May 2, 2002. Copyright, 2002, Graphic News. All rights reserved

First Lady of Cinema celebrates 95th birthday
By Mark Samms

LONDON, May 2, Graphic News:  Nothing about Katharine Hepburn has ever been regarded as remotely predictable. Her voice, her looks, her feisty attitude and her celebrated love life have all been unusual, off-beat and at odds with the conventions of her age.

Even her ancestors (she claimed to be related to one of the illegitimate offspring of EnglandÕs 13th-century monarch King John) and her parents -- her mother was one of the first suffragettes -- all helped shape the unique character and personality of one of the movie industryÕs most enduring legends, who is about to celebrate her 95th birthday.

The first sign of her uncompromising attitude came when she married a businessman called Ludlow Ogden Smith at the age of 21. She insisted he change his name to S. Ogden Ludlow so she would not become known as plain old Kate Smith.

It is not so much the fact that Katharine Hepburn has won 12 Oscar nominations -- a record equalled only by Meryl Steep -- and more actual statuettes (four) than any other actor, male or female, that makes her so special. It is the fact that she won them on her own terms in films in which she wanted to appear.

At a time when top box-office attractions, especially women, had their entire lives moulded by the all-powerful studio bosses, Hepburn was a beacon of independent thought and action. This became clear early in her career when, having been labelled Òbox office poisonÓ in Hollywood, she bought the rights to a successful Broadway play and literally negotiated her way back into films.

Despite her glittering career, it is her enduring love affair with Spencer Tracy for which Hepburn will also be best remembered. It lasted for more than a quarter of a century and it is certain that producers will one day be clamouring to turn it into a movie.

But who will they find play the female lead? Who will be able to reproduce that haughty bearing and that distinctive voice that was once described as being Òlike a cross between Donald Duck and a Stradivarius?Ó
/ENDS

Sources  www.imdb.com, www.geocities.com, www.who2.com, www.eonline.com