She also requested that no funeral or memorial service be held. Anytime I hear a man say he prefers a woman in a skirt, I say: `Try one. Her 12 Academy Award nominations also set a record, which stood until 2003, when it was broken by Meryl Streep. Katharine Hepburn may have been a lesbian, but never a trans man. I can only say that I could never have left him. For most of her life, the public thought she had never married. Unlike other children at the time, she was brought up to be outspoken and open-minded. Britannica writes that she was born and raised in Connecticut. Beyond her reputation as a talented but feisty actor, Hepburn was one-half of a controversial celebrity love affair. In later years she spoke openly about her life and career, especially in her 1991 autobiography, "Me: Stories of My Life" (Alfred A. Knopf). 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). However, The Guardian notes that Hepburn had been sick for some time and was suffering from Parkinson's disease prior to her death. Essential tremor symptoms can progressively get worse, but won't necessarily shorten the patient's life span. These uncontrollable movements tend not to be the most prominent symptom, with others including stiffness, slow movements and trouble with balance also caused by Parkinsons. Information about the death of Katharine Hepburn; Cause of death: Cardiac Arrest: Age of death: 96 years: Profession: Movie Actress: Birthday: May 12, 1907: Death date: June 29, 2003: Place of death: N/A: Place of burial: N/A: Critically acclaimed actress Katharine Hepburn was known for her abrasive attitude and for her classic films such as "The African Queen" (via Biography). More info, Viewers will get the chance to see Hepburn in her prime as 1951 adventure film The African Queen is showing today (Saturday, June 18) on BBC Two. Tracy died just 17 days after they had finished filming it. In her will, Hepburn also specified that she did not want a funeral. Her final role was in 1994's "Love Affair," when Hepburn was 87 years old. Audrey Hepburn divorced her first husband, Mel Ferrer, in 1968 after 14 years of marriage. Her tailor-made Hepburn lines included these: "I've always lived my life exactly as I wanted. ", "I would have been terrified alone in New York City," she said. Of Tracy, with whom she had a 25-year affair, she wrote: "I would have done anything for him. ", Her performances in all three of these plays were received with dazzling praise; the works themselves were treated more harshly. Mel Ferrer was an American actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. In her autobiography (1991) Hepburn stated her birth date as 1907. After a five-year absence from films, she then made Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), her last film with Tracy and the last film Tracy ever made; he died just weeks after finishing it. She also established $100,000 trusts for a nephew and a grandniece. Katharine Houghton Hepburn was born in Hartford in 1907. 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. Tracy was 41-years-old, Hepburn was 34 and said of the meeting she knew right away that [she] found him irresistible.. / General Photographic Agency/Getty Images . When asked what her shaking is due to, Hepburn replied by saying: Its from my grandfather who was a minister. However, it was too late: a group of leading film exhibitors had already written off Hepburn as box office poison.. What disease did Katharine Hepburn develop and die from? An essential tremor will cause an individual to shake at different times and in different situations, but some characteristics are common to everyone. However, users have reported numerous side effects when using the drug, sedation being one common side effect. Katharine Hepburn died on June 29, 2003, at the age of 96 in the same house in which she had grown up. Katharine Hepburn's diet was famously healthy and she was known for her love of spinach. 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). 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. In her book, Audition: A Memoir, Barbara Walters recalled chatting with Hepburn about Tracy. She received 4 Oscars for Best Actress, an Emmy Award in 1976 for her lead role in Love Among the Ruins, and was nominated for four other Emmys, two Tony Awards and eight Golden Globes. Katharine Hepburn's Death - Cause and Date Born (Birthday) May 12, 1907 Death Date June 29, 2003 Age of Death 96 years Cause of Death Cardiac Arrest Profession Movie Actress The movie actress Katharine Hepburn died at the age of 96. She won her fourth Oscar at the age of 74 for her role in the film "The Four Seasons." She also directed that her remaining property, including her Connecticut and New York homes be sold, with the proceeds of her estate to be divided equally between her sister Margaret, brother Robert, and the family members of her late siblings Richard and Marion. History reports that she died in her home in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, from natural causes. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. He is commonsensical, down-to-earth and deeply decent. Click here to view a copy of Hepburn's will, which she signed in January 1992. They never got married, but the ring and her love letters to him sold at auction in 2020, per Reuters. 