Katharine Hepburn

**Katharine Houghton Hepburn** (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress. Her career lasted 66 years. She is thought of as one of the top screen actresses in movie history. She was nominated for 12 Academy Awards, winning four.

Hepburn was born in Hartford, Connecticut and went to Bryn Mawr College. She got her degree in 1928 and started on Broadway that same year.

In 1932 she got a role in the George Cukor movie _A Bill of Divorcement_, with John Barrymore. She was very successful in the early 1930s, but then she became unpopular. She became popular again with the movie _The Philadelphia Story_. In 1942 she starred in _Woman of the Year_ with Spencer Tracy. They made eight more movies together, including _Adam's Rib_ and _Guess Who's Coming to Dinner_. They also had an off-screen romance that lasted until Tracy's death in 1967, but they never married because Tracy did not want to divorce his wife. Before this, Hepburn was married to Ludlow Ogden Smith from 1928 to 1934, and also had relationships with Leland Hayward and Howard Hughes.

Her autobiography, _Me: Stories of My Life_, came out in 1991. She died on June 29, 2003 at 2:50 p.m., at Fenwick, the Hepburn family home, in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. She was 96.

## Stage work

- _These Days_ - 1928
- _Art and Mrs. Bottle_ - 1930
- _The Warrior's Husband_ - 1932
- _The Lake_ - 1933
- _The Philadelphia Story_ - 1939
- _Without Love_ - 1942
- _As You Like It_ - 1950
- _The Millionairess_ - 1952
- _The Merchant of Venice; Measure for Measure; The Taming of the Shrew_ - 1955, On tour in Australia with the Old Vic
- _The Merchant of Venice; Much Ado About Nothing_ - 1957, Stratford, Connecticut Shakespeare Theatre
- _Antony and Cleopatra, Twelfth Night_ - 1960, Stratford, Connecticut Shakespeare Theatre
- _Coco_ - 1969
- _A Matter of Gravity_ - 1976
- _The West Side Waltz_ - 1981

## Filmography

|valign="top"|===1930s=== * _A Bill of Divorcement_ (1932) * _Christopher Strong_ (1933) * ***Morning Glory*** (1933) -- Academy Award for Best Actress * _Little Women_ (1933) * _Spitfire_ (1934) * _The Little Minister_ (1934) * _Break of Hearts_ (1935) * _Alice Adams_ (1935) * _Sylvia Scarlett_ (1936) * _Mary of Scotland_ (1936) * _A Woman Rebels_ (1936) * _Quality Street_ (1937) * _Stage Door_ (1937) * _Bringing Up Baby_ (1938) * _Holiday_ (1938)|valign="top"|===1940s=== * _The Philadelphia Story_ (1940) * _Woman of the Year_ (1942) * _Keeper of the Flame_ (1942) * _Stage Door Canteen_ (1943) * _Dragon Seed_ (1944) * _Without Love_ (1945) * _Undercurrent_ (1946) * _The Sea of Grass_ (1947) * _Song of Love_ (1947) * _State of the Union_ (1948) * _Adam's Rib_ (1949)|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|valign="top"|===1950s=== * _The African Queen_ (1951) * _Pat and Mike_ (1952) * _Summertime_ (1955) * _The Rainmaker_ (1956) * _The Iron Petticoat_ (1956) * _Desk Set_ (1957) * _Suddenly Last Summer_ (1959)|valign="top"|===1960s=== * _A Long Day's Journey into Night_ (1962) * ***Guess Who's Coming to Dinner*** (1967) -- Academy Award for Best Actress * ***The Lion in Winter*** (1968) -- Academy Award for Best Actress * _The Madwoman of Chaillot_ (1969)|
|valign="top"|===1970s=== * _The Trojan Women_ (1971) * _A Delicate Balance_ (1974) * _Rooster Cogburn_ (1975) * _Olly Olly Oxen Free_ (1978)|valign="top"|===1980s=== * ***On Golden Pond*** (1981) -- Academy Award for Best Actress * _The Ultimate Solution of Grace Quigley_ (1985) ===1990s=== * _Love Affair_ (1994)|

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Katharine Hepburn
- **image**: Katharine Hepburn publicity photograph.jpg
- **caption**: Studio publicity photograph, c. 1941
- **alt**: Portrait of Hepburn, aged 33
- **occupation**: Actress
- **alma mater**: Bryn Mawr College
- **years active**: 1928–1994
- **partner**: Spencer Tracy (1941–1967, his death)
- **relatives**: See Houghton family
- **awards**: List of awards and nominations received by Katharine Hepburn, Full list