The Great Kate - Sex~Kitten.net

"Let's face it, we're prostitutes. I've spent my life selling myself- my face, my body, the way I walk and talk. Actors say 'You can look at me, but you must pay me for it.'"

Aah yes, the great Kate never held back from speaking her mind. Whether the public liked it or not, she spoke what she believed was the truth. She was an icon of stage and screen, a feminist role model, a one-of-a-kind woman who exuded strength, sexuality, and femininity. She lived a life most of us dream about, achieving great success, true love, and immortal status in the hearts and minds of moviegoers. For all the Julia Robert's and Gwyneth Paltrow's of today, none will ever come close to possessing the talent, wit, or screen presence of Katharine Hepburn.

She was born in 1907 to a wealthy, privileged family in Connecticut. He mother was a feminist and suffragist; her father a doctor who fought for prevention of STD's. She was the second oldest of five children, but suffered a tremendous loss when she discovered her oldest brother, Tom, dead of a suicide in 1921 when she was fourteen.

At Bryn Mawr College she became active in theatrical productions and soon moved to New York and began appearing on Broadway. Ironically, she was fired from her first production The Big Pond (1928), after one night, but by 1932 she'd eventually made the leap to the silver screen in A Bill of Divorcement, upstaging co-star John Barrymore and making herself a star. It was for her third film, Morning Glory, that she would win the first of her record four Oscars.

Hepburn in 'The Philadelphia Story' 1939

Despite appearing in such comedy classics as Bringing up Baby (one of my favorite films), by 1938 Hepburn was labeled "box office poison" and returned to the Broadway stage. It was there that she appeared in a play called The Philadelphia Story playing the role of Tracy Lord, a socialite torn between three men. It was the perfect role for Hepburn and when she bought the film rights (with the help of lover Howard Hughes), she demanded to MGM that she star in the movie version. Her plan worked and 1940's The Philadelphia Story became Hepburn's great comeback, earning her another Oscar nod and Jimmy Stewart his first Oscar.

It was her next film, however, that she would be paired with the love of her life, Spencer Tracy. 1942's Woman of theYear was the first of nine films she made with Tracy and marked the beginning of a love affair that lasted 27 years. Because of Tracy's refusal to divorce his wife (he was Catholic), the two were never seen in public together and often had to keep the relationship under wraps, but still managed to carry on until his death in 1967. The two possessed a smart and sexy screen chemistry that rivaled, if not surpassed, that of Bogie and Bacall, but were always equals in their roles. Even today it almost seems too perfect that the greatest actor and actress of their generation (if not all time) would meet and carry on one of the greatest love affairs of all time. For some the ultimate pairing is Bogie and Bacall, for me it was always Hepburn and Tracy. There have yet to be an actor and actress that can replace the style, perfection, and comic timing these two had together or separately. They are also two of the only four actors (the others being Tom Hanks and Jason Robards) to win back to back Oscars. (Tracy won in '37 and '38 for Captains Courageous and Boy's Town; Hepburn in '67 and '68 for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? and The Lion in Winter.)

Hepburn became famous for her independent attitude, trademark voice, and pants-wearing style long before it was fashionable. She rarely, if ever, played victims in her roles, instead portrayed strong-minded, intelligent and, often, opinionated women. She was a true feminist icon...and one that couldn't be bothered with a backlash because she was so ahead of her game. She was one of the few actresses (the only?) to work well into her elderly years and won three of her Oscars after the age of 60. She won her final Oscar for 1981's On Golden Pond at the age of 73 and broke the record for most Oscars won by a single actor.

Though suffering from the effects of Parkinson's disease, she came out of retirement one last time to appear in 1994's Love Affair (with Warren Beatty and Annette Bening) before disappearing to her Old Saybrook, Connecticut estate. It was there that she died surrounded by friends and family. One could not have asked for a more perfect life than she, I imagine.

Hepburn was undoubtedly a screen legend, but she is often remembered for the things that made her so unique- her ability to be smart and sexy, her intelligence, her clever wit, groundbreaking style, screen perfection, and everlasting career. A true one-of-a kind and a woman who embodied feminist ideals, we may never see anyone quite like her again. Her attitude about life can be summed up in one classic Hepburn quip, "If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun."

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Hepburn once said regarding death "...if anybody wants to do more than (remember her) when she dies, they can rent one of my movies." I recommend everybody do just that to remember the greatness that was Kate. You don't know what acting is until you've seen Hepburn in action. Here's my recommendations-