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. Many years later, not long before he died, "I tried to make up to him for the horror I had caused him," she added. Life magazine said that "Stage Door" proved that she was "potentially, the screen's greatest actress.". 1932). The actress signed a six-page codicil, or amendment, in March 1994 (click here to view that document). They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Performer Gene Kelly once recalled Hepburn and Tracy getting together at lunchtimes at the studio, where theyd just meet and sit on a bench on the lot. She had been wearing pants, then considered quite unladylike, since the 1930's. She was 96. In a rare 1987 interview, Hepburn herself was recorded talking about the tremor. After all, it kills you. (Katharine Hepburn), My greatest strength is common sense. ", The interview, published in full in The Sunday Review, also touches on Hepburn's relationship with her parents, who were political activists campaigning for women's rights and birth control. But after the death of Tracy's wife, Louise, in 1983, Miss Hepburn felt free to discuss the love affair. She was a versatile actress and played prominent roles in theater, films, and TV series. In fact, she frequently granted interviews, although she was reticent about her personal life. Hepburn quickly became a full-fledged star and by 1933, she had won her first Academy Award for her role in "Morning Glory." However, Hepburns much-publicized return to Broadway, in The Lake (1933), proved to be a flop. Hepburn's memorabilia collections--her four Oscars, costumes, scripts, photos, and scrapbooks--will be given to a "charitable organization" to be selected by her executors. Though hampered by a progressive neurological disease, Hepburn was nonetheless still active in the early 90s, appearing prominently in films such as Love Affair (1994), which was her last movie. "Woman of the Year," "Adam's Rib" and "Pat and Mike" are typically bright and biting Tracy-Hepburn collaborations. Through most of her career, Miss Hepburn had a reputation for being private and elusive with the press. Many of her early films are now regarded as classics. The frisson of their off-screen romance, always hinted at but never acknowledged during his lifetime, followed them on screen and became especially poignant when they played a married couple in their last movie together, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner." Her father, Thomas Hepburn, was a successful doctor. That role led to a Hollywood screen test and her first film role, as John Barrymore's daughter in "A Bill of Divorcement" (1932). Despite her waning popularity in the late 1940s, she continued to star in critically and commercially successful films, including "The Lion in Winter," "On Golden Pond," and more. Hepburn had been married previously to Pennsylvania businessman Ludlow Ogden Smith but had divorced in 1934. Robert Hepburn, the last sibling of actress Katharine Hepburn still alive, died of a heart attack Monday at Hartford Hospital, where he headed the urology department more than 30 years ago. Surgery is usually only given to those whose tremor is severely disability and other treatment methods have failed to work. At the conclusion of "All About Me," her own television biography, she said: "In some ways I've lived my life as a man, made my own decisions. Over the years she was nominated for a dozen Oscars, more than any other actress, a record unbeaten until Meryl Streep received her 13th this year. One of the great love stories from classic Hollywood centers on the not-so-secret affair that Katharine Hepburn was reported to have had with Spencer Tracy, her frequent co-star in such beloved. She played a fictional version of the typically feisty Kate Hepburn character in "Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry" (1986), "Laura Lansing Slept Here" (1988) and "The Man Upstairs" (1992). She played the distraught, drug-addicted Mary Tyrone in the 1962 film of Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey Into Night." Published on August 17, 2017 08:00 AM. Life is hard. In that role, the on-screen and off-screen Hepburn seemed to meld as easily as they had in her youth. She wrote several memoirs, including Me: Stories of My Life (1991). They starred in nine films together, and had an affairan open secret in Hollywoodthat lasted 26 years, ending only with Tracy's death. Onscreen their chemistry was undeniable, and audiences flocked to their films to witness the staccato, quick-witted bantering and long, meaningful looks that spoke more than any lines of dialogue could represent. 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. For a church of only 30 parishioners, the . 