Wow, this has been a long journey. I have taken my time presenting the TOP TWENTY ACTORS OF ALL TIME and here we are finally at the end.
There is and has never been such a great actor as Katharine Hepburn. Two of my favorite "celebrity" books are Katarine's own ME (an autobiography) and KATE REMEMBERED which came out three days after her death.
Katharine...or Kate to her friends was the quintessential actor of all time. She could play any role...with ferocity or quiet elegance. Her talent remains and perhaps shall always be the greatest in the field of acting.
She was born Katharine Houghton Hepburn on May 12, 1907 to an extremely liberal but almost over educated family. Her mother founded Planned Parenthood and her father was an extremely respected urologist. Intellectual challenges and very high brow talk ruled her childhood and thus she became an intellectual herself...sometimes to her detriment. She suffered throughout her life due to her brother's suicide.
Hepburn has the distinction of winning more Academy Awards than any other actor. She claimed four for the movies: Morning Glory (1932), Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (1967), The Lion In Winter (1968..a tie with Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl..the only tie in Academy history) and On Golden Pond (1981). She is noted by the American Film Institute as the Number ONE actor of all time.
Hepburn's career started out a bit shaky. She was educated at Bryn Mawr college and although majored in other things, became well known for her performances in the theatre department.
Her Broadway debut was in a small play called Night Hostess where she played a bit part.
She landed the lead role in the Broadway show The Big Pond but was dismissed as not being up to the task.
Her next Broadway show, The Art and Mrs. Bottle she was also fired from...yet they hired her back when a new actor could not be found.
She was signed by RKO in 1932. Her first film was BILL OF DIVORCEMENT with John Barrymore who thought little of her talents.
In fact, her early career was so derided that the famous wit, Dorothy Parker said of Hepburn that she "Ran the gamut of emotions from A to B".
By 1938 she was performing in light comedies such as BRINGING UP BABY and STAGE DOOR. The critics gave her raves, but the audiences stayed away.
In 1939 the Motion Picture Association (a conglomerate of theatre owners) declared Hepburn BOX OFFICE POISON...which effectively could have ended her career.
However, at the time she was involved romantically with Howard Hughes who bought her the rights to THE PHILADELPHIA STORY after she had won over audiences on Broadway. The filmed version was the biggest hit of 1940 and reestablished Hepburn as a great star.
Hepburn was notoriously difficult as a star...she refused to sign autographs and passed on almost every interview request, thus giving her the title of Katharine of Arrogance.
Hepburn made nine films with Spencer Tracy and became his lover. Their affair was one of the most scandalous in Hollywood history in that Tracy refused to divorce his wife (as a devout Catholic) and felt guilty due to his son's deafness. Tracy was a severe alcoholic and it is noted that Hepburn would spend some evenings sleeping in front of his hotel door when he would not let her in. Upon his death (he died in her kitchen of a stroke) she was not invited to the funeral and had to mourn privately.
In addition to her four Academy Awards, she was also nominated 12 other times, won an Emmy and two Bafta awards.
Perhaps of greatest note is that fact that Hepburn defied convention and remained "sporty" her whole life. She preferred slacks to skirts and was known for her skill at swimming, golf and tennis. Still, when required she could wear an evening gown like no other.
She could be catty and frequently trashed other stars. She particularly hated Ginger Rogers and said some very ugly quotes about the star.
Some of her most famous films include: Summertime (1948), Suddenly Last Summer (1959), The Long Days Journey Into Night (1959) and Rooster Cogburn with John Wayne (1975)...and of course her legendary performance in Lion In Winter...which I will show a clip of.
Hepburn was and is the finest actor of all time. Meryl Streep comes close, but Hepburn is the standard that all other actors are measured by.
There is and has never been such a great actor as Katharine Hepburn. Two of my favorite "celebrity" books are Katarine's own ME (an autobiography) and KATE REMEMBERED which came out three days after her death.
Katharine...or Kate to her friends was the quintessential actor of all time. She could play any role...with ferocity or quiet elegance. Her talent remains and perhaps shall always be the greatest in the field of acting.
She was born Katharine Houghton Hepburn on May 12, 1907 to an extremely liberal but almost over educated family. Her mother founded Planned Parenthood and her father was an extremely respected urologist. Intellectual challenges and very high brow talk ruled her childhood and thus she became an intellectual herself...sometimes to her detriment. She suffered throughout her life due to her brother's suicide.
Hepburn has the distinction of winning more Academy Awards than any other actor. She claimed four for the movies: Morning Glory (1932), Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (1967), The Lion In Winter (1968..a tie with Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl..the only tie in Academy history) and On Golden Pond (1981). She is noted by the American Film Institute as the Number ONE actor of all time.
Hepburn's career started out a bit shaky. She was educated at Bryn Mawr college and although majored in other things, became well known for her performances in the theatre department.
Her Broadway debut was in a small play called Night Hostess where she played a bit part.
She landed the lead role in the Broadway show The Big Pond but was dismissed as not being up to the task.
Her next Broadway show, The Art and Mrs. Bottle she was also fired from...yet they hired her back when a new actor could not be found.
She was signed by RKO in 1932. Her first film was BILL OF DIVORCEMENT with John Barrymore who thought little of her talents.
In fact, her early career was so derided that the famous wit, Dorothy Parker said of Hepburn that she "Ran the gamut of emotions from A to B".
By 1938 she was performing in light comedies such as BRINGING UP BABY and STAGE DOOR. The critics gave her raves, but the audiences stayed away.
In 1939 the Motion Picture Association (a conglomerate of theatre owners) declared Hepburn BOX OFFICE POISON...which effectively could have ended her career.
However, at the time she was involved romantically with Howard Hughes who bought her the rights to THE PHILADELPHIA STORY after she had won over audiences on Broadway. The filmed version was the biggest hit of 1940 and reestablished Hepburn as a great star.
Hepburn was notoriously difficult as a star...she refused to sign autographs and passed on almost every interview request, thus giving her the title of Katharine of Arrogance.
Hepburn made nine films with Spencer Tracy and became his lover. Their affair was one of the most scandalous in Hollywood history in that Tracy refused to divorce his wife (as a devout Catholic) and felt guilty due to his son's deafness. Tracy was a severe alcoholic and it is noted that Hepburn would spend some evenings sleeping in front of his hotel door when he would not let her in. Upon his death (he died in her kitchen of a stroke) she was not invited to the funeral and had to mourn privately.
In addition to her four Academy Awards, she was also nominated 12 other times, won an Emmy and two Bafta awards.
Perhaps of greatest note is that fact that Hepburn defied convention and remained "sporty" her whole life. She preferred slacks to skirts and was known for her skill at swimming, golf and tennis. Still, when required she could wear an evening gown like no other.
She could be catty and frequently trashed other stars. She particularly hated Ginger Rogers and said some very ugly quotes about the star.
Some of her most famous films include: Summertime (1948), Suddenly Last Summer (1959), The Long Days Journey Into Night (1959) and Rooster Cogburn with John Wayne (1975)...and of course her legendary performance in Lion In Winter...which I will show a clip of.
Hepburn was and is the finest actor of all time. Meryl Streep comes close, but Hepburn is the standard that all other actors are measured by.
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