It garnered Hepburn her tenth Oscar nomination and her second win. Edit. Katharine Hepburn holds the record for the most Academy Awards for Best . " Although her choice was based on comfort, her trademark trousered look became so influential that the Council of Fashion Designers of America gave her a lifetime achievement award in 1986. 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. On the day of the service, she followed the procession in her car but turned around right before arriving at the church. 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). Hepburn was once asked why she stayed with Tracy for so long under the circumstances. Tracy would never publicly acknowledge or articulate his feelings for Hepburn, a position that would only fuel the myths that would flourish around their relationship. After all, it kills you. (Katharine Hepburn), My greatest strength is common sense. Updates? Over time her screen presence softened and became more likable; meanwhile, society was catching up to her willful, independent style. In later years she spoke openly about her life and career, especially in her 1991 autobiography, "Me: Stories of My Life" (Alfred A. Knopf). A love relationship as complicated as it was devoted, the bond between screen greats .css-47aoac{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#A00000;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-47aoac:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy stretched across three decades and nine films including Woman of the Year and Guess Whos Coming to Dinner. However, Hepburns much-publicized return to Broadway, in The Lake (1933), proved to be a flop. Unlike other female movie stars, Hepburn was unconcerned with publicity and chose to wear pants instead of dresses. She soon started appearing in small roles in plays. In a rare 1987 interview, Hepburn herself was recorded talking about the tremor. Corrections? History reports that she died in her home in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, from natural causes. Many of her early films are now regarded as classics. She played the distraught, drug-addicted Mary Tyrone in the 1962 film of Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey Into Night." According to Stacker, while living in Nazi-occupied Holland, she helped the Dutch resistance by delivering messages and giving dance performances. She was first noticed professionally in her role as Antiope in the play "The Warrior's Husband," a Greek fable in which she entered by descending a narrow staircase, carrying a stag over her shoulder. Katharine Hepburn was born in Connecticut in 1907 to a doctor father and a feminist mother. All Rights Reserved. Katharine Hepburn died on June 29, 2003, at the age of 96 in the same house in which she had grown up. Ha! "But there's no bunk about Jimmy. 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. Together, Tracy and Hepburn starred in nine movies including their final one, Guess Whos Coming to Dinner before his death in 1967. I loved [him]. Katharine Hepburn died on June 29, 2003 at the age of 96. Audrey Hepburn, original name Audrey Kathleen Ruston (see Researcher's Note), (born May 4, 1929, Brussels, Belgiumdied January 20, 1993, Tolochenaz, Switzerland), Belgian-born British actress known for her radiant beauty and style, her ability to project an air of sophistication tempered by a charming . 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. 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). But through 43 films and dozens of stage and television appearances, she played comic and dramatic parts as varied as Jo in "Little Women," the reborn spinster Rosie in "The African Queen" and Eleanor of Aquitaine in "The Lion in Winter.". She was 96. Essential tremor doesn't cause associated health problems, while Parkinson's carries other symptoms, such as stooped posture and balance problems, Essential tremor may affect the voice box, but Parkinson's does not, Essential tremors are usually felt more when in motion, but Parkinson's tremors are felt more when at rest. His hand and his head shook. After all, Shirley Temple could do it when she was four. (Katharine Hepburn), Copyright 2023 /The Celebrity Deaths.com/All Rights Reserved. Walter Kerr of The New York Times wrote about her performance in "The West Side Waltz" in terms that reflected the general critical opinion: "One mysterious thing she has learned to do is breathe unchallengeable life into lifeless lines.". Katharine Hepburn, the famously gravel voiced, feisty and stylish actress, died last night at the age of 96. Thus, he and Hepburn engaged in a love affair that was shielded from the media but known in certain celebrity circles. What disease did Katharine Hepburn develop and die from? Omissions? ", Of those early years, she said: "I strike people as peculiar in some way, although I don't quite understand why. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. 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. Katharine Hepburn was 5'7" 1/2. As an actress, she was noted for a distinctive speech pattern, quirky mannerisms, and tomboyish beauty. 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. Her tailor-made Hepburn lines included these: "I've always lived my life exactly as I wanted. His health deteriorated badly over the last few years of his life and he was nursed devotedly by Katharine Hepburn. Who then inherited her large estate? "Woman of the Year," "Adam's Rib" and "Pat and Mike" are typically bright and biting Tracy-Hepburn collaborations. Theyd never spoken or met before, but she gave her the address. