Catherine Hepburn, whose biography will beis presented in the article, one of the greatest actresses of classical Hollywood. She has worked on the stage for over sixty years, was awarded several Oscar awards for her outstanding works.
Childhood and youth
Hepburn Catherine was born in the state underthe name Connecticut in 1907. She was the second of six children in the family. Her parents worked in the hospital. Both took an active social and public position. In many ways the nature of the parents and their activitiespostponed the imprint on the young Catherine, who in life was also noted for her energy and enviable independence. Actress Katharine Hepburn was always close to her family.
As a child, Catherine was still a tomboy.She gave odds to many boys from the street. I must say, her father was very responsible for the healthy lifestyle of children, so they constantly engaged in sports, whether it was swimming, running, playing tennis or golf.
From early childhood, Hepburn Kathryn had one great love. This movie. She dreamed about the career of an actress and from the age of twelve she performed wonderful performances every week at home.
In 1921 there was a terrible tragedy.Catherine found her brother Tom hanged. This terrible event knocked her out of the rut. The girl suffered so much that she began to fear people, stopped attending school and switched to home schooling.
Education
In 1924, Hepburn entered the college of Brin-Moore.It was the desire of a mother who had once studied there. The first lessons were given to Katherine with difficulty, because a few years before that she had been a recluse. Classmates considered her strange and very shy.
In college, there was a theater group, inwhich could only be accessed with good grades. Catherine did this too. Soon she began to get the main roles, and the girl became stronger in the idea that she should build a theatrical career.
College Hepburn Catherine graduated in 1928 (Faculty of History and Philosophy).
Carier start
Catherine went to Baltimore.Edward Knopf, the owner of the theater company, was impressed by the talent of the girl and offered her a small role in the play "The Queen". The debut was rated by critics rather high, but Hepburn had shortcomings in speech. She went to New York to solve these problems.
In the big city Knopf set the girl as a doublethe performer of the main role in the play "The Great Pond". But soon Kathryn herself shone on this scene, although a month has not passed since the beginning of her theatrical career.
In 1928, she made her debut on Broadway. However, the show was not rated very high, and soon it was closed.
For some time she worked as a doublet at the leading actresses of New York's theaters, and in the spring of 1930, Hepburn Catherine joined the theatrical company in Massachusetts.
Catherine had to go through a lot of failures, beforethan she began to get decent work. But she waited. In 1932, on the Broadway stage, the play "Woman-Warrior" was held, where the actress demonstrated not only her talent, but also excellent physical training.
The show was shown for three months, critics took Hepburn to the Olympian glory.
Success in Hollywood
One Hollywood agent saw Catherine in the show onBroadway and was incredibly impressed by its beauty and artistry. He invited her to sign a contract with one film company. The actress requested an unprecedented price for a novice artist, but her request was granted, and the contract was concluded.
Hepburn acted in films based onsecond-rate novels or not very talented scenarios, but, despite this (apparently due to the nature of the girl), the films enjoyed great success with the audience.
Her debut was the painting "The Bill of Divorce." Then came the "Little Women", "Alice Adams", "Maria of Scotland". Everywhere Catherine was in the lead role.
By the way, the film "Little Women", for which the actress received the prize of the Venice Festival, remained the most beloved of Catherine until the end of her career.
At the end of 1933, Hepburn was respectedmovie actress, with the opinion of which everyone was considered. But she craved theatrical fame. To the producers of the film company let her go to Broadway, Hepburn had to agree to participate in the film, which she did not like.
But even in the theater everything went wrong. Production of the play was stopped, and the actress returned to California.
Unexpected failure
The next four years were, to some extent, for theactress unsuccessful, although she was nominated for an Oscar. However, most of the films released during this period, contrary to the expectations of the film company, failed at the box office. And the critics did not leave the actress alone.
Along with a string of unpopular films, problemsarose and personally from Hepburn. She had a very difficult relationship with the press: she could rude or sarcastically respond, did not give autographs and interviews, avoided publicity. For this, she was nicknamed "Miss Pride."
Catherine felt that she needed to rest from the hype, and again went to the east coast. She was to play a part in the play based on the novel "Jane Eyre". The performance was met very friendly.
At the end of 1936, Hepburn tried to obtain a roleScarlett in Gone with the Wind. The motive for the refusal was that Katherine was not sexy enough. Katharine Hepburn, whose figure was ideal parameters, categorically categorically did not accept any apologies from the producers, but began to appear in the new film.
But neither the "service entrance to the theater" nor the "Holiday" isimpressed the audience and critics. The last straw was the eccentric comedy "Raising Crumbs", where Hepburn played an erratic heiress, who is trying to achieve the paleontologist's position (his role was played by Cary Grant). Critics responded neutrally to the picture, but the viewer did not go at all. The company again suffered losses. Catherine immediately streamed mud, "yellow press" claimed that only this actress is the cause of the failures of the latest films.
Catherine was practically crushed. She decided to leave the cinema forever. The next two years, the actress refused any job offers.
Revival
Catherine Hepburn, whose films have left so manyhype in the press, returned to the screens in 1940. It was a picture of the "Philadelphia story". Instead of a fee for the role of the actress took the rights to the theatrical production of the same name. The return was triumphant. Catherine was once again nominated for an Oscar.
The next film of 1942 became a turning point in the fate of the actress. Painting "Woman of the Year" introduced her to the man of dreams - Spencer Tracy, and also proved to be successful.
After that, the star signed a contract with "Metro Goldwyn Meier" and in the same year returned to Broadway. The success of the performances brought one name - Katharine Hepburn.
The films, where Tracy played along with her, had a deafening financial success. Among them: "Without Love", "Adam's Edge", "Pat and Mike". Together, they co-starred in nine scenes.
The subsequent career
In 1967, Catherine was last shot in one movie with her lover. Picture "Guess who will come for dinner?" was the final in the life of Spencer Tracy.
However, after the death of her civilian spouse, Catherine did not stop filming. She decided to extend her acting age, despite the fact that she was already sixty years old.
Catherine Hepburn, whose filmography consistsmore than fifty paintings, played in the movies until 1994, that is, to eighty-seven years. In the period from 1967 to 1994 she performed seventeen roles and received two more "Oscars" to the two available ones.
Also, the actress did not forget her love for the theater and from time to time appeared in new performances.
In the late 1970s, Catherine first tested herself on television. However, this idea was not very successful, and Hepburn abandoned this venture.
Catherine Hepburn in old age did not concede to her young colleagues, and even many critics noted that her work in the movie became more spiritual.
Personal life
As mentioned earlier, Catherine was prettya closed man for the press and the public. She did not stand out from the crowd, she was strangers to excessive attention. She defended her private life with all her might and could not only rude the reporter, but also knock the camera out of his hands if he tried to photograph it.
Catherine Hepburn, whose private life was a secretwith seven seals, became tolerant of journalists only in the 1970s. Then she gave her first big interview, from which it became known that she was married to broker Ogden Smith until 1934.
But her relationship with Spencer Tracy was notsecret. Now their novel is called legendary in Hollywood. He was married, but he had not lived with his wife for a long time. However, in order to preserve decency, he and Catherine carefully concealed their relationship.
During Tracy's illness, Catherine Hepburn, personal life, whose family was in first place, gave up work. And after his departure, the actress did not fall in love again.
Last years. Death
After the completion of a career, the health of an actresshas worsened. She had pneumonia. In 2003, she was diagnosed with a tumor, but medical intervention could kill the actress. Until the last days she was on palliative care.
Katherine Hepburn, whose children never came into being, died alone in her home in June 2003.
