Woman's History Month - Katharine Hepburn: "The First Lady of Cinema"

It was no surprise when the American Film Institute announced in 1999 their 50 greatest American screen legends, named Katharine Hepburn as their #1 female actor. Hepburn's screen presence spanned seven decades, and to date, no one has beaten her record of four Academy Awards, all of them for the category of Best Female Actor in a Leading Role (only Meryl Streep has more Oscar nominations, but three of hers are for supporting roles). Among other numerous prizes, she won two BAFTAs and was nominated three more times - all in the Best Actress category. According to Wikipedia, she also has an Emmy and two Tony awards, along with eight Golden Globes.

As impressive as this all sounds, it isn't so much the awards and nominations that make her a woman who should be remembered and honored during National Woman's History Month, but rather the type of woman she was.

Born into a fairly wealthy Connecticut home, Katharine's father was a doctor and mother was a Suffragette of independent means. Katharine was her parent's second born, the first daughter of three girls and three boys, making for a very noisy household. According to her autobiographical book, "Me: Stories of My Life", she grew up loving sports and participating in many, including getting a 3^rd place medal in a local figure skating competition. Katharine left sports, as the stage and screen was where she wanted to be, although she used her athletic abilities in doing her own sports performances in Pat and Mike as well as doing some of her own stunts in films like Bringing Up Baby.

But more than that, she was truly an individual when it came to both her personal life, and her acting career, and that makes her an even more historical woman. Katharine was always her own woman. She married once, but her career and spirit got in the way. Her private life didn't get easier after that. Her connection to the infamous Howard Hughes was such an Hollywood talking point that it was (inaccurately) portrayed in the movie The Aviator. Later, her relationship with the married Spencer Tracey , with whom she co-starred in many marvelous movies (but which never became a love affair, as they both respected his catholic attitudes), was one that brought her both personal disappointment and emotional fulfillment. However, she was never bitter about the fact that they never married. On the contrary, in her book she openly shows that her love of Spencer was the light of her life.

Even politically, she was outstanding - standing steadfast with her colleagues and friends who were blacklisted during the dark days of the McCarthy era, which almost ruined her as well. She was staunchly liberal and a true believer in equal rights, which manifested itself in her openness and non-judgmental attitude towards everyone she met. She was a straight-talker, never mincing her words and could be tough as nails when needed, but that didn't stop her from being gentle, loving and caring. She had a marvelous sense of humor and love playing practical jokes on friends and family alike.

Professionally, despite all the accolades, things didn't always go smoothly. She weathered a time early on when she was labeled "Box Office Poison" due in part, to her staying true to herself and eschewing the glamorous and glitzy lifestyle of parties and high living (and wearing slacks, long before it was fashionable). This setback only pushed her to further her talent by returning to the stage and eventually, she bounced back even better than ever. She brought class and elegance to both the lowest forms of slapstick comedy, as well as honesty and sincerity to the most sensitive and heart-wrenching of dramatic roles. When young, she was probably one of the most beautiful women on the planet, and yet she never played on that, nor became in the least bit vain. In fact, she was even a bit self-conscious about her looks, in part because her 5'7" height made her one of the tallest leading ladies of her day.

With an expansive 52 screen credits spreading from 1932 until 1994, ranging from comedies like The Philadelphia Story and Adam's Rib to dramas such as Little Women and Long Days Journey into Night, there is no question is why Katherine Hepburn is my choice for National Woman'sHistory Month's greatest actress of the 20^th century. When Katharine Hepburn died at the age of 96 on June 29, 2003, the world lost not only an amazing talent, but an extraordinary human being. This is why Katharine Hepburn will go down in history as the "First Lady of Cinema".