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. However, The Guardian notes that Hepburn had been sick for some time and was suffering from Parkinson's disease prior to her death. View Complete Answer Who inherited Audrey Hepburn's wealth? When it was fashionable for women to wear trousers, Katherine Hepburn was the first to do so. In her youth she did not have classical leading-lady looks, but a handsome beauty. He died 17 days after filming his . But Parkinsons is a devastating disease, mine is just an irritation.. The Hepburns made sure to educate their children about important political and social subjects and sports. Also perBiography, they fell in love and made a total of nine films together. Kathryn Hepburn died of natural causes at the age of 96. I think I'm a success, but I had every advantage; I should have been.". But the film, now treasured, was a box-office flop, and by then her career was in decline. 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. She was dismissed from more than one play when she was starting out, but she retained supreme self-confidence. The cancer spread into the lining of her small intestine. In a July 7 court application, McFadden, one of Hepburn's executors, estimated that the star's personal property was worth $800,000 and valued the "gross taxable estate" at $10 million. Katharine Hepburn: The star passed away aged 96 back in 2003 (Image: Getty) It is important to note that many suffer from a trembling disorder where movements are so small they cannot be seen. Katharine Hepburn has also developed a posthumous reputation for being a bit of a forward-thinking sexual libertine. I thought of myself first, and that's a pig, isn't it? 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. Of Tracy, with whom she had a 25-year affair, she wrote: "I would have done anything for him. In her will, Hepburn also specified that she did not want a funeral. A forthright woman in Hollywood who appeared to require nothing from men, Hepburn was often labeled a lesbian; while Tracys alleged yet hidden homosexuality was presented as another factor contributing to his depression and alcoholism. Once Katharine Hepburn entered the film world, she was paired with a number of leading men, including Cary Grant and Spencer Tracy. Spender Tracy died in 1967, and Katharine survived him for several decades before her own death in 1996. We lived a life which he liked. Late in life, she laughingly said of her younger self, "I am terribly afraid I just assumed I'd be famous.". She rode horses, swam and played golf and tennis. Tracy Lord is a beautiful, high-spirited rich woman, about to marry her second husband, when her first husband and a reporter who is covering the wedding arrive to create an unexpected romantic tangle. The thought that it was pleasing him. Katharine Hepburn spoke candidly of her "queer" feelings about outlasting her great Hollywood contemporaries in her last ever interview, published for the first time in today's Independent on Sunday. She added, laughing, "Sometimes I wonder myself.". Live About states that this was partly due to her introverted and tomboyish nature. On June 29, 2003, Katharine Hepburna four-time Academy Award winner for Best Actress and one of the greatest screen legends of Hollywood's golden eradies of natural causes at the age of 96, at her home in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. 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. The autobiography became a best seller, a tribute to her enduring appeal across generational lines. On screen, Hepburn often portrayed headstrong, strong-willed characters who stood up for themselves, which also defined her off-screen persona. I honestly dont know, she replied. Katharine Hepburn, 96, an actress of breathtaking talent and unsurpassed durability who in a career that spanned more than five decades became one of the most acclaimed figures in American. Her mother, Katharine Martha Houghton, was a great supporter of women's rights issues including the right to birth control. In fact, in 1928 she married Ludlow Ogden Smith, a member of a wealthy Pennsylvania family. They first met on the set of the comedy-drama Woman of the Year (1942), playing two journalists who fall in love and try to balance their personal lives with their commitment to their careers. According to TCM, Katharine Hepburn died on June 29, 2003 at the age of 96. Hepburn and Tracy, Vincent Canby wrote in The New York Times , "so beautifully complemented each other" that their relationship "never seemed to be a matter of capitulation." Katharine Hepburn's lifelong Connecticut estate finally found a new owner Zillow After Katharine Hepburn died in 2003, the home was purchased by Frank Sciame, owner of Sciame Construction, for $6 million in 2004. Hepburn scored her first major Broadway success in The Warriors Husband (1932), a comedy set in the land of the Amazons. ", Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. But let's face it: it's how you live that really counts. Rather, he added, it was "a matter of understanding and acknowledging each other's boundaries.". In later years she expressed regret at the way she had treated her husband. 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. She was a graduate of Bryn Mawr College. However, users have reported numerous side effects when using the drug, sedation being one common side effect. 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: Live About reports that after Hepburn graduated college, she focused on a career in acting. Many said she had suffered from Parkinson's Disease which she maintained was not the case. According to TCM, Katharine Hepburn died on June 29, 2003 at the age of 96. Hepburn once again became a Hollywood darling. Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003) and Spencer Tracy (1900-1967) were a legendary cinematic couple, both on- and off-screen. Hepburn had suspended her own career for nearly five years to nurse Tracy through what turned out to be his final illness. 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. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. She wrote several memoirs, including Me: Stories of My Life (1991). Katharine Houghton Hepburn was born into a close family whose comfortable social status and unconventional opinions fostered self-confidence and independence. She chose her friend George Cukor to direct. After her 1934 divorce, she never married again. Hepburn, 96, died last month of cardiac arrest at her waterfront home in Old Saybrook. Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then. (Katharine Hepburn), Acting is the most minor of gifts. Furthermore, her nephew and grandniece inherited $100,000. 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. Katharine Hepburn, Me: Stories of My Life. She went to Louis B. Mayer, the head of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio, and sold him the property on the condition that she play the lead. Tremors dont affect both sides of your body in the same way. 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). Almost to the end of her life she played tennis and swam, and in earlier years she golfed. Alternate titles: Katharine Houghton Hepburn. Additionally, McFadden was bequeathed furniture and art from Hepburn. In PEOPLE's . The star, who died last week at the age of 96, told of the strange experience of living a quarter of a century beyond her long-time lover, Spencer Tracy, and more than 40 years beyond Humphrey. Her 12 Academy Award nominations also set a record, which stood until 2003, when it was broken by Meryl Streep. Hepburn refused to work with John Wayne, Katharine Hepburn: The star suffered from a tremor most people thought was Parkinson's, Jane Fonda says 'competitive' Katharine Hepburn 'didn't like' her, Rob Mallard: The Corrie star's 'uncontrollable' health condition, Parkinsons disease symptoms: Early indications of the condition, Essential tremors cause an individuals head, hands and other body parts to shake uncontrollably, Hair loss: Three hair-care habits found to be responsible for permanent hair loss, Diabetes: The anti-diabetic supplement shown to slash blood sugar levels by 36% in minutes, Joanna Lumley health: 'I'm never ill' - star's health secret she has followed for 40-years, Stroke symptoms: Condition may trigger essential tremor, Magic three-hour treatment brings hope for tremor sufferers, Casualty actor Derek Thompson on his 'murderous' condition, Tremors occur when you move and are less noticeable when you rest, Certain medicines, caffeine or stress can make your tremors worse, Tremors may improve with ingestion of a small amount of alcohol (such as wine). Ha! Hepburn won a second Academy Award for Guess Whos Coming to Dinner (1967), a dramedy about interracial marriage; a third for The Lion in Winter (1968), in which she played Eleanor of Aquitaine; and an unprecedented fourth Oscar for On Golden Pond (1981), about long-married New Englanders (Hepburn and Henry Fonda). In fact, she frequently granted interviews, although she was reticent about her personal life. She won her fourth Oscar at the age of 74 for her role in the film "The Four Seasons." ", Katharine Hepburn, Spirited Actress, Dies at 96, https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/29/obituaries/katharine-hepburn-spirited-actress-dies-at-96.html. Hepburn was then cast as an aviator in Dorothy Arzners Christopher Strong (1933). A long-running classic Katharine Hepburn died of natural causes on June 29, 2003, in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Hughes proposed to Hepburn more than once, and in 1938, gave her a diamond and emerald engagement ring. Hepburn was married once, to Philadelphia broker Ludlow Ogden Smith, but the union was dissolved in 1934. READ MORE: How Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn Inspired the Characters Sam and Diane From Cheers. In the film, she plays Violet . The most common procedure is deep brain stimulation, where a doctor inserts a device into the brain that transmits painless electrical pulses to interrupt signals from your thalamus that may be causing your tremors. Katharine graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1928. They led separate lives long before their divorce in 1934, but they remained friendly. "Dick" Hepburn . Their last film together, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" However, in the years leading up to her death many noticed that the stars head would continuously shake, something that was assumed to be Parkinsons disease. Through most of her career, Miss Hepburn had a reputation for being private and elusive with the press. He just considered it a kid who was wildly ambitious or something.". Katharine Hepburn made over 40 films and 16 plays, and received 12 Academy Award nominations, a record that stood until 2002. In "Me," Miss Hepburn finally revealed her age. He and Miss Hepburn lived together for 27 years, until his death in 1967, and made nine films together. American actress, singer, director, producer. 1932). Propanolol and primidone are two of the medicines often prescribed to treat essential tremor. Also the tremor can vary in . 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). However, The Guardian notes that Hepburn had been sick for some time and was suffering from Parkinson's disease prior to her death. 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. She had been wearing pants, then considered quite unladylike, since the 1930's. However, they neither married nor made their romance public. We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you.