WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.240 Welcome back to The Deep Dive, where we sift 00:00:02.240 --> 00:00:04.740 through the sources, extract the vital knowledge, 00:00:04.940 --> 00:00:07.360 and give you the essential context you need to 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:10.740 truly understand a subject. Today, we are undertaking 00:00:10.740 --> 00:00:14.599 a deep dive into an American icon, Katharine 00:00:14.599 --> 00:00:17.320 Hepburn. And we're not just, you know, summarizing 00:00:17.320 --> 00:00:19.579 her filmography. We're really trying to investigate 00:00:19.579 --> 00:00:22.480 the architecture of her success. Exactly. I mean, 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:24.820 here's a woman whose career spans six decades. 00:00:25.059 --> 00:00:28.780 She moved so effortlessly between like high flying 00:00:28.780 --> 00:00:31.620 screwball comedy and these incredibly intense 00:00:31.620 --> 00:00:35.159 literary dramas. So our mission today is really 00:00:35.159 --> 00:00:37.140 to unpack the contradictions of her life. We 00:00:37.140 --> 00:00:39.159 want to understand how a performer who at one 00:00:39.159 --> 00:00:41.649 point was. effectively shunned by the industry. 00:00:41.729 --> 00:00:44.049 I mean, literally labeled box office poison. 00:00:44.130 --> 00:00:46.609 A death sentence in that era. Right. How did 00:00:46.609 --> 00:00:48.289 she manage to orchestrate one of the greatest 00:00:48.289 --> 00:00:50.609 comebacks in Hollywood history? And how was her 00:00:50.609 --> 00:00:54.049 fiercely independent image both a natural part 00:00:54.049 --> 00:00:56.329 of her and also this brilliantly cultivated strategy? 00:00:56.750 --> 00:00:58.890 It's that strategy part that's so fascinating. 00:00:59.369 --> 00:01:01.990 We're looking at an artist who had a remarkable 00:01:01.990 --> 00:01:05.109 level of control over her own narrative. She 00:01:05.109 --> 00:01:07.549 consistently challenged the rigid studio system 00:01:07.549 --> 00:01:10.250 and she forced the industry to accept her on 00:01:10.250 --> 00:01:14.489 her own terms. Even when those terms were highly 00:01:14.489 --> 00:01:16.670 inconvenient for them. Oh, incredibly inconvenient 00:01:16.670 --> 00:01:19.750 and controversial and often just the complete 00:01:19.750 --> 00:01:21.650 opposite of what the public thought they wanted. 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:24.739 She wasn't just talented. She was, I think, an 00:01:24.739 --> 00:01:27.120 unparalleled professional strategist. OK, so 00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:30.040 let's unpack this. How did this person who, you 00:01:30.040 --> 00:01:32.060 know, refused to sign autographs, famously wore 00:01:32.060 --> 00:01:33.760 trousers everywhere, got nicknamed Catherine 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:37.159 of Arrogance. How does she end up defining the 00:01:37.159 --> 00:01:40.079 modern woman for the entire 20th century? Well, 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:41.500 to answer that, you have to start at the beginning. 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:43.299 And that beginning is way outside the Hollywood 00:01:43.299 --> 00:01:44.840 bubble. It's in Connecticut. Right. With your 00:01:44.840 --> 00:01:47.019 family. You really want to understand Catherine 00:01:47.019 --> 00:01:52.579 Hepburn. You have to start with the sheer. radicalism 00:01:52.579 --> 00:01:55.599 of her upbringing. She was born May 12, 1907 00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:58.799 in Hartford, Connecticut, into a household that 00:01:58.799 --> 00:02:01.879 was, by the standards of the time, just a crucible 00:02:01.879 --> 00:02:04.280 of progressive social reform. And her parents 00:02:04.280 --> 00:02:06.980 weren't just, you know, casual liberals. They 00:02:06.980 --> 00:02:10.180 were expert activists. Their home was basically 00:02:10.180 --> 00:02:12.500 the ideological headquarters for their campaigns. 00:02:13.229 --> 00:02:15.169 And these are deeply controversial campaigns 00:02:15.169 --> 00:02:16.949 at the time. Oh, absolutely. I mean, look at 00:02:16.949 --> 00:02:19.110 her father, Thomas Hepburn. He was a prominent 00:02:19.110 --> 00:02:21.490 urologist, and he co -founded the New England 00:02:21.490 --> 00:02:23.770 Social Hygiene Association. Which sounds very 00:02:23.770 --> 00:02:25.830 polite, but what it actually meant was... It 00:02:25.830 --> 00:02:28.129 meant he was educating the public about venereal 00:02:28.129 --> 00:02:31.810 disease. In the 1910s, this was a topic that 00:02:31.810 --> 00:02:34.710 was completely unmentionable in polite society. 00:02:35.250 --> 00:02:38.469 His work took immense courage. And her mother 00:02:38.469 --> 00:02:41.110 was, if anything, even more radical in the public 00:02:41.110 --> 00:02:43.539 eye. Totally. Catherine Martha Houghton Hepburn, 00:02:43.620 --> 00:02:46.379 her mother, was a tireless feminist campaigner. 00:02:46.620 --> 00:02:49.240 She headed the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association, 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:51.879 putting her right on the front lines of that 00:02:51.879 --> 00:02:54.379 battle. But also, crucially, she campaigned for 00:02:54.379 --> 00:02:56.840 birth control right alongside Margaret Sanger. 00:02:57.020 --> 00:02:59.800 Exactly. And Margaret Sanger was an absolutely 00:02:59.800 --> 00:03:02.460 incendiary figure to many conservative groups 00:03:02.460 --> 00:03:04.759 at the time. So this wasn't some abstract thing 00:03:04.759 --> 00:03:06.860 for young Catherine. She was immersed in it. 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:09.599 The sources confirm she actually joined her mother 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:12.620 on votes for women demonstrations. Just try to 00:03:12.620 --> 00:03:14.620 imagine being a child growing up with a mother 00:03:14.620 --> 00:03:18.020 who was publicly debating, challenging authority, 00:03:18.379 --> 00:03:21.620 facing down moral outrage pretty much every single 00:03:21.620 --> 00:03:23.560 day. That kind of environment would instill a 00:03:23.560 --> 00:03:26.259 profound family ethos, wouldn't it? The kids 00:03:26.259 --> 00:03:28.219 weren't just raised to be independent thinkers. 