Katharine Hepburn
The Hollywood studio era of the early twentieth century established film acting as a dominant art form in American cultural life, drawing performers from stage and other traditions into a new medium still developing its grammar and conventions. Katharine Hepburn, born on May 12, 1907, in Hartford, Connecticut, became one of the actors who worked across that medium and several others over the course of a long career.
Educated at Kingswood-Oxford School and later at Bryn Mawr College, Hepburn worked as a stage actor, a film actor, and a television actor, moving across these forms throughout her professional life. She worked in the English language and held United States citizenship. Beyond her screen work, she also wrote as an autobiographer, extending her public presence into the literary sphere. Her career stretched across decades in which the American entertainment industry underwent significant structural and aesthetic changes, and she remained active across multiple platforms within it.
The honors Hepburn received over the course of her career were drawn from institutions spanning several countries and disciplines. She received the Academy Award for Best Actress, a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, as well as the Volpi Cup for Best Actress. Her recognition extended to television work through an Emmy Award, and the Italian film community awarded her the David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress. She also received the Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year distinction and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Among the honors marking her broader cultural standing, Hepburn received the Kennedy Center Honors, an award given by the United States government to individuals in the performing arts. She died on June 29, 2003, in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, having accumulated a record of formal recognition across film, stage, and television that few performers in the English-speaking world have matched. The Kennedy Center Honors remains among the most formally significant distinctions in her documented record of achievement.
Quotes by Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn's insights on:
“Sometimes I wonder if men and women really suit each other. Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then.”
Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get, only with what you are expecting to give, which is everything.
Now look, all I'm trying to say is that there are lots of things that a man can do, and in society's eyes it's all hunky-dory. A woman does the same things—the same thing mind you—and she's an outcast...All I'm saying is why let this deplorable system seep into our courts of law where women are supposed to be equal.
Acting is the most minor of gifts and not a very high-class way to earn a living. Shirley Temple could do it at the age of four.
Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get — only with what you are expecting to give — which is everything.
We are taught you must blame your father, your sisters, your brothers, the school, the teachers. But never blame yourself. It’s never your fault. But it’s always your fault, because if you wanted to change you’re the one who has got to change.
We are taught you must blame your father, your sisters, your brothers, the school, the teachers—you can blame anyone, but never blame yourself. It's never your fault but it's always your fault because if you want to change, you're the one who has got to change. It's as simple as that, isn't it?