Katherine Hepburn
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KATHERINE HEPBURN
Original Vintage Photo signed by all three.
Comes with Cert. of Auth.
From "Undercurrent" 1947 w/ Mitchum
Original Vintage Magazine Advert. signed by Mitchum only
Early 1930's secured from PHOTOPLAY Magazine
11"x14" Original Vintage Photo #1
Dorothy Arzner
Fabled Director of Hepburn's tribute to
Amelia Earhardt in 1933s film "Christopher Strong"
Very rare in any form - 1940 authentically signed letter
Early 1930's secured from PHOTOPLAY Magazine
11"x14" Original Vintage Photo #2
Rarely signs photos, see next lot.  Although a photographic post card, this is one of the rare exceptions. First I've                  offered since collecting in 1940's.
Original Vintage Photo Postcard Signed in Ink.
SOLD
Vintage Original Photo, Authentically Signed in Ink.
Approximately 11"x14"
(Scanning added the Moire pattern - not in original print).
Signed April 20th, 1939
Hepburn starred in "The Philadelphia Story" filmed in '39, released in 1940.
T.L.S.~Typed Letter Signed w/ Original Vintage 8"x10" Photo
Spencer Tracy & Katherine Hepburn
Extremely rare, both signed one photo,
"Sea of Grass" directed by Elia Kazan 1944.
Signed by Both 10" x 13" Vintage Photo
Polite letter to autograph request
1988 authentically signed letter
Two 8 x 10 FOH's of "African Queen" 1957
Biography for
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Mini biography
Born May 12, 1907 in Hartford, Connecticut, she was the daughter of a doctor and a suffragette, both of whom always encouraged her to speak her mind, develop it fully, and exercise her body to its full potential. An                              athletic tomboy as a child, she was also very close to her brother, Tom, and was devastated at age 14 to find him dead, the apparent result of accidentally hanging himself while practicing a hanging trick their father                              had taught them. For many years after this, Katharine used his birthdate, November 8, as her own. She then became very shy around girls her age, and was largely schooled at home. She did attend Bryn Mawr College,                              however, and it was here that she decided to become an actress, appearing in many of their productions. After graduating, she began getting small roles in plays on Broadway and elsewhere. She always attracted attention                              in these parts, especially for her role in "Art and Mrs. Bottle" (1931); then, she finally broke into stardom when she took the starring role of the Amazon princess Antiope in "A Warrior's Husband" (1932). The inevitable film offers followed, and after making a few screen tests, she was cast in Bill of Divorcement, A (1932), opposite John Barrymore. The film was a hit, and after agreeing to her salary demands, RKO                              signed her to a contract. She made five films between 1932 and 1934. For her third, Morning Glory (1933) she won her first Academy Award. Her fourth, Little Women (1933) was the most successful picture of its day. But                              stories were beginning to leak out of her haughty behavior off-screen and her refusal to play the Hollywood Game, always wearing slacks and no makeup, never posing for pictures or giving interviews. Audiences were                              shocked at her unconventional behavior instead of applauding it, and so when she returned to Broadway in 1934 to star in "The Lake, " the critics panned her and the audiences, who at first bought up tickets,                              soon deserted her. When she returned to Hollywood, things didn't much better. From the period 1935-1938, she had only two hits: Alice Adams (1935), which brought her her second Oscar nomination, and Stage Door (1937);                              the many flops included Break of Hearts (1935), Sylvia Scarlett (1936), Mary of Scotland (1936), Quality Street (1937), and the now-classic Bringing Up Baby (1938). With so many flops, she came to be labeled "box-office poison." She decided to go back to Broadway to star in "The Philadelphia Story" (1938), and was rewarded with a smash. She quickly bought the film rights, and so was able to negotiate her                              way back to Hollywood on her own terms, including her choice of director and costars. The film version of Philadelphia Story, The (1940), was a box-office hit, and Hepburn, who won her third Oscar nomination for the                              film, was bankable again. For her next film, Woman of the Year (1942), she was paired with Spencer Tracy, and the chemistry between them lasted for eight more films, spanning the course of 25 years, and a romance that                              lasted that long offscreen. (She received her fourth Oscar nomination for the film.) Their films included the very successful Adam's Rib (1949), Pat and Mike (1952), and Desk Set (1957). With African Queen, The (1951),                              Hepburn moved into middle-aged spinster roles, receiving her fifth Oscar nomination for the film. She played more of these types of roles throughout the 50's, and won more Oscar nominations for many of them, including                              her roles in Summertime (1955), Rainmaker, The (1956), and Suddenly, Last Summer (1959). Her film roles became fewer and farther between in the 60's, as she devoted her time to her ailing partner Spencer Tracy. For one                              of her film appearances in this decade, in Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962), she received her ninth Oscar nomination. After a five-year absence from films, she then made Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (1967), her last                              film with Tracy and the last film Tracy ever made; he died just weeks after finishing it. It garnered Hepburn her tenth Oscar nomination and her second win. The next year, she did Lion in Winter, The (1968), which                              brought her her eleventh Oscar nomination and third win. In the 70's, she turned to making made-for-TV films, with Glass Menagerie, The (1973) (TV), Love Among the Ruins (1975) (TV) and Corn Is Green, The (1979) (TV).                              She still continued to make an occasional appearence in feature films, such as Rooster Cogburn (1975), with John Wayne, and On Golden Pond (1981), with Henry Fonda. This last brought her her twelfth Oscar nomination and                              fourth win. She holds the record of being the actress with the most Oscar nominations and most Oscar wins. She made more TV-films in the 80's, and wrote her autobiography, _Me_, in 1991. Her most recent feature film was                              Love Affair (1994), with Warren Beatty and Annette Bening, and her last TV-film to date was One Christmas (1994) (TV). She is still very much alive, now in her 90's and retired to Connecticut, truly a living legend.