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:30.340 They were trained to exercise absolute freedom 00:03:30.340 --> 00:03:32.879 of speech. They were expected to question everything. 00:03:33.370 --> 00:03:36.409 to debate any topic, no matter how sacred, if 00:03:36.409 --> 00:03:38.469 you're trained from birth to defend your position 00:03:38.469 --> 00:03:41.229 against seasoned activists like your own parents, 00:03:41.710 --> 00:03:45.030 well, you develop a pretty formidable intellectual 00:03:45.030 --> 00:03:48.729 armor. She called it enormously lucky. And you 00:03:48.729 --> 00:03:50.530 can see why. It didn't just give her confidence. 00:03:50.789 --> 00:03:54.090 It gave her this framework that was totally different 00:03:54.090 --> 00:03:56.129 from the typical Hollywood starlet she was later 00:03:56.129 --> 00:03:58.550 expected to be. So when the studio tried to tell 00:03:58.550 --> 00:04:01.550 her how to dress or what to say... She saw it 00:04:01.550 --> 00:04:04.629 as an infringement on her rights, a concept her 00:04:04.629 --> 00:04:07.210 parents had spent their entire lives fighting 00:04:07.210 --> 00:04:10.210 for. But this intellectual side was matched by 00:04:10.210 --> 00:04:13.150 an equally intense physical discipline, and that 00:04:13.150 --> 00:04:15.949 came mostly from her father. That's right. The 00:04:15.949 --> 00:04:18.310 young Hepburn was a self -proclaimed tomboy. 00:04:18.410 --> 00:04:21.629 She kept her hair short, often insisted on being 00:04:21.629 --> 00:04:24.529 called Jimmy. And this was all encouraged. Her 00:04:24.529 --> 00:04:26.389 father believed that the children had to use 00:04:26.389 --> 00:04:28.990 their minds and their bodies to the limit. And 00:04:28.990 --> 00:04:30.949 this wasn't just like playing outside. It was 00:04:30.949 --> 00:04:33.290 competitive, disciplined athleticism. Oh, for 00:04:33.290 --> 00:04:36.110 sure. He taught them to swim, run, dive, wrestle, 00:04:36.250 --> 00:04:39.790 and to master sports like tennis and golf. She 00:04:39.790 --> 00:04:41.910 got genuinely good at golf, even reaching the 00:04:41.910 --> 00:04:44.189 semifinal of the Connecticut Young Women's Golf 00:04:44.189 --> 00:04:46.629 Championship. That level of focus training is 00:04:46.629 --> 00:04:48.550 exactly what she brought to her acting later 00:04:48.550 --> 00:04:51.529 on. It is. And it extended to her daily routine. 00:04:52.240 --> 00:04:55.040 The sources all point to these almost ascetic 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:57.560 health habits, like taking ice -cold baths every 00:04:57.560 --> 00:04:59.740 morning. Why? It wasn't about enjoyment. It was 00:04:59.740 --> 00:05:02.860 about self -mastery. She had this belief, and 00:05:02.860 --> 00:05:04.980 I'm quoting her here, the bitterer the medicine, 00:05:05.240 --> 00:05:08.000 the better it was for you. That one phrase just 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:10.500 defines her entire professional philosophy, doesn't 00:05:10.500 --> 00:05:12.839 it? It really does. She sought out difficulty, 00:05:13.240 --> 00:05:15.899 believing that hardship was essential for growth. 00:05:16.360 --> 00:05:18.680 But this whole narrative of strength and enlightenment 00:05:18.680 --> 00:05:22.339 and discipline, it gets severely tested by an 00:05:22.339 --> 00:05:24.839 immense trauma that hit the family when she was 00:05:24.839 --> 00:05:29.399 just 13. In March 1921, Catherine experienced 00:05:29.399 --> 00:05:31.860 something that just permanently altered her. 00:05:32.279 --> 00:05:34.519 She discovered the body of her older brother 00:05:34.519 --> 00:05:37.740 Tom, who was 15. He had died from an apparent 00:05:37.740 --> 00:05:40.660 suicide by hanging. And the way the family handled 00:05:40.660 --> 00:05:43.000 this is so crucial to understanding her later 00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:45.819 on, especially her emotional guardedness. It 00:05:45.819 --> 00:05:48.379 is. The Hepburn family maintained a lifelong 00:05:48.379 --> 00:05:51.519 public and private denial. They insisted it was 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:54.000 some kind of experiment gone wrong, rather than 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:56.819 acknowledging it was a suicide. Which is, well, 00:05:56.920 --> 00:05:58.759 that's a psychologically significant detail, 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:01.079 isn't it? The need to suppress a horrific truth 00:06:01.079 --> 00:06:03.600 and replace it with a controlled narrative. It 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:05.860 seems to have directly translated into Catherine's 00:06:05.860 --> 00:06:08.420 adult need to control her own public image and 00:06:08.420 --> 00:06:10.220 just keep everyone at an emotional distance. 00:06:10.579 --> 00:06:13.379 The immediate impact was devastating. The sources 00:06:13.379 --> 00:06:15.819 say the incident made the teenage Hepburn nervous, 00:06:16.120 --> 00:06:19.180 moody, and deeply suspicious. This fearless, 00:06:19.339 --> 00:06:23.560 outspoken kid suddenly just recreated. Yeah, 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:25.439 she dropped out of her school, the Oxford School, 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:28.699 and she needed several years of private tutoring. 00:06:28.779 --> 00:06:31.639 Her discipline, which had been a tool for achievement, 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:34.980 now became, you know, a defense mechanism. And 00:06:34.980 --> 00:06:37.480 that guardedness became a core part of her identity. 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:39.819 I mean, it's so telling that she adopted Tom's 00:06:39.819 --> 00:06:42.540 birthday, November 8th, as her own for many, 00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:44.660 many years. She only revealed her true birth 00:06:44.660 --> 00:06:48.220 date decades later in her 1991 autobiography. 