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. Katharine Hepburns father was a wealthy and prominent Connecticut surgeon, and her mother was a leader in the womens suffrage movement. Hepburn, 96, died last month of cardiac arrest at her waterfront home in Old Saybrook. Her mother, Katharine Martha Houghton, was a great supporter of women's rights issues including the right to birth control. Katharine Hepburn, who transcended her screen roles by showing several generations how to be a woman in a way that combined sublime beauty and sexuality with fiery intelligence, died Sunday.. The actor explained it didnt feel appropriate for her to attend Tracys funeral as she wasnt his wife. Her other films with Tracy included the political dramas "Keeper of the Flame" (1942) and "State of the Union" (1948). Hepburn visited the mortuary after hours to see Tracy one last time before the funeral. In 1994 she appeared in a few scenes in the television movie "One Christmas," as yet another wise old aunt. Katharine Hepburn has also developed a posthumous reputation for being a bit of a forward-thinking sexual libertine. She wore pants, sure, but almost every woman does that nowadays, at least once in a while. How tall was Katharine Hepburn? But Parkinsons is a devastating disease, mine is just an irritation.. She also had relationships with actor Spencer Tracy and entrepreneur and filmmaker Howard Hughes. Click here to view a copy of Hepburn's will, which she signed in January 1992. However, they neither married nor made their romance public. And in "On Golden Pond" (1981) she starred opposite Henry Fonda as a feisty older woman coping with her husband's failing memory and insisting that they should go on and live life to the fullest. That year she made her Broadway debut in Night Hostess, appearing under the alias Katharine Burns. One of her most enduring films without Tracy was "The African Queen" (1952), in which she played the straitlaced Rosie opposite Humphrey Bogart for the director John Huston. Shortly after her death, Hepburns niece Katharine Houghton revealed that the stars head shake was due to a specific type of essential tremor known as a familial tremor, which is inherited from an individual's parents. 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). "Must be wonderful, like a long sleep. Hepburn specified that $10,000 was to be given to Actors Fund of America, the Motion Picture and Television Fund, and a church in Maryland. http://www.thesmokinggun.com/file/hepburn-will, http://www.thesmokinggun.com/file/hepburn-codicil, http://www.thesmokinggun.com/file/hepburn-death-certificate. Named the greatest actress in Hollywood history by the American Film Institute in 1999, she set a record by winning four Academy Awards for Best Actress for the films The African Queen (1951), Guess Whos Coming to Dinner (1967), The Lion in Winter (1968) and On Golden Pond (1981). And in later years she kept busy with minor television movies. From early childhood Hepburn was continually encouraged to expand her intellectual horizons, speak nothing but the truth, and keep herself in top physical condition. Tremors dont affect both sides of your body in the same way. ". In "Adam's Rib" (1949), they are married, opposing lawyers, both nicknamed Pinky. The latter figure seems to be a lowball estimate of Hepburn's property, which, at the time of her death, was estimated to be in excess of $20 million. Katharine Hepburn made over 40 films and 16 plays, and received 12 Academy Award nominations, a record that stood until 2002. Tracy was a womanizer and a drunk, and her savior instincts kicked in. In the late 1950's she also appeared in several Shakespeare plays in Stratford, Conn. And in 1969, when she was 62, she made her singing debut on Broadway in the Alan Jay Lerner musical "Coco," based on the life of the fashion designer Coco Chanel. Just because Katharine Hepburn played a young woman pretending to be a young boy in Sylvia Scarlett doesn't mean she was really a trans man. Ha! They were rarely seen in public together, their separate homes helping to ensure Tracys wife would be protected, along with the interests of gossip-adverse studio heads fearful of audience backlash over the apparent infidelity that was in breach of the morality clauses big stars of the era were forced to sign. And she asked for Spencer Tracy and Clark Gable as her co-stars. Biography - A Short Wiki According to the Connecticut Court of Probate records, Hepburn left $200,000 to Norah Moore, her longtime housekeeper; $10,000 to McFadden; $50,000 to Erik Hanson, her accountant; and $5000 to Freya Manson, her literary agent. She continued to make periodic returns to the stage (notably as the title character in the 1969 Broadway musical Coco), but Hepburn remained essentially a film actor for the remainder of her career. ", After graduating from Bryn Mawr College in 1928, she had small parts in stock theater companies. Rather, he added, it was "a matter of understanding and acknowledging each other's boundaries.". In it, she is portrayed as a frail, sometimes cantankerous but always charismatic, figure who alternates between snappy remarks and lengthy, often revealing, answers. In "Pat and Mike" (1952), she is a champion athlete, and he is her rough-hewn manager, with whom she falls in love. Hepburn was with Tracy when passed away in 1967, though she did not attend the funeral out of respect for his family and never publicly spoke of their relationship until after the death of Tracys wife Louise in 1983. Edit. Theyd hold hands and talk and everybody left them alone in their little private world.. According to Katharine, on the night Spencer Tracy died, he had gotten up in the middle of the night to get a glass of milk. Dotti writes: "She would spend entire days in bed with a book, thus hoping to expel from her mind obsessive thoughts about food." By the time she was 16 years old, Hepburn weighed only 88 points . Here is all you want to know, and more! 