Katharine Hepburn, Number One Actress
Ranked #6,562 in Entertainment, #81,537 overall
Number One Actress
She was nominated for twelve Oscars (a record) and won four, three of them after she had turned sixty.
She formed memorable partnerships onscreen with top Hollywood names such as Cary Grant, Spencer Tracy and director George Cukor but outlasted all of them and excelled just as easily on her own. She was a phenomenon, an acting colossus.
Early Days

With her elder brother, Tom
She was educated at the Kingswood-Oxford School before going on to attend Bryn Mawr College, where it was rumored she was expelled for smoking and breaking curfew, receiving a degree in history and philosophy in 1928, the same year she had her debut on Broadway after landing a bit part in Night Hostess. Also in 1928, while living in New York, she married Ludlow Ogden Smith. The marriage didn't last too long and they were divorced in 1934. Katharine often expressed her gratitude toward Ludlow for his financial and moral support in the early days of her career and "Luddy" continued to be a lifelong friend to her and the Hepburn family.
First Steps to Stardom
With Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.in "Morning Glory."
In her first major film, A Bill of Divorcement, Hepburn managed to upstage John Barrymore and was immediately a star. Her studio, RKO, put her straight to work: 14 films in the next six years. A year after Divorcement, she played the ingenue Eve Lovelace, a young, determined stage-struck girl, in New York City, who wants to become the "finest actress in the world" in Morning Glory and won her first Oscar.
That same year (1933), Hepburn played Jo in the screen adaptation of Little Women, which broke box-office records.

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Katharine Hepburn Trivia
Things you didn't know you didn't know
The American Film Institute voted her the greatest American female screen legend of all time. Katharine almost became a professional tennis player.
In 1958, Katharine was named the Woman of the Year from the Hasty Pudding Theatricals.
In 1989, Katharine was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the American Comedy Awards.
In 1928, Katharine received a Bachelor of the Arts degree in History and Philosophy from Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
Katharine's mother, Katharine Houghton was a co-founder of Planned Parenthood.
Katharine was of English and Scottish descent.
Katharine was actually a natural red head.

Katharine turned down the role of Marilla in the 1985 telefilm Anne of Green Gables , but recommended her great-niece, Schuyler Grant for the role of Anne. Schuyler ended up playing Diana instead.
Katharine was a direct descendant of Britain's King John through one of his illegitimate children.
In 1990, Katharine was recipient of the Kennedy Center Honor.
Katharine admitted to using her brother's birthdate as her own for years.
With James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story
As a result, Hepburn's movie career began to decline. She went back to Broadway in 1938 with a part written especially for her in Philip Barry's The Philadelphia Story. Certain of a hit, she bought the film rights to the play; thus, when it ended up a success, she was able to negotiate her way back into Hollywood on her own terms, including her choice of director (George Cukor) and co-stars (James Stewart and Cary Grant). Produced by MGM in 1940, the film version was a box-office triumph, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her work and her career was revived almost overnight.
Katharine Hepburn Resource Page
- The life and career of Katharine Hepburn
- Katharine Biography on Hollywood's Golden Age

Portrait of Actress Katharine Hepburn, from "The African Queen"
Eliot Elisofon
Available from Allposters.com
The African Queen, from Amazon
On the DVD: A trailer, a gallery of contemporary posters and stills, plus some text biographies of the principals, simply whet the appetite for the main extra feature here: an audio commentary by veteran cinematographer Jack Cardiff. The man responsible for the lush, albeit studio-bound jungle textures of Black Narcissus faced innumerable challenges lighting real Borneo jungle in the heart of the Congo for Huston's ambitious project, and here he relates all the behind-the-scenes anecdotes of disease, infestation and disaster that plagued the production. It's a real treat to hear one of the last survivors of the Golden Age filmmaking happily reminiscing about one of cinema's classic pictures, talking companionably of Huston, Bogie and Katie Hepburn and what everyone--cast and crew alike--endured to finish the picture, from lepers carrying their gear to the location, Huston fishing while directing, hornets stinging the crew, to terrible sickness brought on by drinking unfiltered lake water (except Bogie and Huston, who stuck religiously to the whisky!). The movie itself, in its original 1.33:1 ratio, looks just fine, and the sound is an unfussy digitally remastered mono. --Mark Walker
Later Career
Kath and Spencer Tracy
Kath and Henry Fonda
Katharine made few films in the 60'sShe received her ninth Oscar nomination for Long Day's Journey into Night and during this decade made her last film with Spencer Tracy Guess Who's Coming to Dinner in 1967 for which she received yet another Oscar nomination and won. She also won for her portrayal in The Lion in Winter.
Katharine then spent much of the seventies in TV fare such as Love Among the Ruins, with Laurence Olivier, a movie which earned them both Emmys. She continued to work despite her deteriorating health, and she won a fourth Oscar for 1981's On Golden Pond.
She wrote her autobiography, "Me, Stories of My Life" in 1991 and did a TV film about her life based on this book.
Into her nineties and on the threshold of her tenth decade, Katharine Hepburn remained the consummate personality, actress, and star.
On June 29, 2003 she died of natural causes in Old Saybrook, Connetticut. She was 96.
Katharine Hepburn Reference Site
- Katharine Hepburn Biography
- A succinct biography of Katharine Hepburn whose career as a leading lady spanned seven decades, over fifty quality films, twelve Oscar nominations and four Oscars, three of them after the age of sixty. She is in first position on the AFI's list of Movie Actresses.
An Appreciation of Katharine
A true star. A worthy Number One.
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Reader Feedback
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quester
Mar 26, 2012 @ 1:14 am | delete
- surely a favorite of mine - thanks for the reminder
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MusicFan57
Feb 11, 2012 @ 9:30 pm | delete
- My favorite actress of all time, truly awesome.
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KokoTravel
Nov 5, 2011 @ 1:16 am | delete
- A wonderful tribute to a great actress... one of my favorites
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gunsock
Jun 23, 2011 @ 1:25 am | delete
- Thanks Nancy, and everyone for the nice comments.
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nancycarol
Jun 15, 2011 @ 2:10 pm | delete
- She was wonderful both in her young years and her older years. I love this lens and thanks for sharing.
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