00:06:48.279 --> 00:06:50.939 She literally merged her identity with her lost 00:06:50.939 --> 00:06:53.660 brother. It's a powerful lifelong effort to manage 00:06:53.660 --> 00:06:55.939 her own story, which is exactly the skills she 00:06:55.939 --> 00:06:58.120 would use in Hollywood. So she emerges from this 00:06:58.120 --> 00:07:00.699 period disciplined but deeply guarded. And her 00:07:00.699 --> 00:07:03.019 next step is college, which she didn't seem too 00:07:03.019 --> 00:07:05.639 excited about. No, not at all. She went to Bryn 00:07:05.639 --> 00:07:07.800 Mawr College mostly to please her mother. She 00:07:07.800 --> 00:07:09.639 got a degree in history and philosophy but found 00:07:09.639 --> 00:07:12.480 the whole scholastic environment pretty unfulfilling. 00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:14.680 She struggled at first, was even suspended once 00:07:14.680 --> 00:07:16.899 for smoking in her room. But then she figured 00:07:16.899 --> 00:07:19.779 out how to leverage the system. She did. She 00:07:19.779 --> 00:07:21.850 realized that... Roles in the college plays, 00:07:22.029 --> 00:07:24.290 which she desperately wanted, were conditional 00:07:24.290 --> 00:07:26.910 on having good grades. A little motivation. A 00:07:26.910 --> 00:07:29.949 lot of motivation. Once her marks improved, she 00:07:29.949 --> 00:07:32.029 was performing regularly. She starred in the 00:07:32.029 --> 00:07:34.029 senior play, The Woman and the Moon. And that 00:07:34.029 --> 00:07:36.329 experience, that immediate validation from an 00:07:36.329 --> 00:07:38.589 audience, that's what cemented her ambition. 00:07:38.949 --> 00:07:41.089 So once she graduated, she just went for it. 00:07:41.170 --> 00:07:43.910 With that same fanatical focus, she applied to 00:07:43.910 --> 00:07:46.189 everything else. She was determined, and she 00:07:46.189 --> 00:07:47.930 got hired pretty quickly in repertory theater. 00:07:49.899 --> 00:07:51.939 The move from college plays to the professional 00:07:51.939 --> 00:07:55.980 world was, well, it was brutal. She had the confidence, 00:07:56.079 --> 00:07:58.939 but not the technique. Not at all. She faced 00:07:58.939 --> 00:08:01.939 immediate, harsh criticism. She landed a starring 00:08:01.939 --> 00:08:04.519 role in The Big Pond and was fired after only 00:08:04.519 --> 00:08:07.480 four weeks. Directors complained about her shrill 00:08:07.480 --> 00:08:10.139 voice, her tendency to mix up lines, speaking 00:08:10.139 --> 00:08:13.439 way too quickly. She was just not very good yet. 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:17.300 To be blunt, no. And that led to this painful 00:08:17.300 --> 00:08:20.300 cycle of hiring and firing. She was fired from 00:08:20.300 --> 00:08:23.600 death. Takes a holiday. Later, the star Leslie 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:26.139 Howard had her fired from the animal kingdom 00:08:26.139 --> 00:08:28.879 because he just disliked her and found her difficult. 00:08:29.160 --> 00:08:32.220 It's amazing to think about this fearless, privileged 00:08:32.220 --> 00:08:35.980 young woman facing that much rejection. The playwright 00:08:35.980 --> 00:08:38.039 Philip Berry told her, to be brutally frank, 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:40.460 you weren't very good. And that's a brutal thing 00:08:40.460 --> 00:08:43.840 to hear. But those failures forced her to analyze 00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:46.840 her weaknesses and refine her craft. It's the 00:08:46.840 --> 00:08:49.600 classic Hepburn response to a problem. And her 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:52.580 breakthrough finally came in 1932 on Broadway. 00:08:52.799 --> 00:08:54.759 Yes, in a play called The Warrior's Husband. 00:08:54.980 --> 00:08:57.139 This was the role that clicked, and it was all 00:08:57.139 --> 00:08:59.000 because of that physical discipline her father 00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:01.539 instilled in her. The role required aggressive 00:09:01.539 --> 00:09:03.919 energy and athleticism. She had to leap down 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:06.440 a steep staircase carrying a stag over her shoulder. 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:09.960 In a short silver tunic, no less. She was literally 00:09:09.960 --> 00:09:13.799 leaping into the spotlight. Her energy just captivated 00:09:13.799 --> 00:09:16.830 the critics. The show ran for three months, and 00:09:16.830 --> 00:09:19.129 that unique physical performance is what finally 00:09:19.129 --> 00:09:21.610 caught Hollywood's attention. A scout for agent 00:09:21.610 --> 00:09:24.009 Leland Hayward saw her and immediately set up 00:09:24.009 --> 00:09:26.850 a screen test for the RKO film A Bill of Divorcement. 00:09:26.990 --> 00:09:29.929 And the director, George Cukor, who had become 00:09:29.929 --> 00:09:33.289 a lifelong friend, was impressed. He called her 00:09:33.289 --> 00:09:35.870 an odd creature, but he loved the way she just 00:09:35.870 --> 00:09:38.690 picked up a glass. Some tiny gesture that told 00:09:38.690 --> 00:09:41.129 him she was a star. But here's the critical business 00:09:41.129 --> 00:09:43.909 move. Despite being a complete unknown in Hollywood, 00:09:44.210 --> 00:09:47.350 she showed immediate savvy. She demanded a huge 00:09:47.350 --> 00:09:50.909 salary. An unusually high salary, yeah. $1 ,500 00:09:50.909 --> 00:09:53.730 a week on a temporary contract. She insisted 00:09:53.730 --> 00:09:55.789 on being treated like a star before she'd proven 00:09:55.789 --> 00:09:58.610 she was one. And RKO agreed. The gamble paid 00:09:58.610 --> 00:10:01.669 off instantly. The film was a success, critics 00:10:01.669 --> 00:10:03.990 hailed her performance, and she was signed to 00:10:03.990 --> 00:10:06.809 a long -term contract. The ascent was just meteoric. 