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. Hepburn had been married previously to Pennsylvania businessman Ludlow Ogden Smith but had divorced in 1934. A long-running classic Katharine Hepburn died of natural causes on June 29, 2003, in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 - June 29, 2003) was an American actress. Propanolol and primidone are two of the medicines often prescribed to treat essential tremor. But it's always your fault, because if you wanted to change you're the one who has got to change.". People have misunderstood it because they assume it is Parkinsons. In one 2020 research paper, which compared the prevalence of essential tremors to other cerebellar degenerations, it was logically concluded that essential tremor is by far, the most common form of cerebellar degeneration, suggesting a strong link between the two. Additionally, McFadden was bequeathed furniture and art from Hepburn. Shortly after Tom's death in 1921, another of her father's brothers, Dr. Sewell Hepburn, closed the door of his garage, sat in the driver's seat with the engine running and died of asphyxiation. A strict Catholic, divorce was not and would never be an option for Tracy, who remained married to his wife throughout his life. After Hughes died, 600 people made claims on his vast fortune, including one fake will which would have given most of his estate to the Mormon Church. She soon started appearing in small roles in plays. Here's Who Inherited Katharine Hepburn's Money After She Died. Here a GP may refer you to a specialist for further tests or monitor the tremor themselves to make sure it does not get progressively worse. "I'm more like a fancy French dessert, I'm a little bit fancy, aren't I? Hepburn then began to perform on Broadway before making the change to film. Though he was devoted to his son and daughter, Tracy and his wife lived separately. She immediately made him change his name to S. Ogden Ludlow, partly because she didn't want to be known as Kate Smith. "I have no fear of death," she said. In a sad turn, Tracy died on June 10, 1967, six months before the movie's release and just two days before the Supreme Court legalized interracial marriage in the landmark Loving v. Virginia. Therapy such as occupational or physical therapy aims to help individuals adapt to living life with a tremor and improve their muscle strength, control and coordination. "I thought being a girl was really the bunk," she said in an interview. He became the love of her life. He was 89. Can you tell which is which?" Katharine Hepburn, the actress whose independent life and strong-willed movie characters made her a role model for generations of women and a beloved heroine to filmgoers for more than 60 years, died yesterday at her home in the Fenwick section of Old Saybrook, Conn. She was 96 and also had a home in Manhattan. He went on to completely remodel the home in an extensive 2005 renovation (via Forbes ). OLD SAYBROOK -- Katharine Hepburn's hometown became the postal capital of the nation today. Katharine Hepburn was born in Connecticut in 1907 to a doctor father and a feminist mother. Their last film together, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" Tracy, whos health had been declining, died of a heart attack before she could reach him. In an interview that echoed what she wrote in "Me," she assumed a self-chastising, no-nonsense tone and said she had been "an absolute pig with Luddy, absolute pig." Tracy and Hepburn in a promotional photo for Without Love. Hepburn, who once described Tracy as tortured, said that all she wanted was for him to be happy, safe, comfortable. No regrets.". [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. Alongside attempts at keeping his relationship with Hepburn out of the media, Tracy was also battling inner demons. They led separate lives long before their divorce in 1934, but they remained friendly. "I was born May 12, 1907," she wrote, "despite everything I may have said to the contrary." Philip Barry wrote the play "The Philadelphia Story" for her, modeling his heroine, Tracy Lord, on Miss Hepburn. tags: change , life , self. Hepburn, judged by many to be the greatest screen actress of all time, gave the interview in 1992, but it has never been published until now. The 1940 film versionin which she reteamed with Cukor and Grantwas a critical and commercial success, and it jump-started her Hollywood career. 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. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in, Please refresh your browser to be logged in, Katharine Hepburn's last words: 'They're all dead - it's amazing', Extra 20% off selected fashion and sportswear at Very, Up to 20% off & extra perks with Booking.com Genius Membership, $6 off a $50+ order with this AliExpress discount code, 10% off selected orders over 100 - eBay discount code, Compare broadband packages side by side to find the best deal for you, Compare cheap broadband deals from providers with fastest speed in your area, All you need to know about fibre broadband, Best Apple iPhone Deals in the UK March 2023, Compare iPhone contract deals and get the best offer this March, Compare the best mobile phone deals from the top networks and brands.