 1967. Hepburn even interrupted her career to care for the ailing Tracy.
She chose not to have children because she wasn’t ready for this full-time commitment.
Katharine never stepped back in her decision not to remarry. She also chose not to have children. She thought that motherhood required a full-time commitment, and she wasn’t ready to make it. Katharine felt that she had partially experienced parenthood through her much younger siblings, which fulfilled her need to have children of her own. In her biography, she mentioned how close she was with her siblings and their children.
Katharine Hepburn became the symbol of a modern woman.
Katharine was unique not only in the way she carried herself but also in the way she dressed. She pioneered wearing trousers at a time when it was a radical move for a woman. They became a permanent part of her wardrobe, and her fans began to imitate her style. In 1986, she even received an award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America in recognition of her influence on women’s fashion. Interestingly, Katharine explained her love for pants by her love of walking barefoot.
One might say that Katharine lived her life the way she wanted, not according to society. Her example came to symbolize the “modern woman” and played a part in changing gender attitudes. She remained true to the promise she’d made to herself and never married again. She didn’t want to have children and didn’t have them. The legendary actress would also wear only clothes which she liked and found comfortable.
Throughout her long 66-year career, Katharine Hepburn played in 52 movies and took part in 33 stage plays. Her last role was in the 1994 movie Love Affair. Critics mentioned that the 87-year-old actress was as charming as ever and didn’t lose her ability to make a strong impression.
Bonus: Cate Blanchett won an Oscar for portraying the Oscar-winning actress.
Katharine Hepburn had such a bright personality that she was portrayed on stage and on-screen many times. Actress Cate Blanchett, for example, portrayed her as a strong and independent woman who was also loving and always ready to provide a helping hand. In the movie The Aviator, she showed the period when Hepburn had an affair with Howard Hughes, played by Leonardo DiCaprio.
For her performance in the movie, Cate Blanchett won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress. This made Cate the first actor in history to win an Academy Award for portraying another Oscar-winning actor.
Do you like Katharine Hepburn? What movies starring her did you watch?