00:10:06.830 --> 00:10:09.029 She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for 00:10:09.100 --> 00:10:12.240 her third film, Morning Glory, a role she had 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:14.240 insisted on getting after seeing the script. 00:10:14.399 --> 00:10:17.279 And in classic Hepburn fashion, showing her complete 00:10:17.279 --> 00:10:19.419 disdain for the Hollywood machine, she didn't 00:10:19.419 --> 00:10:21.559 even show up to the ceremony. Never did. Then 00:10:21.559 --> 00:10:24.240 her next film, Little Women, was one of the biggest 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:26.980 hits the industry had seen. She played Jo and 00:10:26.980 --> 00:10:28.440 always said it was one of her favorite roles. 00:10:28.620 --> 00:10:30.659 She felt nobody could be as good in that part 00:10:30.659 --> 00:10:33.500 as she was. That confidence was just unshakable 00:10:33.500 --> 00:10:36.779 at this point. But that peak. led almost immediately 00:10:36.779 --> 00:10:40.159 into a severe, severe trough. This is the infamous 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:44.240 box office poison era from 34 to 38. And the 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:46.620 transition from Golden Girl to Public Enemy was 00:10:46.620 --> 00:10:49.039 shockingly fast. It started with a catastrophic 00:10:49.039 --> 00:10:52.279 return to Broadway in 1933 with a play called 00:10:52.279 --> 00:10:55.370 The Lake. The director was terrible. The script 00:10:55.370 --> 00:10:57.590 wasn't right for her. And that is where we get 00:10:57.590 --> 00:11:00.490 maybe the most famous, devastating line of theatrical 00:11:00.490 --> 00:11:02.990 criticism in history. Dorothy Parker. Dorothy 00:11:02.990 --> 00:11:05.570 Parker's immortal quip. She runs the gamut of 00:11:05.570 --> 00:11:08.250 emotions all the way from A to B. Ouch. That 00:11:08.250 --> 00:11:10.250 didn't just hurt her. It destroyed the show's 00:11:10.250 --> 00:11:12.889 run. Sales plummeted. But instead of just letting 00:11:12.889 --> 00:11:16.559 it die a slow death, Hepburn took control. She 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:19.879 paid the director, Jed Harris, $14 ,000, most 00:11:19.879 --> 00:11:22.240 of her life savings, to close the production 00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:25.399 immediately. She paid him. She paid him. That 00:11:25.399 --> 00:11:27.879 financial sacrifice taught her a permanent lesson. 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:31.379 If something is hurting your career, you have 00:11:31.379 --> 00:11:35.639 to take dramatic, costly action to regain control. 00:11:35.960 --> 00:11:38.899 And meanwhile, her films were failing, one after 00:11:38.899 --> 00:11:41.970 another. the little minister, Mary of Scotland, 00:11:42.230 --> 00:11:45.330 audiences were just rejecting her. And this all 00:11:45.330 --> 00:11:47.789 culminated with bringing up Baby in 1938 with 00:11:47.789 --> 00:11:51.269 Cary Grant. Today, it's seen as an absolute masterpiece, 00:11:51.529 --> 00:11:54.090 right? A screwball classic. A total classic. 00:11:54.350 --> 00:11:56.990 But commercially, it was a flop. And the theater 00:11:56.990 --> 00:11:59.570 owners, they blamed Hepburn. They claimed her 00:11:59.570 --> 00:12:02.149 presence was alienating audiences. And that's 00:12:02.149 --> 00:12:03.990 when they made it official. The Independent Theater 00:12:03.990 --> 00:12:06.769 Owners of America publicly listed her as box 00:12:06.769 --> 00:12:09.629 office poison. It wasn't just a bad review. It 00:12:09.629 --> 00:12:12.029 was a powerful industrial statement. They were 00:12:12.029 --> 00:12:14.269 essentially saying, don't hire this woman. So 00:12:14.269 --> 00:12:16.970 why? Why the fierce public rejection? It wasn't 00:12:16.970 --> 00:12:19.049 about talent. No, the sources are really clear 00:12:19.049 --> 00:12:21.529 on this. It was a profound image clash. She just 00:12:21.529 --> 00:12:24.309 refused to conform. She was openly rude to the 00:12:24.309 --> 00:12:25.889 press. She wouldn't sign autographs. She got 00:12:25.889 --> 00:12:28.509 that nickname, Catherine of Arrogance. She baffled 00:12:28.509 --> 00:12:30.730 the public with her boyish behavior and wearing 00:12:30.730 --> 00:12:33.350 trousers. She was too modern for the 1930s. Way 00:12:33.350 --> 00:12:35.470 too modern, too intellectual, too aggressive. 00:12:35.789 --> 00:12:39.120 And the studio. RKO, they tried to force her 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:41.620 into this truly terrible B -movie Mother Carries 00:12:41.620 --> 00:12:44.779 Chickens. But Hepburn having learned her lesson 00:12:44.779 --> 00:12:46.840 from the lake, made a decisive revolutionary 00:12:46.840 --> 00:12:50.159 move. To refuse. To refuse the film and paid 00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:53.720 RKO $75 ,000 to buy out her own contract. You 00:12:53.720 --> 00:12:56.039 cannot overstate how radical that was in 1938. 00:12:56.519 --> 00:13:00.059 The studio system relied on locking actors into 00:13:00.059 --> 00:13:02.340 these long contracts where they basically owned 00:13:02.340 --> 00:13:04.460 you. They owned your image, your roles, everything. 00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:07.100 For an actor to proactively pay to get out and 00:13:07.100 --> 00:13:09.610 become an independent agent? It was almost unheard 00:13:09.610 --> 00:13:11.850 of. It took immense wealth, which she had from 00:13:11.850 --> 00:13:14.750 her early success, and just ironclad conviction. 