Katharine Hepburn dies at 96

Old Saybrook, Conn. — Katharine Hepburn, an icon of feminist strength and spirit who brought a chiseled beauty and patrician bearing to such films as "The Philadelphia Story" and "The African Queen," died yesterday. She was 96.

Hepburn died at her home in Old Saybrook, said Cynthia McFadden, a friend.

Hepburn, who had been in declining health in recent years, died of old age and was surrounded by family. "It's been a sad day, but a celebration of her life as well," McFadden said.

The lights will dim on Broadway at 8 p.m. tomorrow in her honor.

During her 60-year career, Hepburn won a record four Academy Awards and was nominated 12 times, which stood as a record until Meryl Streep surpassed her nomination total in 2003. Her Oscars were for "Morning Glory," 1933; "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," 1967; "A Lion in Winter," 1968; and "On Golden Pond," 1981.

Despite her success, Hepburn always felt she could have done more.

"I could have accomplished three times what I've accomplished," she once said. "I haven't realized my full potential. It's disgusting."

But, she said, "Life's what's important. Walking, houses, family. Birth and pain and joy — and then death. Acting's just waiting for the custard pie. That's all."

Hepburn, the product of a wealthy, freethinking New England family, was forthright in her opinions and unconventional in her conduct.

She dressed for comfort, usually in slacks and sweater, with her red hair caught up in a topknot. She married only once, briefly, and her name was linked to Howard Hughes and other famous men, but the great love of her life was Spencer Tracy. They made nine films together and remained close companions until Tracy's death in 1967.

For many years, she divided her time between New York and Connecticut. Even well into her 70s, she was restless with energy, rising at dawn and going to bed at 7 p.m. when she wasn't appearing in a play or film.

She took to writing: Her first book, "The Making of 'The African Queen': Or, How I Went To Africa With Bogart, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind" made her a best-selling author at 77. She followed it with "Me: Stories of My Life" in 1991.

Among her many honors: In 1999, a survey of screen legends by the American Film Institute ranked her No. — among actresses.

She was born in Hartford, Conn., on May 12, 1907, one of six children of Dr. Thomas N. Hepburn, a urologist and pioneer in social hygiene, and Katharine Houghton Hepburn, who worked for birth control and getting the vote for women.

Young Kate was educated by tutors and at private schools, entering Bryn Mawr in 1924. After graduating, she joined a stock company in Baltimore. She made her New York debut in "These Days" in 1928, the same year she married socialite Ludlow Ogden Smith. She divorced him in 1934 and later remarked, "I don't believe in marriage. It's bloody impractical to love, honor and obey. If it weren't, you wouldn't have to sign a contract."

In later years, she had various health problems, including tremors. In 1990, she told The Associated Press: "I'm what is known as gradually disintegrating. I don't fear the next world, or anything. I don't fear hell, and I don't look forward to heaven."

"There comes a time in your life when people get very sweet to you," she said in another interview. "I don't mind people being sweet to me. In fact, I'm getting rather sweet back at them.

"But I'm a madly irritating person, and I irritated them for years. Anything definite is irritating — and stimulating. I think they're beginning to think I'm not going to be around much longer. And what do you know — they'll miss me, like an old monument. Like the Flatiron Building."

Career highlights

FILMS:

A Bill of Divorcement, 1932

Christopher Strong, 1933

Morning Glory, 1933

Little Women, 1933

Spitfire, 1934

The Little Minister, 1934

Break of Hearts, 1935

Alice Adams, 1935

Sylvia Scarlett, 1936

Mary of Scotland, 1936

A Woman Rebels, 1936

Quality Street, 1937

Stage Door, 1937

Bringing Up Baby, 1938

Holiday, 1938

The Philadelphia Story, 1940

Woman of the Year, 1942

Keeper of the Flame, 1942

Stage Door Canteen, 1943

Dragon Seed, 1944

Without Love, 1945

Undercurrent, 1946

The Sea of Grass, 1947

Song of Love, 1947

State of the Union, 1948

Adam's Rib, 1949

The African Queen, 1951

Pat and Mike, 1952

Summertime, 1955

The Iron Petticoat, 1956

The Rainmaker, 1956

The Desk Set, 1957

Suddenly Last Summer, 1959

Long Day's Journey Into Night, 1962

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?, 1967

The Lion in Winter, 1968

The Madwoman of Chaillot, 1969

The Trojan Women, 1971

A Delicate Balance, 1972

Rooster Cogburn, 1975

Olly Olly Oxen Free, 1976

On Golden Pond, 1981

Grace Quigley, 1984

Love Affair, 1994

THEATER

These Days, 1928

A Month in the Country, 1930

Warrior's Husband, 1932

The Lake, 1933

The Philadelphia Story, 1939

The Millionairess, 1952

The Merchant of Venice, 1957

Coco, 1969

A Matter of Gravity, 1976

West Side Waltz, 1980

TELEVISION

Love Among the Ruins, 1974

Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry, 1986

Laura Lansing Slept Here, 1988

The Man Upstairs, 1992

One Christmas, 1994

BOOKS

The Making of The African Queen: Or, How I Went To Africa With Bogart, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind, 1987

Me: Stories from My Life, 1991

The Associated Press