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Mini biography
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was born in Hartford, Connecticut on November 12, 1907 to a medical doctor and his                              wife. From an early age she was fascinated with the silent movies, often doing odd jobs to get the needed ticket money to go to her favorite theater and see the latest production. Katharine wanted to be an actress. She                              was educated at the Oxford School for Girls in Hartford and later attended Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia. She had been in local school plays but college would be something different. At first her grades did not lend                              themselves to the academic scenario, in fact she almost flunked out. Unless her grades improved Katharine could not participate in college plays. She then buckled down and achieved the grades she needed to attain her                              dream. Before long Kate, as she is fondly called, became an established member of Bryn Mawr's theater group. After leaving college, Kate began her acting career in earnest while touring with a stock company on the East                              Coast. It wasn't too long before the cinema beckoned. At first, Paramount offered her a contract but she turned them down flat. She felt that Hollywood was a ridiculous place for her to be. However, when RKO Pictures                              offered her a contract, Kate demanded $1,500 per week. RKO countered with a screen test in New York. RKO was planning the film A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT (1932) and felt Kate was the right part for Sydney Fairfield. She                              passed the screen test and the studio agreed to her salary "demands". Though she had never made a movie, director George Cukor felt she was right for the part. The film was a hit and it launched Kate into a                              career that would make her legendary. Kate's next film as Eva Lovelace in 1933's MORNING GLORY was, in short, a masterful performance. So masterful, in fact, that Kate won the first of four Academy Awards. Later that                              year Kate appeared in LITTLE WOMEN which was a box-office smash, breaking all records up to that time. In 1934, Kate appeared in SPITFIRE as Trigger Hicks, the illiterate tomboy who believes herself a faith healer.                              Afterward, she returned to her love as a stage actress. She didn't leave the silver screen patrons abandoned however. Kate filmed SYLVIA SCARLETT, BREAK OF HEARTS, and ALICE ADAMS in 1935 and A WOMAN REBEL followed by                              MARY OF SCOTLAND the next year. After the movie, BRINGING UP BABY in 1938, Kate hoped for the part of Scarlett O'Hara in GONE WITH THE WIND but lost out to Vivien Leigh. She stayed in her beloved Connecticut for the                              summer of 1939, turning down roles for both the stage and screen. She finally accepted the stage role of Tracy lord in THE PHILADELPHIA STORY which later was parlayed into the screen version with a hit that broke all                              box-office records again. She was nominated for an Oscar for the role of Miss Lord, but lost to Joan Fontaine in SUSPICION. In 1942, Kate starred with the great Spencer Tracy in WOMAN OF THE YEAR. This would not be the                              last time they would team together. In KEEPER OF THE FLAME later that year she again appeared with Tracy. By 1947, Kate's popularity at the box-office slipped somewhat and made fewer films as a result. She did star in                              the hit ADAM'S RIB in 1949 with Tracy. The films she chose to make were grand one's indeed. 1951 saw her star with Humphrey Bogart in THE AFRICAN QUEEN. Kate was to make six more films during the balance of the 1950's                              with SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER in 1959 with Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift. Kate was to make no films again until 1962's LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT. Five years later she teamed up again with Spencer Tracy in GUESS                              WHO'S COMING TO DINNER with Syndney Poitier. This film garnered her second Academy Award. The following year she won her third Oscar for THE LION IN WINTER which saw her tied with Barbra Streisand who played in FUNNY                              GIRL. A few movies and made for TV films followed in the 1970's. In 1981, Kate starred as Ethel Thayer with Henry Fonda in the hit ON GOLDEN POND which gave her a fourth Oscar. Several made for TV special followed with                              her last big screen appearance in LOVE AFFAIR in 1994. The longevity of this fine actress will be very hard to match. Currently Kate is retired to her home in Connecticut.