00:13:15.070 --> 00:13:18.309 She chose freedom over stability. And that decision 00:13:18.309 --> 00:13:20.470 wasn't just an escape. It was the foundation 00:13:20.470 --> 00:13:23.929 of this genius, masterminded comeback. She knew 00:13:23.929 --> 00:13:26.090 she needed a vehicle perfectly tailored to her 00:13:26.090 --> 00:13:28.809 unique personality. And she found it. The Philadelphia 00:13:28.809 --> 00:13:31.899 Story? The play by Philip Barry. The role of 00:13:31.899 --> 00:13:34.139 Tracy Lord was written specifically to accommodate 00:13:34.139 --> 00:13:37.460 all of Hepburn's contradictions. Her humor, her 00:13:37.460 --> 00:13:39.779 aggression, her high -class background, and her 00:13:39.779 --> 00:13:41.840 vulnerability. It was the only way the public 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:44.220 would accept her again. And the financial maneuvering 00:13:44.220 --> 00:13:47.059 was brilliant. Her partner at the time, Howard 00:13:47.059 --> 00:13:49.240 Hughes, bought her the film rights to the play 00:13:49.240 --> 00:13:51.639 before it even debuted on Broadway. Which gave 00:13:51.639 --> 00:13:54.299 her total control. a massive asset. The play 00:13:54.299 --> 00:13:56.460 was a phenomenal success on Broadway, running 00:13:56.460 --> 00:14:00.080 for over 400 performances. That restored her 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:02.360 reputation. But the film deal she struck with 00:14:02.360 --> 00:14:05.600 MGM, that was the strategic masterpiece. She 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:09.009 sold the rights to MGM on two conditions. She 00:14:09.009 --> 00:14:11.269 would be the star, and she would pick her director 00:14:11.269 --> 00:14:13.929 and her co -stars. George Cukor, Cary Grant, 00:14:14.090 --> 00:14:16.809 and James Stewart. Not a bad team. Not bad at 00:14:16.809 --> 00:14:19.590 all. And she even insisted on a key piece of 00:14:19.590 --> 00:14:22.090 image rehabilitation in the film's opening scene. 00:14:22.269 --> 00:14:24.389 Right. She wanted Grant to knock her flat on 00:14:24.389 --> 00:14:27.269 her backside. Exactly. Yeah. She said moviegoers 00:14:27.269 --> 00:14:30.830 thought she was too la -di -da, too cold. She 00:14:30.830 --> 00:14:33.250 needed the audience to laugh at her enough that 00:14:33.250 --> 00:14:35.629 they would ultimately sympathize with her. It 00:14:35.629 --> 00:14:37.809 was this moment of intentional public humiliation 00:14:37.809 --> 00:14:40.389 designed to make the intimidating Katharine Hepburn 00:14:40.389 --> 00:14:42.830 relatable. And my God, did it work. The Philadelphia 00:14:42.830 --> 00:14:46.610 story was one of the biggest hits of 1940. Time 00:14:46.610 --> 00:14:49.370 magazine declared, come on back, Katie, all is 00:14:49.370 --> 00:14:52.210 forgiven. She earned her third Oscar nomination 00:14:52.210 --> 00:14:55.159 and reestablished herself as a major star. all 00:14:55.159 --> 00:14:57.840 completely on her own terms. And her next huge 00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:00.100 strategic move came with Woman of the Year in 00:15:00.100 --> 00:15:03.440 1942, which led directly to the most consequential 00:15:03.440 --> 00:15:06.120 relationship of her entire life. Spencer Tracy. 00:15:06.299 --> 00:15:09.100 Spencer Tracy. They met on that set, and their 00:15:09.100 --> 00:15:11.740 very first exchange just perfectly captured their 00:15:11.740 --> 00:15:13.700 dynamic. The story goes she said something like, 00:15:13.820 --> 00:15:16.100 I'm afraid I'm too tall for you. And he replied, 00:15:16.360 --> 00:15:17.980 don't worry, Miss Hepburn, I'll soon cut you 00:15:17.980 --> 00:15:21.070 down to my size. And that spark ignited this 00:15:21.070 --> 00:15:23.370 relationship that was both a professional blessing 00:15:23.370 --> 00:15:26.450 and a huge private demand, spanning nine films 00:15:26.450 --> 00:15:29.049 together. Woman of the Year was another massive 00:15:29.049 --> 00:15:31.950 hit, and it led to her signing a new star contract 00:15:31.950 --> 00:15:34.929 with MGM. And it's crucial to point out, she 00:15:34.929 --> 00:15:36.870 later admitted this partnership significantly 00:15:36.870 --> 00:15:40.210 advanced her career. Tracy was the more popular 00:15:40.210 --> 00:15:43.029 star at the time. She benefited from being tied 00:15:43.029 --> 00:15:46.080 to his bankability. She did. But this partnership 00:15:46.080 --> 00:15:49.019 came with profound demands. The first one being 00:15:49.019 --> 00:15:51.879 absolute secrecy. Right, because Tracy was married 00:15:51.879 --> 00:15:55.240 and his wife, Louise, would never agree to a 00:15:55.240 --> 00:15:57.620 divorce. So this was a hidden relationship that 00:15:57.620 --> 00:16:00.879 lasted until his death in 1967. They maintained 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:03.039 separate residences. They were meticulous about 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:05.360 never being seen together publicly. This was 00:16:05.360 --> 00:16:08.340 a major long -term commitment that demanded constant 00:16:08.340 --> 00:16:10.840 vigilance. And the demands went beyond secrecy, 00:16:10.860 --> 00:16:12.980 didn't they? She really put her career on the 00:16:12.980 --> 00:16:14.960 back burner for him at times. She did. It's a 00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:17.559 huge contradiction with her public image. She 00:16:17.559 --> 00:16:19.679 slowed her career in the 40s to support Tracy, 00:16:19.860 --> 00:16:22.399 who was suffering from severe alcoholism, moodiness, 00:16:22.519 --> 00:16:25.480 and insomnia. The sources say she devoted herself 00:16:25.480 --> 00:16:28.480 to making his life easier. She took on this. 00:16:29.419 --> 00:16:31.820 This mothering role, often obeying him, it's 00:16:31.820 --> 00:16:34.179 fascinating. The woman who fought the entire 00:16:34.179 --> 00:16:37.039 studio system was privately submissive to the 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:40.480 man she loved. And this professional slowdown 00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:43.559 was compounded by politics. In the late 40s, 00:16:43.559 --> 00:16:46.240 with the anti -communist hysteria, Hepburn's 00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:48.539 outspoken opposition to the movement led directly 00:16:48.539 --> 00:16:50.539 to a nine -month period where she couldn't find 00:16:50.539 --> 00:16:53.220 work. She was labeled dangerously progressive. 