Katharine Hepburn. Stunning, regarded as one of the best actresses of all time, ballsy, confident, capable of making others feel magnificently awkward with her honesty, affective, capable of charming her leading men with her in-your-face wit, and most of all, capable of standing on her own -- the spitting image of independence. It is instantly apparent that Katharine Hepburn was gifted at her craft. She was quick, and always on top of it. For example, Howard Hughes bought her the film rights for The Philadelphia Story. After she starred in the smash stage production, all of Hollywood's leading ladies were eager to buy the rights. Nobody knew she already had them. She shrewdly negotiated with Louis B. Mayer of MGM. She demanded money, but most of all, control over casting her leading men (she asked for Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy, who both turned down the offer, and instead got the gangly charm of Jimmy Stewart and the dashing Cary Grant) and director, George Cukor. With her clever negotiating skills, she sprang back from being "box-office poison" and orchestrated her comeback with a film that is now regarded as an utter classic. I could go on and on about her films, The Philadelphia Story is one of my favorite films of all time. (I loathe High Society, as it proves Grace Kelly to be nothing but a pretty face. But I adore the vibrant cinematography and the Louis Armstrong cameos. "High Society Calypso"!) But what convinced me that Katharine Hepburn was more than just a gifted actress was her autobiography, Me: Stories of My Life. (In addition to her seventies appearance on Dick Cavett. Weeeee, Dick Cavett reruns.) She reads as defenselessly honest, unwilling to settle, brutally ambitious, and overall, she comes across as having a good heart and the best intentions. When I first read her book, a number of years ago, it instantly became one of the best autobiographies I've ever read. Perhaps THE best, and I've read too many autobiographies, music and otherwise. It became one of those rare works that effect your prospective. I live for art like that -- films, literature, MUSIC... That stops you dead, and eliminates the bullshit. Here are just a couple choice passages that did just that:
"So my mother was the one who received the powerful philosophy of George Bernard Shaw:
'This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.'
Don't give in.
Fight for your future.
Independence is the only solution.
Women are as good as men.
Onward!
You don't have too much money but you do have independent spirits.
Knowledge! Education! Don't give in! Make your own trail.
Don't moan.
Don't complain.
Think positively.
My sister Peg said that once she was sitting crying because my sister Marion and a friend wouldn't let her play with them. 'I don't blame them,' said Mother. 'You're a moaner.' Peg learned her lesson. She began to make things fun.
'So-and-so doesn't like me.'
'Well, if he had good taste he'd like you,' said Mother. 'If he has bad taste, why would you want to arrive with him?'
Once when she was at Bryn Mawr, Mother needed money. She could only find someone who needed help with trigonometry. She didn't know trig. So she got the books -- called the girl and kept two lessons ahead of her for six weeks. The girl passed the exam and so did Mother."
"It's amazing how Dad's and Mother's behavior left its mark. They simply did not believe in moaning about anything.
The important thing was that Tom [Hepburn's older brother, who committed suicide] was dead. In the first terrible shock Mother cried. Yes. But she never allowed the fact of his death to dominate the atmosphere. We were not a sad household.
My sister Peg had a son Tom, who was lost in the Vietnam War. He was missing at first, then pronounced dead. His twin sister was talking about him one day -- he was so this, so that -- to the other younger children. Peg heard her.
'Don't do that!' she said to her daughter.
'But -- ' she said.
'No buts,' said Peg. 'He's dead. We all love him but he's gone. Don't moan. It does no good.'
She's right of course."
"Oh hell. We read fairy tales for years, don't we? Are they throwing all of that out? If you don't dream up your parents, your brothers and sisters, your friends, and the person that you love -- if you can't dream them up, if you just see them in total four-letter-word reality, then God help you. You've got to dream up everything. I believe in miracles. I believe that here we are and we can be in severe physical trouble. But if our spirits aren't in severe physical trouble, then we can rise up out of it. That's what we've got that the animals really haven't got."
"I must say it taught me a lesson -- one must figure out how much you care about this or that. Then put up a fight. Or don't. Do you love someone? If you love someone, and the person gives every evidence of wish to part and you know really that it is finished -- let the person go! Do yourself a favor. Be noble. It has a better lasting effect than hanging on and constantly reminding yourself and the other that your life together has been a disaster. And it is honest. And it is going forward. The status quo in a bad marriage is not a productive state. The new relationship may open many doors beneficial to everyone concerned. That solidified failure is so sterile."
As well as a few other quotes of her's:
"I never lose sight of the fact that just being is fun."
"If you want to sacrifice the admiration of many men for the criticism of one, go ahead, get married."
In a sentence: She wore pants.
