It has been six years ago today that actress, Katharine Hepburn (May 12, 1907- June 29, 2003) died at the age of 96.  Hepburn was well known in theatre, film and television, winning four Oscars for Best Actress (out of 12 nominations), an Emmy in 1976 for ‘Love Among the Ruins’ (out of 5 nominations), 2 Tony awards and 8 Golden Globes.  Katharine Hepburn was also ranked by the American Film Institute in 1999 as the Greatest Female Star in the history of American cinema.

Some interesting facts that you may not have known about Katharine Hepburn:

*She idolized her older brother Tom, and when she found him dead in 1921 by an “accidental hanging” she started to use his birthday, November 8^th as her own. 

*She wanted to impress her father, so she took figure skating, golf and swimming.  She won a bronze medal for ice skating at the Madison Square Garden skating club.  She shot golf in the low 80’s and reached the semifinalists for the Connecticut Young Women’s Gold Championship.  She would also swim in the cold waters in front of her house on a regular basis.

*Her mother, Katharine Houghton co-founded Planned Parenthood.

*She had five brothers and sisters, she was the second oldest. 

*She was named after her mother and her oldest brother named after their father.

*While attending Bryn Mawr College, she was suspended for breaking curfew and smoking.

*She used to swim naked after dark in her college’s “Cloisters” fountain.

*She was almost taken away with her house in the New England Hurricane of 1938, but barely escaped.  She had written that she had lost 95% of her belongings from that hurricane including her 1932-1933 Best Actress Oscar.

*She was cast in her first leading role in ‘The Big Pond’ (originally the understudy) which opened in New York.  She was so scared that in the opening performance that she arrived late, stumbled over her lines, tripped over her feet and spoke her lines too fast for theater goes to understand.  She was fired.

*She was well known for her physicality, always willing to do her own stunts (this got her noticed by agents and even Hollywood scouts and even landed her a screen test for ‘A Bill of Divorcement’).  

*Hepburn started to demand $1,500/week for film work (when she first started) when she had only been making $80-$100/week.

*Started the fashion trend of women wearing pant, stating it was more “comfortable”.

*She wrote a book in 1991, entitled ‘Me’.

Katharine was well known for her anti-Hollywood attitude, which did not help her gain a fan base.  She would constantly make fun of other Hollywood starlets such as Ginger Rogers and she would always turn down media interviews and attention, once telling a reporter when they had asked if she had any children, “Two white and three colored.” Although untrue, she told the reporter this to get them off of her back.  She would also refuse to sign autographs for her fans, later being nicknamed, “Katharine of Arrogance” which then caused her fans and movie goes to shy away from her films.

Katharine died in 2003 from natural causes in Connecticut at the age of 96.  In honor of her extensive theater work, the lights of Broadway were dimmed for an hour.