{"id":137216,"date":"2026-05-12T09:30:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T13:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=137216"},"modified":"2026-05-11T21:47:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T01:47:52","slug":"happy-birthday-katharine-hepburn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=137216","title":{"rendered":"“I don\u2019t care how afraid I may be inside \u2014 I do what I think I should.\u201d — Katharine Hepburn"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\nBarbara Walters: \u201cKate, you always wear pants. Do you even own a skirt?\u201d
\nKatharine Hepburn: \u201cI have one, Miss Walters. I\u2019ll wear it to your funeral.\u201d<\/big><\/p>\n

Dan and I discussed her, in my interview with him about his new book<\/a>. He is very concerned about how the public sees her now, at least judging from the snarky comments left on Facebook posts when he put up images of her through her career. Dan said: <\/p>\n

I was upset by the reaction to Hepburn on Facebook. If she was alive now, she\u2019d know how to fix this perception of her. She\u2019s not alive anymore, so we need to try to fix it for her. What needs to be done is that she needs to be recouped as a subversive figure. I feel like people are against her now because they feel like she lied to us. She was basically a lesbian, so they kind of have a point. There\u2019s a kind of false quality to how she was promoted, particularly when she was an old lady.<\/p>\n

This is trickier though. When I put up posts about Montgomery Clift and Marlon Brando on Facebook, people went wild for them, and I feel like it\u2019s partly because they\u2019re so good-looking and sexy. I feel like the problem with Katharine Hepburn is a sex problem, and that was the case for her in the beginning too. People aren\u2019t embracing her because she doesn\u2019t care about sex on screen. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So I will do my part in trying to fix it for her. Here are some of the things I have written about her: <\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

\n— For Capital New York back in the day, I wrote about the restoration of The African Queen<\/i><\/a>. <\/p>\n

— A long-ago “5 for the Day” on Slant about Hepburn, and I decided to focus on her work ethic and her appetite for taking risks. Really, it’s a piece about her ability as an actress – even as a giant star (which is rarer) for “taking an adjustment.” That’s an actor term. You play a scene a certain way. A director, if he\/she is good, gives you “an adjustment.” “Play it more like this.” “Okay, try it again, but do it this way. Add a little more of this. Take away a little of that.” Often in audition situations, the casting director or director will give you an adjustment – not because you’re doing it wrong, but because they want to see how well you take direction. Hepburn was a master at “taking adjustments.” She knew, even as a great star, that she wasn’t perfect, and that when she needed help – she would take it. 5 for the Day: Katharine Hepburn<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

— And finally: I wrote the booklet essay for the Criterion release of Bringing Up Baby<\/i><\/a>! I know that movie by heart, and yet I have never written at length about it, so it was a blast working on that.<\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Happy birthday, Miss Kate. <\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

\n 
\n 
\nThank you so much for stopping by. If you like what I do, and if you feel inclined to support my work, here’s a link to my Venmo account<\/a>. And I’ve launched a Substack, Sheila Variations 2.0<\/a>, if you’d like to subscribe.<\/em> <\/small><\/p>\n