Live About reports that after Hepburn graduated college, she focused on a career in acting. Katherine Hepburn holds the record for most Academy Awards (Oscars) won (4), having been nominated for 12 (a record until 2003, broken by Meryl Streep). Although her head shook visibly in television interviews from the 1980's on, she vehemently denied the rumor that she had Parkinson's disease, saying she had inherited her shaking head from her grandfather Hepburn. . I've been as terrified as the next person, but you've got to keep a-going; you've got to dream." The cancer spread into the lining of her small intestine. She won the Oscars for best actress for her performances in Morning Glory (1933), Guess Whos Coming to Dinner (1967), The Lion in Winter (1968), and On Golden Pond (1981). Life is hard. The Hepburns said they never knew whether he had committed suicide and left open the possibility that he had been practicing a magic trick. Additionally, she divorced Smith in 1934 (via TCM). She wrote about it in her first book, published in 1987, whose title captures the direct, colloquial style of her writing: "The Making of the African Queen: Or, How I Went to Africa With Bogart, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind" (Knopf). In comments that, at times, tread a thin line between and morbid reflection and black humour, she adds: "I think I've lived longer so that they have had lots of time to die! She ate a lot of fruits and vegetables and avoided processed foods. It is the tremors that are more noticeable that are classified as an essential tremor. In the 1970's she acted in television movies, including the Edwardian romantic drama "Love Among the Ruins" (1975), with Laurence Olivier, and "The Corn Is Green" (1979), both directed by Cukor. Although admittedly sketchy rather than a comprehensive memoir, the book captured the qualities that endeared Miss Hepburn to audiences: a conversational tone, a no-nonsense attitude and disarming candor. Katharine Hepburn's diet was famously healthy and she was known for her love of spinach. Researchers remain uncertain as to what causes the condition in the first place, but one theory suggests that it is due to the part of the brain known as the cerebellum being unable to communicate correctly with other parts of the brain. Many years after Katharine . When she was diagnosed with cancer of the appendix in 1992, Audrey Hepburn showed true grace. Katharine Hepburn, who was one of the most well-known and beloved actresses of all time, died at the age of 63 on May 6, 1993, after a long battle with ovarian cancer. In her book, Audition: A Memoir, Barbara Walters recalled chatting with Hepburn about Tracy. In typical Katharine Hepburn style, she faced the camera and, at the age of 85, tacitly acknowledged how close she had to be to the end. He manages to bring her down a peg; she never minds. He once recalled of her screen test: "She was unlike anybody I'd ever seen or heard. Then Miss Hepburn took charge of her career in a way few women dared in those days of the studio system. In "Pat and Mike" (1952), she is a champion athlete, and he is her rough-hewn manager, with whom she falls in love. Tracy married actress Louise Treadwell in 1923 and the union produced two children, a. Her mother, Katharine Martha Houghton, was a great supporter of women's rights issues including the right to birth control. Miss Hepburn, then 14, found his body hanging from the rafters of a house the family was visiting in New York City. Published on August 17, 2017 08:00 AM. The play was a hit, and Miss Hepburn owned the rights to it because Howard Hughes, a sometime beau, had bought them for her. ", "I would have been terrified alone in New York City," she said. In 1933 she returned to Broadway in a spectacular failure, "The Lake," which inspired Dorothy Parker to write her famous aphorism, "She ran the gamut of emotion from A to B. The disease progresses over time which can lead to more and more disability. Katharine Hepburn was born in Connecticut in 1907 to a doctor father and a feminist mother. She also appeared on Broadway in 1976 in "A Matter of Gravity," by Enid Bagnold, and in 1981 in "The West Side Waltz," by Ernest Thompson, who had written "On Golden Pond. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Hepburn claimed to have inherited her head tremor from her grandfather. She asked for Tracy, whom she had never met, to play the sportswriter. Rumors about Hepburns and Tracys sexual orientation would circulate during their lives and continue to fuel media reports long after their deaths. Her final screen appearance, in 1994, was a minor but tremendously emotional role in "Love Affair." Whether the relationship was a cover to hide what was then considered improper or one of the greatest romantic unions on and off the big screen, the affection between Tracy and Hepburn existed until their deaths. Philip Barry wrote the play "The Philadelphia Story" for her, modeling his heroine, Tracy Lord, on Miss Hepburn. Hepburn died Sunday at 2:50 p.m. at her home in Old Saybrook, said Cynthia McFadden, a friend of Hepburn and executor of her estate. Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 - June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Mel Ferrer was an American actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. Per Celebrity Net Worth, Hepburn was reportedly worth $20 million at the time of her death, with much of that coming from the value of her waterfront home. She also had relationships with actor Spencer Tracy and entrepreneur and filmmaker Howard Hughes. For a church of only 30 parishioners, the . An early separation would end in reconciliation, but Tracy would continue to live much of his life in hotels and rented residences away from his wife and family. she asked. In old age she was a familiar figure with her hair, gradually changing from auburn to gray, always in a topknot and her boyish figure always in the trousers that she helped to make fashionable. Parkinson's disease is a neurological disorder that happens when nerve cells in the brain don't produce enough dopamine. A long-running classic Katharine Hepburn died of natural causes on June 29, 2003, in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Miss Hepburn often said Tracy was the best actor she had ever known and compared him in complimentary terms to a baked potato: solid, substantial stuff. Man struck in head with "large amount of rolled up money". Moreover, Hepburn never had any children (via Showbiz Cheatsheet). When asked what her shaking is due to, Hepburn replied by saying: Its from my grandfather who was a minister. The Smoking Gun explains that in a will signed in 1992, Hepburn bequeathed her fortune and assets to her employees, her family, and charity. Tremors dont affect both sides of your body in the same way. earned Hepburn her second of what would be her four Academy Awards (per Britannica). However, The Guardian notes that Hepburn had been sick for some time and was suffering from Parkinson's disease prior to her death. Live About states that this was partly due to her introverted and tomboyish nature. Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003) and Spencer Tracy (1900-1967) were a legendary cinematic couple, both on- and off-screen. Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn had a love that was considered legendary, but Tracy was married to someone else the entire time they were together. She rode horses, swam and played golf and tennis. Planting the seeds of independent intelligence that would flourish throughout Hepburn's life, both of her parents encouraged and expected their daughter to excel in academics, athletics, and any arena she chose. She came from a wealthy and highly educated family. The town house they bought together in the Turtle Bay section of Manhattan was Miss Hepburn's home until the end of her life (along with the family home on the Connecticut River, to which she returned often). In addition, Hepburn appeared frequently on television in the 1970s and 80s. This time she got him. It's amazing how many of them have died, isn't it?" Try a skirt.' She added, laughing, "Sometimes I wonder myself.". O L D S A Y B R O O K, Conn. Oct. 20, 2000 -- Richard Hepburn, a playwright and the younger brother of actress Katharine Hepburn, has died, his family said Friday. As she aged, she had some physical problems from which she recovered well. Katharine Hepburn, the famously gravel voiced, feisty and stylish actress, died last night at the age of 96. Despite her early success, reviewers in those days sometimes found her strident and mannered. He went on to completely remodel the home in an extensive 2005 renovation (via Forbes ). ". She was 96. Eventually, Hepburn was accepted into Bryn Mawr College and discovered acting. Hepburn, 96, died last month of cardiac arrest at her waterfront home in Old Saybrook. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. She recalled their last years together, when he was ill and had trouble sleeping, and she would sit on the floor by his side and talk. She and Spencer Tracy had a decades-long romance that ended when he died. The romantic comedy "The Philadelphia Story" and the screwball classic "Bringing Up Baby" were among her best, most typical roles. Katharine Hepburn was an American actress of film, television and stage. She was dismissed from more than one play when she was starting out, but she retained supreme self-confidence. She played sharp-witted, sophisticated women with an ease that suggested that there was a thin line between the movie role and the off-screen personality. She continued: "He was an angel. Many of her early films are now regarded as classics. "I thought being a girl was really the bunk," she said in an interview. Life magazine said that "Stage Door" proved that she was "potentially, the screen's greatest actress.". She wrote several memoirs, including Me: Stories of My Life (1991). For her third film, Morning Glory (1933), Hepburn won an Academy Award for her portrayal of an aspiring actress. All Rights Reserved. The actress signed a. Who then inherited her large estate? They starred in nine films together, and had an affairan open secret in Hollywoodthat lasted 26 years, ending only with Tracy's death. Click here to view a copy of Hepburn's will, which she signed in January 1992. Hepburn's career spanned more than 60 years and included such classics as The African Queen, The Philadelphia Story, and On Golden Pond. [We] just passed 27 years together in what was to me absolute bliss., .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}Chris Rock, Doctors: No Further Hope for Actor Tom Sizemore, Raquel Welchs Mixed Feelings about Her Fur Bikini, Andrea Riseboroughs Oscar Controversy, Explained, 10 Milestones on Viola Davis Road to EGOT Glory. She found the legendary actor (and great love of her life) dead on the floor, having suffered a massive heart attack. What is Katharine Hepburn best known for? Burdened by Catholic guilt over his family circumstances, he suffered regular bouts of anxiety, depression and insomnia, and tried to overcome alcoholism throughout much of his adult life. He just considered it a kid who was wildly ambitious or something.". He died 17 days after filming his . Her father, Dr. Thomas Norval Hepburn, was a Hartford surgeon and a pioneer in fighting venereal disease. 1932). She had hip-replacement surgery and operations on both her shoulders, but she remained spry. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her memorable portrayal of Amanda Wingfield in Tennessee Williamss The Glass Menagerie (1973), and she won the award for her performance opposite Laurence Olivier in Love Among the Ruins (1975), which reunited her with her favourite director, Cukor. Hepburns father was a wealthy and prominent Connecticut surgeon, and her mother was a leader in the womens suffrage movement. In that role, the on-screen and off-screen Hepburn seemed to meld as easily as they had in her youth. Unabashedly outspoken and iconoclastic, she did as she pleased, refusing to grant interviews, wearing casual clothes at a time when actresses were expected to exude glamour 24 hours a day, and openly clashing with her more-experienced coworkers whenever they failed to meet her standards. A strict Catholic, divorce was not and would never be an option for Tracy, who remained married to his wife throughout his life. From early childhood, Hepburn was continually encouraged to expand her intellectual horizons, speak nothing but the truth, and keep herself in top physical condition at all times. She would apply all of these ingrained values to her acting career, which began in earnest after her graduation from Bryn Mawr College in 1928. Alternate titles: Katharine Houghton Hepburn. Many said she had suffered from Parkinson's Disease which she maintained was not the case. Rather, he added, it was "a matter of understanding and acknowledging each other's boundaries.".