Katharine Hepburn.

Katharine Hepburn. Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003), American actor, winner of four Academy Awards for best actress, noted for her unique combination of timeless beauty, wit, and fiery passion. Hepburn had a rich stage and screen career that lasted more than 60 years. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Hepburn became fascinated with acting at an early age. She appeared in student productions at Bryn Mawr College and pursued a professional stage career after graduating. She scored a notable success on Broadway in 1932 in The Warrior's Husband and was offered a motion-picture contract from the RKO studio. Hepburn demanded $1,500 a week, considered an outrageous sum for a young actor at the time, but the studio agreed. She made her screen debut in the hit A Bill of Divorcement (1932), won her first Academy Award for best actress for Morning Glory (1933), and also appeared in the box-office smash Little Women (1933). Other prominent Hepburn roles included Alice Adams (1935), Sylvia Scarlett (1935), Stage Door (1937), Holiday (1938), Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Philadelphia Story (1940, after appearing in the stage version and buying the film rights), Woman of the Year (1942), State of the Union (1948), Adam's Rib (1949), The African Queen (1951), Pat and Mike (1952), Summertime (1955), and The Rainmaker (1956). She appeared in a number of these films (such as Woman of the Year, Adam's Rib, and Pat and Mike) with leading man Spencer Tracy, who became her longtime companion. Hepburn received some of her biggest accolades after the age of 50, earning an Academy Award nomination for the screen version of the Eugene O'Neill play Long Day's Journey into Night (1962), and winning back-to-back Oscars for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) and The Lion in Winter (1968, shared with American actor Barbra Streisand). Later films included The Trojan Women (1972), Rooster Cogburn (1975), and On Golden Pond (1981), for which she won her fourth Academy Award. Her final film role came in Love Affair (1994). Hepburn's autobiography, Me: Stories of My Life, was published in 1991 and became a bestseller. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.