Katharine Houghton Hepburn was born on May 12, 1907 in Hartford, Connecticut and died on June 29, 2003. She was an iconic American actress of film, television and stage.

She began making movies in the 1930s and succeeded almost immediately, winning her first Oscar for Morning Glory in 1933.

Hepburn's characters were often brash or even haughty on the outside, yet emotionally fragile at their core; her quick wit, intelligence and high-class bearing served her especially well in comedies, notably with co-stars Cary Grant and Spencer Tracy. She is perhaps best known for her role as a prim missionary opposite Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen.

She won two more Oscars for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) and The Lion In Winter (1968), and toward the end of her career the nostalgic On Golden Pond (1981, with Henry Fonda) got her a 12th nomination and a fourth Oscar. In 1996 she retired to Connecticut and lived there quietly until her death in 2003.

Her television work included The Glass Menagerie (1973), Love Among the Ruins (1975), The Ultimate Solution of Grace Quigley (1984), and Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry (1986).

In 1991 she published Me: Stories of My Life. On June 29, 2003, Hepburn died of natural causes at Fenwick.

Filmography

• One Christmas (1994)
• Love Affair (1994)
• This Can't Be Love (1994)
• The Man Upstairs (1992)
• Laura Lansing Slept Here (1988)
• Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry (1986)
• Grace Quigley (1985)
• On Golden Pond (1981)
• The Corn Is Green (1979)
• Olly, Olly, Oxen Free (1978)
• Rooster Cogburn (1975)
• Love Among the Ruins (1975)
• The Glass Menagerie (1973)
• A Delicate Balance (1973)
• The Trojan Women (1971)
• The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969)
• The Lion in Winter (1968)
• Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
• Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962)
• Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)
• Desk Set (1957)
• The Rainmaker (1956)
• The Iron Petticoat (1956)
• Summertime (1955)
• Pat and Mike (1952)
• The African Queen (1951)
• Adam's Rib (1949)
• State of the Union (1948)
• Song of Love (1947)
• The Sea of Grass (1947)
• Undercurrent (1946)
• American Creed (1946)
• Without Love (1945)
• Dragon Seed (1944)
• Keeper of the Flame (1942)
• Woman of the Year (1942)
• The Philadelphia Story (1940)
• Holiday (1938)
• Bringing Up Baby (1938)
• Stage Door (1937)
• Quality Street (1937)
• A Woman Rebels (1936)
• Mary of Scotland (1936)
• Sylvia Scarlett (1935)
• Alice Adams (1935)
• Break of Hearts (1935)
• The Little Minister (1934)
• Spitfire (1934)
• Little Women (1933)
• Morning Glory (1933)
• Christopher Strong (1933)
• A Bill of Divorcement (1932)

Awards

• Kennedy Center Honors Lifetime Achievement Award 1990
• People's Choice Award Favorite Motion Picture Actress 1983
• BAFTA Award Best Actress "On Golden Pond" 1981
• Oscar Best Actress "On Golden Pond" 1981
• Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award 1979
• People's Choice Award Favorite Motion Picture Actress 1976
• Emmy Outstanding Lead Actress in a Special Program "Love Among the Ruins" 1974 - 75
• British Film Academy Award Best Actress "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" and "The Lion In Winter" 1968
• Oscar Best Actress "The Lion in Winter" 1968
• Oscar Best Actress "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" 1967
• Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Award "Long Day's Journey Into Night" 1962
• New York Film Critics Circle Award Best Actress "The Philadelphia Story" 1940
• Venice Film Festival Best Actress Award "Little Women" 1934
• Oscar Best Actress "Morning Glory" 1932 - 33