00:16:53.700 --> 00:16:55.639 Even though she denied ever being a communist 00:16:55.639 --> 00:16:58.460 sympathizer. But still, their on -screen partnership 00:16:58.460 --> 00:17:01.179 powered through. They finished the decade with 00:17:01.179 --> 00:17:04.359 Adam's Rib in 1949, a brilliant battle of the 00:17:04.359 --> 00:17:06.880 sexes comedy written specifically for them. Which 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:09.420 became one of their most profitable films together. 00:17:09.740 --> 00:17:12.380 The 1950s then marked a pivotal shift in her 00:17:12.380 --> 00:17:15.440 career. She was nearing her 50s, and she started 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:18.319 consciously seeking out really difficult, dramatic 00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:21.160 material to prove her artistic merit beyond just 00:17:21.160 --> 00:17:23.259 the Tracy Hepburn formula. She was building a 00:17:23.259 --> 00:17:25.700 serious legacy. Her first move was back to the 00:17:25.700 --> 00:17:28.180 stage, tackling Shakespeare in As You Like It. 00:17:28.339 --> 00:17:30.759 A deliberate artistic risk. She was operating 00:17:30.759 --> 00:17:33.940 under her personal mantra. It's better to try 00:17:33.940 --> 00:17:35.900 something difficult and flop than to play it 00:17:35.900 --> 00:17:38.019 safe all the time. The play did well financially, 00:17:38.279 --> 00:17:40.740 but her next film was a massive global success. 00:17:40.819 --> 00:17:43.579 And this time it was entirely without Tracy. 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:48.039 The African Queen in 1951 opposite Humphrey Bogart. 00:17:48.119 --> 00:17:51.710 And that film was a true test of endurance. It 00:17:51.710 --> 00:17:54.190 was her first in Technicolor, filmed mostly on 00:17:54.190 --> 00:17:56.769 location in the Belgian Tongo. She embraced the 00:17:56.769 --> 00:17:58.490 conditions, though, didn't she? The heat, the 00:17:58.490 --> 00:18:00.970 insects, even getting dysentery. It was like 00:18:00.970 --> 00:18:03.170 proof of her toughness linking back to her childhood. 00:18:03.170 --> 00:18:06.750 It was. And the film reestablished her as a major 00:18:06.750 --> 00:18:09.789 box office draw, independent of Tracy, and got 00:18:09.789 --> 00:18:12.190 her a fifth Oscar nomination. Through the mid 00:18:12.190 --> 00:18:14.710 -50s, she successfully carved out this really 00:18:14.710 --> 00:18:16.869 specific niche. She started playing what she 00:18:16.869 --> 00:18:19.869 called the maiden aunt, these mature, unmarried, 00:18:19.869 --> 00:18:22.549 intellectually sharp women. Like Rosie Sayre 00:18:22.549 --> 00:18:25.150 in The African Queen or Jane Hudson in Summertime. 00:18:25.430 --> 00:18:27.470 Her performance in Summertime got her another 00:18:27.470 --> 00:18:29.670 Oscar nomination, even though she got a chronic 00:18:29.670 --> 00:18:31.789 eye infection from doing a stunt fall into a 00:18:31.789 --> 00:18:34.630 canal in Venice. Even in her 50s, she's still 00:18:34.630 --> 00:18:37.099 doing her own stunts. Embracing the discomfort. 00:18:37.339 --> 00:18:40.380 And that desire for challenging roles led her 00:18:40.380 --> 00:18:43.720 to a really dark, intense period, culminating 00:18:43.720 --> 00:18:47.660 in Suddenly, last summer in 1959. She took on 00:18:47.660 --> 00:18:50.200 the role of the creepy, controlling antagonist, 00:18:50.220 --> 00:18:53.220 Aunt Violet Venable. Which was completely against 00:18:53.220 --> 00:18:56.119 type for her. Totally. And the filming was an 00:18:56.119 --> 00:18:58.259 absolute ordeal. She had terrible clashes with 00:18:58.259 --> 00:19:01.140 the director, Joseph L. Mankiewicz. The tension 00:19:01.140 --> 00:19:03.990 got so bad that... Famously, it ended with Hepburn 00:19:03.990 --> 00:19:06.910 actually spitting at him. She did what? She spat 00:19:06.910 --> 00:19:09.430 at him in frustration. And yet, that fraught 00:19:09.430 --> 00:19:11.650 performance earned her an eighth Oscar nomination. 00:19:12.069 --> 00:19:14.390 But the film she considered her best work was 00:19:14.390 --> 00:19:16.789 Long Day's Journey Into Night. Without a doubt. 00:19:17.150 --> 00:19:20.069 the 1962 adaptation of eugene o 'neill's masterpiece 00:19:20.069 --> 00:19:22.329 she called the role of the morphine addicted 00:19:22.329 --> 00:19:24.930 mary tyrone the most challenging female role 00:19:24.930 --> 00:19:27.109 in american drama and believed it was the single 00:19:27.109 --> 00:19:29.130 best performance of her career it got her another 00:19:29.130 --> 00:19:31.710 oscar nomination and the best actress award at 00:19:31.710 --> 00:19:34.269 khan but right after this artistic high point 00:19:34.269 --> 00:19:37.309 she made a monumental sacrifice a complete five 00:19:37.309 --> 00:19:40.390 -year hiatus from all professional work she stopped 00:19:40.390 --> 00:19:42.910 everything to care for the ailing spencer tracy 00:19:43.440 --> 00:19:46.140 This period is the deepest contrast between her 00:19:46.140 --> 00:19:48.980 public image of iron independence and her private 00:19:48.980 --> 00:19:51.460 devotion. And her return to cinema after that 00:19:51.460 --> 00:19:54.380 break. It began the spectacular, record -breaking 00:19:54.380 --> 00:19:57.160 final phase of her career. She returned for Guess 00:19:57.160 --> 00:20:00.279 Who's Coming to Dinner in 1967, her final film 00:20:00.279 --> 00:20:03.299 with Tracy, who tragically died just 17 days 00:20:03.299 --> 00:20:05.740 after filming wrapped. The film was a massive 00:20:05.740 --> 00:20:08.299 success, and it won Hepburn her second Academy 00:20:08.299 --> 00:20:11.599 Award for Best Actress, 34 years after her first. 