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'Ludlow Ogden Smith' (1928 - 1934) (divorced)
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Trivia
Graduated from Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA in 1928, with a BA in Drama
September 1999 - Katherine was named Best Classic Actress of the 20th Century in an Entertainment Weekly on-line poll, just barely                              (21.5% to 20.6%) beating out runner-up Audrey Hepburn.
Has never watched Guess Who's Coming to Dinner because it was Spencer Tracy's last film
(June 1999) Ranked #1 woman in the AFI's '50 greatest movie legends'.
Walked around the studio in her underwear in the early 1930's when the costume department stole her slacks from her dressing room. She                              refused to put anything else on until they were returned.
She was nearly decapitated by an aeroplane propeller when she was rushing about an airport, avoiding the press.
Was Named the best female star by the AFI
Received the most Oscar nominations (12) and the most Oscar wins (4) in an acting category in history.
Was a leading choice to play "Scarlett O'Hara"
Had a relationship with Spencer Tracy from 1940 until his death in 1967.
(October 1997) Ranked #68 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.
Born at 3:47pm-EST
Aunt of actress Katharine Houghton, who portrayed her daughter in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967).
Admitted to using her brother's birthdate as her own for years.
Attended                              Bryn Mawr College Does not suffer from Parkinsons disease. She already set the record straight in the 1991 TV documentary "Katharine Hepburn: All about Me", which she narrated herself. Quote: "Now to                              squash a rumor. No, I don't have Parkinson's. I inherited my shaking head from my grandfather Hepburn. I discovered that whisky helps stop the shaking. Problem is, if you're not careful, it stops the rest of you too. My                              head just shakes, but I promise you, it ain't gonna fall off!"
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"People have grown fond of me, like some old building."
"If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased."
"I'm a personality as well as an actress. Show me                              an actress who isn't a personality, and you'll show me a woman who isn't a star."
"Wouldn't it be great if people could get to live suddenly as often as they die suddenly?"
"I don't regret anything I've ever done; As long as I enjoyed it at the time."
"Love' has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get - only with what you are expecting to give - which is                              everything."
"I often wonder whether men and women really suit eachother. Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then."
"I've been loved, and I've been in love. There's a big difference."
"Not everyone is lucky enough to understand how delicious it is to suffer."
"There are no laurels in life...just new challenges."
On Hollywood: "They didn't like me until I got into a leg show."
"A really strong character, honest and direct like a man.                              It was a pleasure to play with her and get to know her." - John Wayne
"I can't say I believe in prizes. I was a whiz in the three-legged race - that's something you CAN win."
"Afraid of death? Not at all. Be a great relief. Then I wouldn't have to talk to you."
"She runs the gamut of emotions from A to B." - Dorothy Parker reveiewing Hepburn's performance in                              Spitfire (1934). (Kate later said the remark was, "Extremely accurate and funny.")
"Once a crowd chased me for an autograph. 'Beat it, ' I said, 'go sit on a tack!' 'We made you, ' they said.                              'Like hell you did, ' I told them."
On fashion: "I wear my sort of clothes to save me the trouble of deciding which clothes to wear."
"My father, a surgeon and urologist, studied sex                              professionally all his life. Before he died at 82, he told me he hadn't come to any conclusions about it at all."
On marriage: "It's bloody impractical. 'To love, honor, and obey.' If it weren't, you                              wouldn't have to sign a contract."
"I discovered early on - get a tough director." later said the remark was "Extremely accurate and funny.")
"At my age, you don't get much variety - usually some old nut who's off her track."
"With all the opportunities I had, I could have done more. And if I'd done more, I could have been quite                              remarkable."
"I find a woman's point of view much grander and finer than a man's."
"I remember as a child going around with Votes For Women balloons. I learnt early what it is to be                              snubbed for a good cause."
"Life is full of censorship. I can't spit in your eye."
"Only when a woman decides not to have children, can a woman live like a man. That's what I've done."
"Acting is a nice childish profession - pretending you're someone else and at the same time                              selling yourself."
"It's a bore - B-O-R-E - when you find you've begun to rot."
"Plain women know more about men than beautiful ones do."
"Life is hard. After all, it kills you."
"I think most of the people involved in any art always secretly wonder whether they are really there because they're good - or because they're lucky."
"I never realized until lately that women were supposed to be inferior."
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(1996-) Lives in her retreat at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, USA.
