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Photo of Katharine Hepburn {Rosalind) from the Theatre Guild 1951 production of As You Like It. Photo by Vandamm, Newyork –

Top 10 Astonishing Facts about Katherine Hepburn

Katherine Hepburn had a long career in the film industry. She portrayed an array of dramatic and comedic characters who were sometimes often independent, witty, and never at one point dull.

Katherine Hepburn was known for her proclivity for wearing pants whenever possible and this was very captivating while onscreen and when offscreen as well. She was also known for her unapologetic attitude.

The full name of Katherine Hepburn was Katherine Houghton Hepburn. Katherine was an actress, who introduced a strength of character previously considered to be undesirable in Hollywood leading ladies into her roles

1. Katherine鈥檚 Upbringing was spectacular, to say the least

Katherine Hepburn. Photo Unattributed –

Hepburn was born on 12^th May 1907 in Hartford, Connecticut in the United States. Her father, Dr. Thomas Norval Hepburn was prominent and wealthy, being a Connecticut surgeon. Hepburn鈥檚 mother, Katharine Martha Houghton on the other hand was a leader in the women鈥檚 suffrage movement.

Katherine鈥檚 mother was hence a suffragette and early advocate of birth control. It is out of this that she was raised to be independent, confident, and individualistic and consequently her aversion to forced femininity began at a very tender age.

2. Hepburn鈥檚 utterances were so humorous

Publicity still of Katharine Hepburn in the 1933 film Little Women. Photo by RKO Radio Pictures –

There was this one instance that was memorable during her childhood in Connecticut. She was sported with a short haircut and started being called, 鈥淛immy鈥�.

 鈥淚 thought being a girl was the bunk,鈥� She later explained in an interview by saying 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 no bunk about Jimmy.

3. Katherine was a spirited and eccentric actress

A cropped screenshot of Katherine Hepburn in the theatrical trailer for: Bringing Up Baby. Photo by RKO Radio Pictures –

She appeared in several classic films such as 鈥淕uess Who鈥檚 Coming to Dinner, 鈥楾he African Queen鈥� and 鈥極n Golden Pond鈥�. She stayed in the film profession for more than six decades, where she took home a record of four Academy Award wins for acting.

4. Hepburn received many awards among them being the Woman of the year in 1942

“Miss Katherine Hepburn & Mr. Mike Owen, Manager, taken during the filming of the T.V. Film of ‘The Corn is Green’ “. Bersham Colliery, Wrexham. Photo by National Archives UK –

During most productions of the films, Hepburn played in, Spencer Tracy and her, began sharing their lunch breaks in Tracy鈥檚 dressing room. This was a habit that they maintained throughout her MGM years, even when they were not working together.

One of the benefits of Katherine鈥檚 relationship with Spencer Tracy was that he got her to change her manner of dealing with the press. This is when they wanted a word or two from them as actors and actresses.

It was during Hepburn鈥檚 first years in Hollywood, that she developed a behavior which was termed her reputation of looking down on the press. In this case, she hardly cooperated with the interviewers.

The MGM publicity head, Howard Strickling was forced to call in personal favors simply to get reporters to meet with Hepburn on the set when she was announced Woman of the Year in 1942.

5. Hepburn and actor Spencer Tracy managed to keep their relationship out of the papers

Screenshot of Katharine Hepburn from the trailer for the film Little Women. Phoo is a trailer Screenshot –

Spencer Tracy managed to call in favors with reporters but Hepburn repaid him for the favors by ensuring that she met with the reporters on time. In addition, she responded to the reporter鈥檚 questions with a minimum of fuss.

She received several warnings from friends, who repeatedly mentioned to her that Spencer Tracy would never at one point leave his wife for another woman. Despite these repeated warnings, Katherine Hepburn fell in love with her co-star Spencer.

Spencer鈥檚 wife was also featured in Hollywood films helped Hepburn work for the deaf ( Tracy鈥檚 son, John was Deaf). Katherine however was married once, to Philadelphia broker Ludlow Ogden Smith, but their union was dissolved in 1934.

6. The films that Katherine Hepburn was among America鈥檚 greatest movies

Cropped screenshot of Katharine Hepburn and Joan Bennett from the trailer for the film Little Women. Photo is a Screenshot of a trailer –

Among the greatest American movies, Katherine was included in was the American Fil Institute鈥檚 1998 list of the 400 movies that were nominated for the Top 100 greatest American movies. She was also included among the American Film Institute鈥檚 2000 list of the Top 100 funniest American movies.

7. She spoke not just one but six languages

Katherine Hepburn Kingsford Kings Airport, Sydney, 1955. Photo by State Library of New South Wales collection –

In one of the films Katherine participates with her close friend and frequent director, George Cukor who was a natural choice for her to direct her films, she spoke six languages. The languages are Spanish, German, Russian, English, French, and Greek.

8. Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy both coerced George Stevens into being their film director

Looking east and up at street sign for Katharine Hepburn Place, Manhattan on a cloudy day. Photo by Creative Common Zero –

For Katherine鈥檚 first film with Spencer, she wanted Spencer to be as comfortable as possible while acting in the film. Having Spencer Tracy as a quasi-producer, they hired George Stevens who had directed Katherine in Alice Adams (1935).

As Hepburn said, 鈥淚 just thought he should have a big, manly man on his team 鈥� someone who could talk about baseball鈥�.

9. Hepburn鈥檚 Legacy was unawed

Lobby card from the 1933 film Little Women. Pictured are Paul Lukas and Katharine Hepburn. Photo by RKO –

Throughout Katherine鈥檚 film career, she made dozens of films and garnered a stunning twelve Academy Award nominations, winning four out of all of them. Katherine鈥檚 credits include many of the most celebrated pictures of all time: The Philadelphia Story (1940), The African Queen (1951), Long Day鈥檚 Journey Into Night (1962), Guess Who鈥檚 Coming to dinner (1967), The Lion in Winter (1968), On Golden Pond (1981).

Aside from Katherine鈥檚 achievements, she was able to steal the stage from all the leading men of her era. These men include Spencer Tracy which is obvious, the others are Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Humphrey Bogart, Charlton Heston, and Laurence Olivier, just to name but a few.

Something to point out from Katherine鈥檚 memorable moments is that in 1999, the American Film Institute ranked her the top American screen legend of all time.

10. Katherine Spencer died on 29th June 2003 being an accomplished film actress

Katherine Hepburn House, New York City. Photo by Elisa Rolle –

It was in the 1990s that Katherine fell ill having developed progressive neurological disease. However, this disease did not keep her away from her acting roles and active lifestyle in her Connecticut hometown.

Her last Hollywood film performance was in 1994, which was more than 60 years after she made her memorable debut in A Bill of divorcement. Katherine Hepburn breathed her last on 29^th June 2003 at the age of 96 years.

Hepburn passed on in the same house in which she had grown up. 鈥淟ife is hard,鈥� she once said. 鈥淎fter all, it kills you鈥�.