00:20:11.980 --> 00:20:14.359 She felt it was an honor for Tracy as much as 00:20:14.359 --> 00:20:16.839 for her. And she didn't pause. She went immediately 00:20:16.839 --> 00:20:18.900 back to work playing Eleanor of Aquitaine and 00:20:18.900 --> 00:20:21.180 the Lion in Winter. And that performance won 00:20:21.180 --> 00:20:23.859 her her third Academy Award the very next year, 00:20:23.980 --> 00:20:27.240 a rare tie with Barbra Streisand, two consecutive 00:20:27.240 --> 00:20:30.180 Oscars after once being labeled poison. That's 00:20:30.180 --> 00:20:32.299 just incredible resilience. She even conquered 00:20:32.299 --> 00:20:35.180 Broadway one last time in the musical Coco. Admitted 00:20:35.180 --> 00:20:37.200 she wasn't a strong singer, but just compensated 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:40.180 with pure guts and star power. Her crowning cinematic 00:20:40.180 --> 00:20:42.640 achievement, though, came late in life with On 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:46.599 Golden Pond in 1981 with Henry Fonda. A colossal 00:20:46.599 --> 00:20:50.000 success. At 74, she was still demonstrating that 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:52.759 vitality, doing a stunt where she dives fully 00:20:52.759 --> 00:20:55.880 clothed into a lake. And that film secured her 00:20:55.880 --> 00:20:59.400 record fourth Academy Award. A record that still 00:20:59.400 --> 00:21:02.680 stands. It's just an incredible career arc. But 00:21:02.680 --> 00:21:04.859 for a star who commanded so much public attention, 00:21:05.259 --> 00:21:08.940 she was fiercely, almost violently private. This 00:21:08.940 --> 00:21:10.920 is where the nickname Catherine of Arrogance 00:21:10.920 --> 00:21:13.779 comes from, isn't it? It is. She refused interviews 00:21:13.779 --> 00:21:16.079 and autographs for most of her career. She'd 00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:18.079 literally wrestle cameras away from photographers. 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:22.079 Her idea of stardom demanded distance, not accessibility. 00:21:22.519 --> 00:21:24.240 Her personal life reflected that. She was only 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:27.259 married once, very briefly. To Ludlow Ogden Smith. 00:21:27.519 --> 00:21:29.720 And the anecdote about the name is so telling. 00:21:29.859 --> 00:21:32.259 He actually changed his name to S. Ogden Ludlow 00:21:32.259 --> 00:21:34.180 at her request because she didn't want to be 00:21:34.180 --> 00:21:36.380 known as Kate Smith, a name she found too plain. 00:21:36.640 --> 00:21:38.960 She later admitted she was a terrible pig for 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:41.720 prioritizing her career entirely over her marriage. 00:21:41.880 --> 00:21:44.920 It shows that total uncompromising focus. And 00:21:44.920 --> 00:21:47.940 after her divorce, she had relationships, notably 00:21:47.940 --> 00:21:50.680 with Howard Hughes, who desperately wanted to 00:21:50.680 --> 00:21:54.029 marry her. But she refused because she was laser 00:21:54.029 --> 00:21:56.670 -focused on engineering her career comeback. 00:21:56.910 --> 00:22:00.069 No personal commitment could supersede her professional 00:22:00.069 --> 00:22:02.430 ambition. And she made another radical choice 00:22:02.430 --> 00:22:05.329 for that era. She decided not to have children. 00:22:05.450 --> 00:22:08.849 A conscious and unflinching choice. She believed 00:22:08.849 --> 00:22:11.309 motherhood required a full -time commitment she 00:22:11.309 --> 00:22:13.890 was unwilling to make, calling herself a very 00:22:13.890 --> 00:22:16.710 selfish human being. And she didn't mean it as 00:22:16.710 --> 00:22:19.130 a negative, but as an explanation for her singular 00:22:19.130 --> 00:22:21.519 devotion to her art. You have to put yourself 00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:24.380 in that era for a woman to make that choice and 00:22:24.380 --> 00:22:28.000 state it so plainly was huge. It was. And that 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:31.039 intense focus is what allowed her to manage the 00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:34.019 impossibly complex dynamic of the Spencer Tracy 00:22:34.019 --> 00:22:36.380 relationship. The depth of her feeling for him 00:22:36.380 --> 00:22:38.400 is clear. She wrote, it was a unique feeling 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:40.339 that I had for him. I would have been anything 00:22:40.339 --> 00:22:42.920 for him. That was the private woman hidden behind 00:22:42.920 --> 00:22:46.079 those walls of independence. The devotion, especially 00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:48.460 during his final years when she quit her career 00:22:48.460 --> 00:22:50.859 to care for him. It's the ultimate measure of 00:22:50.859 --> 00:22:54.019 their bond. And after he died, out of consideration 00:22:54.019 --> 00:22:56.640 for his family, she didn't even attend his funeral. 00:22:56.960 --> 00:23:00.079 And she stayed publicly silent about their 27 00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:03.099 -year relationship for decades. She only spoke 00:23:03.099 --> 00:23:05.480 about it after Tracy's wife, Louise, died in 00:23:05.480 --> 00:23:09.019 1983. This level of self -contained grief and 00:23:09.019 --> 00:23:11.720 respect, it speaks to a private morality that 00:23:11.720 --> 00:23:14.339 few in Hollywood could match. Her personal beliefs 00:23:14.339 --> 00:23:17.099 were just as defiant. She called herself a dedicated 00:23:17.099 --> 00:23:20.119 Democrat. openly promoted birth control, her 00:23:20.119 --> 00:23:22.799 mother's cause, and supported the right to abortion. 00:23:22.980 --> 00:23:26.039 On religion, she was blunt. I'm an atheist, and 00:23:26.039 --> 00:23:28.480 that's it. And this nonconformity translated 00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:31.839 powerfully into her fashion legacy. By defiantly 00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:34.259 wearing slacks and sandals everywhere, she helped 00:23:34.259 --> 00:23:36.940 redefine modern female fashion. She just said 00:23:36.940 --> 00:23:39.059 she disliked the stocking situation, but it was 00:23:39.059 --> 00:23:41.140 more than that, wasn't it? By refusing to conform 00:23:41.140 --> 00:23:43.559 to the confining expectations of female dress, 00:23:43.799 --> 00:23:46.339 she helped normalize trousers for women. She 00:23:46.339 --> 00:23:48.160 made them a symbol of functional, comfortable, 00:23:48.359 --> 00:23:50.920 intellectual female power. And the Council of 00:23:50.920 --> 00:23:52.759 Fashion Designers of America eventually gave 00:23:52.759 --> 00:23:55.099 her a Lifetime Achievement Award for it. Her 00:23:55.099 --> 00:23:57.440 personal comfort became a massive cultural statement. 