Katharine (Kate, Kath or Kathy) Houghton Hepburn was born on May 12th 1907. She was born into a progressive family whose outlook was very left of center both socially and politically. Her father, a surgeon, Thomas Norval Hepburn and her mother, a women's rights activist and birth control advocate, who helped found the organization that became Planned Parenthood, Katharine (Kit) Martha Houghton Hepburn had 6 children.

Tom (1905) the oldest who died a sudden death in 1921 - it was his birthday November the 8th that Kate used as her own for years and years – Kate (1907), Dick (1911), Bob (1913), Marion (1918) and Peg (1920). Kate and her siblings were taught not to fear… they could do anything they wanted. No subject was forbidden to discuss. Kate went to Bryn Mawr College where she received a Bachelor of the Arts degree in History and Philosophy.

The Big Pond

The Warrior's Husband

A Bill of Divorcement

Little Women

The Philadelphia Story

After finishing college Kate went to the theatre where she had her debut in the play The Big Pond (1928) produced by Edwin Knopf. As Kate herself said; I could easily get a job but keeping it was a mystery. Kate finally had a big hit in The Warrior's Husband (1932) (a leg show as she said), which led to a film contract with RKO. Kate's film debut was in A Bill of Divorcement in 1932, directed by George Cukor.

Her entrance in the film was unforgettable to the audience – so soon Kate made Christopher Strong (1933), Little Women (1933) and Morning Glory (1933) for which she won her first of four Oscars. The other three Oscars were for Guess Who Is Coming To Dinner (1967), The Lion In Winter (1968) and On Golden Pond (1981).

Morning Glory

Guess Who Is Coming To Dinner

The Lion in Winter

On Golden Pond

As Katharine Hepburn died June 2003 – she had endured 6 decades in American film history – she had become an icon – or as she herself said: “If you survive long enough, you're revered—rather like an old building.”

On June 29, 2003, Hepburn died of natural causes at Fenwick, the Hepburn family home in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. She was 96 years old, and was buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Hartford, Connecticut. In honor of her extensive theater work, the lights of Broadway were dimmed for an hour.