Josie Andrews 412 Midterm Projects

Tracy-Hepburn

In the 1993 documentary Katharine Hepburn: All About Me,  Kate describes how she first met Tracy with "Women of the Year's producer Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Kate was determined Tracy should be in the film but was surprised by his short stature when she first met him on the lot. Kate was 5'8", Tracy was not quite 5'10".  Surprised by his short stature, she said: “I’m afraid I’m a bit tall for you, Mr. Tracy.”  Mankiewicz quickly retorted, “Don’t worry, Kate, he’ll cut you down to size.” Their back and forth exchanges in this film and subsequent films that were designed to put the other in his or her “place” was one of the most delightful aspects of their on-screen gender relationship.

Hepburn's relationship with Tracy was complicated and ambiguous, but Scott's Byrd's 2004 biography, Kate Remembered, is excellent for filling in the blanks from Katherine's own 1996 autobiography Me: Stories of My Life. Kate and Spencer were together for 26 years--until his death in 1967. Yet, while he was separated from his wife, he never divorced and he and Kate never chose to live together. It also appears that, despite the length of their relationship, a majority of that time may not have been intimate. Yet, there was something about him that Kate clung to and cared about always, and she never let go despite his alcoholism and many dark moments. Here are just a few moments of the two on-screen and off-screen.






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