Hepburn, Katharine (1907–2003)

American theater, film, and tv actress. Born Katharine Houghton Hepburn, May 12, 1907, in Hartford, Connecticut; died June 29, 2003, in Old Saybrook, Connecticut; dau. of Dr. Thomas Norval Hepburn (a surgeon) and Katharine Martha (Houghton) Hepburn (suffragist and pioneer for women's rights); Bryn Mawr College, BA, 1928; m. Ludlow Ogden Smith, Dec 12, 1928 (div. 1934); no children.

Actress who enjoyed one of the longest stage and screen careers of 20th century, due not only o her talent but her feisty nature, excelled in both comic and dramatic roles and won an unprecedented 4 Academy Awards; made Broadway debut in These Days (1928); claimed public's attention as the Amazon queen Antiope in The Warrior's Husband (1932); other stage roles include Tracy Lord in The Philadelphia Story (1939), The Lady in The Millionairess (1952), Mrs. Basil in A Matter of Gravity (1976), and Margaret Mary Elderdice in The West Side Waltz (1981); made screen debut in A Bill of Divorcement (1932); won 1st Academy Award for Best Actress for Morning Glory (1934); met Spencer Tracy (1941), sharing a relationship with him that spanned 27 years and included 9 films; awarded 2 consecutive Oscars, for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? (1968) and The Lion in Winter (1969); other films include Christopher Strong (1933), Little Women (1933), The Little Minister (1934), Alice Adams (1935), Sylvia Scarlett (1936), Stage Door (1937), Bringing Up Baby (1938), Holiday (1938), Woman of the Year (1942), State of the Union (1948), Adam's Rib (1949), The African Queen (1951), Pat and Mike (1952), Summertime (1955), The Rainmaker (1956), Desk Set (1957), Suddenly Last Summer (1959), Long Day's Journey into Night (1962), The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969), Rooster Cogburn (1975) and On Golden Pond (1981); made a much celebrated return to stage in Coco, her 1st and only musical (1969); received an Emmy Award for Best Actress in Love Among the Ruins (1975); awarded 4th Oscar for On Golden Pond (1982); during a professional career that spanned almost 7 decades, performed in 43 films, 33 stage plays, and 7 tv movies.

See also memoirs Me: Stories of My Life (Knopf, 1991) and The Making of "The African Queen" (Knopf, 1987); Anne Edwards, A Remarkable Woman: A Biography of Katharine Hepburn (1985); Barbara Leaming, Katharine Hepburn (1995); A. Scott Berg, Kate Remembered (2003); and Women in World History.