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Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) $200,000
Biography from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia:
Actress. (b. May 12, 1907, Hartford, Conn.) She was branded "box-office poison" by the nation's exhibitors in 1938, but Katharine Hepburn has come to                              be regarded as a national treasure. One of the most frequently honored screen actresses (with eight Academy nominations and four Oscars to her credit), Hepburn came to films inA Bill of Divorcement (1932), as John                              Barrymore's daughter, following a sometimes tempestuous career on stage in amateur theatricals, college shows, stock, and finally on Broadway. Her unusual looks and manner-and her unique New England voice-put off some                              moviegoers at first, but her endearing performance as a naive, impulsive young actress trying to crash Broadway, in 1933'sMorning Glory won her her first Academy Award. Hepburn proved her versatility in such pictures                              asLittle Women (1933),The Little Minister (1934),Alice Adams (1935, for which she received an Oscar nomination),Mary of Scotland (1936), and the wonderfulStage Door (1937, an interesting companion piece toMorning Glory                              But for every success in her early Hollywood career, there was also a major misfireincluding such all-time oddities asChristopher Strong (1933, in which she played an aviatrix) andSylvia Scarlett (1935, in which she                              disguised herself as a boy).
By the time she made the classic screwball comedyBringing Up Baby (1938, for which the understandably nervous actress took comedy "pointers" from veteran screen funnyman                              Walter Catlett) and the equally delightful comedy-dramaHoliday (also 1938), Hepburn's film career was on the skids. (Although it was that same year that Walt Disney immortalized her in cartoon form, as a haughty Little                              Bo-Peep in his animated short subjectMother Goose Goes Hollywood She returned to Broadway to star as spoiled socialite Tracy Lord in Philip Barry's "The Philadelphia Story," forsaking a huge salary for a                              percentage of profits and title to the screen rights. Her successful gamble paid off, and led to an equally triumphant return to Hollywood in the 1940 film version, which earned her another Oscar nomina tion. She was                              nominated again for her next film,Woman of the Year (1942) which cast her as an opinionated newspaper columnist opposite Spencer Tracy (as a down-to-earth sportswriter). It was a match made in movie heaven; the two                              would star in eight subsequent films over the next 25 years. (They also commenced an offscreen relationship that lasted until his death.)
Some of the early Tracy-Hepburn collaborations were heavy dramas such                              asKeeper of the Flame (1942) andThe Sea of Grass (1947). Dramatic fireworks flew as well inState of the Union (1948), but the team is best remembered for its humorous skirmishes in the battle of the sexes withWithout                              Love (1945),Adam's Rib (1949),Pat and Mike (1952), andDesk Set (1957). While Hepburn's work in the 1930s and 1940s receives the most attention today, many of the star's peak achievements were realized in the 1950s and                              1960s. She picked up Oscar nominations for her work inThe African Queen (1951, opposite Humphrey Bogart, as a missionary whose personality she patterned after Eleanor Roosevelt),Summertime (1955),The Rainmaker (1956),Suddenly, Last Summer (1959, as Elizabeth Taylor's shrewish, sinister aunt), andLong Day's Journey Into Night (1962). Offscreen for five years, she returned to costar with Tracy inGuess Who's Coming to Dinner                              (1967), which proved to be his final film; it won her a second Oscar. Hepburn received her third gold statuette the following year for her work in the period dramaThe Lion in Winter as Eleanor of Aquitaine, which showed                              the aging actress in full command of her inestimable talent. She followed this triumph by making her Broadway musical debut as couturier Coco Chanel in "Coco." Other films around this time include The Madwoman                              of Chaillot (1969), The Trojan Women (1972), and A Delicate Balance (1973).
A much-anticipated pairing of Hepburn with John Wayne yielded disappointing results, asRooster Cogburn (1975) turned out to be a                              watered-down retread ofThe African Queen But her teaming with another screen giant, Henry Fonda, inOn Golden Pond (1981), brought her a fourth Best Actress Academy Award, and proved to be her finest latter-day film.                              Hepburn's TV work has largely been confined to long-form dramas. She received Emmy nominations for Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie" (1973), and "The Corn Is Green" (1979), directed by her                              longtime friend and collaborator, George Cukor. She won an Emmy for "Love Among the Ruins" (1975), also directed by Cukor and costarring Laurence Olivier. Since that time she has starred in several "star-vehicle" TV movies, includingLaura Lansing Slept Here (1988), The Man Upstairs (1992), and This Can't Be Love (1994). Her 1991 autobiography, "Me," was a best-seller, as was her more specific                              1987 memoir, "The Making of The African Queen or How I Went to Africa with Bogart, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind." After years away from the big screen, Hepburn was coaxed back to do Love Affair                              (1994); she provided that film's highlight, as Warren Beatty's aunt.
 
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