00:23:57.660 --> 00:24:01.400 So her legacy is just... Immense. The American 00:24:01.400 --> 00:24:03.500 Film Institute named her the greatest female 00:24:03.500 --> 00:24:06.200 star of classic Hollywood cinema. And her strong, 00:24:06.259 --> 00:24:09.220 unconventional characters and lifestyle cemented 00:24:09.220 --> 00:24:12.640 her as an icon of the emancipated woman influencing 00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:15.339 gender attitudes for the entire century. But 00:24:15.339 --> 00:24:17.420 there's a contradiction there, isn't there? A 00:24:17.420 --> 00:24:20.000 critic, Richard Schickel, noted that her typical 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:22.359 beloved screen role like in the Philadelphia 00:24:22.359 --> 00:24:25.680 story or Woman of the Year was usually a high 00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:29.390 class or stuck up. girl who is brought down to 00:24:29.390 --> 00:24:31.869 earth by an earthy type. Yes. In other words, 00:24:31.910 --> 00:24:34.750 her intimidating high status persona almost always 00:24:34.750 --> 00:24:38.049 had to be softened or humbled by a more conventional 00:24:38.049 --> 00:24:41.509 male lead. Usually Tracy, before mass audiences 00:24:41.509 --> 00:24:44.089 could fully embrace her. So Hollywood was packaging 00:24:44.089 --> 00:24:46.269 her independence, making it palatable for the 00:24:46.269 --> 00:24:48.589 mainstream. You could say that. They made sure 00:24:48.589 --> 00:24:51.109 the strong female was ultimately, as Schickel 00:24:51.109 --> 00:24:53.690 put it, restored to a safe position within the 00:24:53.690 --> 00:24:56.200 status quo. But the core of that independence 00:24:56.200 --> 00:24:59.319 was still very, very real. And despite that compromise, 00:24:59.640 --> 00:25:01.660 she remains one of the most distinctive voices 00:25:01.660 --> 00:25:05.059 in film history. That precise, clipped, patrician 00:25:05.059 --> 00:25:08.400 accent became inseparable from her persona. Her 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:10.960 final years saw her shift to television, where 00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:13.640 critics said she was essentially playing a fictionalized, 00:25:13.700 --> 00:25:17.079 feisty version of herself. Her last theatrically 00:25:17.079 --> 00:25:20.720 released film was Love Affair in 1994, when she 00:25:20.720 --> 00:25:23.400 was 87. And though she looked frail, they said 00:25:23.400 --> 00:25:26.400 her magnificent spirit was still present. By 00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:28.660 the 80s, she developed that noticeable tremor, 00:25:28.680 --> 00:25:31.240 a permanently shaking head, and toward the end 00:25:31.240 --> 00:25:33.990 showed signs of dementia. She died from cardiac 00:25:33.990 --> 00:25:38.069 arrest on June 29, 2003 at 96 in her beloved 00:25:38.069 --> 00:25:40.250 family home in Connecticut. The tributes were 00:25:40.250 --> 00:25:42.750 widespread. President George W. Bush called her 00:25:42.750 --> 00:25:45.309 one of the nation's artistic treasures. Broadway 00:25:45.309 --> 00:25:47.910 lights were dimmed. Her legacy is preserved in 00:25:47.910 --> 00:25:50.509 memorials all over. So looking back at this deep 00:25:50.509 --> 00:25:53.559 dive. Katherine Hepburn's career is just a masterclass 00:25:53.559 --> 00:25:55.920 in professional resilience and strategic self 00:25:55.920 --> 00:25:59.019 -creation. A meteoric rise, a staggering public 00:25:59.019 --> 00:26:01.559 rejection, and then an engineered comeback that 00:26:01.559 --> 00:26:04.539 demanded complete creative control. She leveraged 00:26:04.539 --> 00:26:06.700 that long, complicated partnership with Tracy 00:26:06.700 --> 00:26:09.799 and evolved into this beloved independent star. 00:26:10.329 --> 00:26:12.450 And what we learn is that her independence wasn't 00:26:12.450 --> 00:26:14.890 accidental. It was forged by her radical upbringing, 00:26:15.150 --> 00:26:17.970 polished by brutal setbacks, and strategically 00:26:17.970 --> 00:26:20.890 financed by brilliant business moves. Her life 00:26:20.890 --> 00:26:23.730 was defined by iron discipline and the fierce 00:26:23.730 --> 00:26:26.769 defense of her personal style. She was the embodiment 00:26:26.769 --> 00:26:29.309 of a woman pushing boundaries, refusing to be 00:26:29.309 --> 00:26:32.410 categorized. And yet, here's the provocative 00:26:32.410 --> 00:26:35.410 thought for you to consider as we wrap up. Hepburn. 00:26:35.849 --> 00:26:38.549 A star who won a record four Oscars playing strong, 00:26:38.630 --> 00:26:41.430 complex women famously believed that women cannot 00:26:41.430 --> 00:26:44.369 have it all, meaning a family and a truly demanding 00:26:44.369 --> 00:26:47.490 career. She made that choice. She sacrificed 00:26:47.490 --> 00:26:49.950 marriage and motherhood for her ambition and 00:26:49.950 --> 00:26:52.230 her devotion to Tracy. So what does her success 00:26:52.230 --> 00:26:55.029 built on that very explicit belief in necessary 00:26:55.029 --> 00:26:57.890 sacrifice? Tell us about the pressures and choices 00:26:57.890 --> 00:27:00.609 faced by modern, ambitious individuals today. 00:27:00.809 --> 00:27:03.390 Is her triumph a celebration of boundless independence? 00:27:03.710 --> 00:27:06.150 Or is it a cautionary tale about the necessity 00:27:06.150 --> 00:27:08.809 of profound sacrifice? That is the fittingly 00:27:08.809 --> 00:27:11.089 difficult question she leaves us with. A final 00:27:11.089 --> 00:27:12.869 reflection from a woman whose life was defined 00:27:12.869 --> 00:27:15.779 by uncompromising choices. you for joining us 00:27:15.779 --> 00:27:18.660 on this deep dive into the extraordinary life 00:27:18.660 --> 00:27:20.559 of catherine hepburn we'll see you next time