Kate Remembered
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
'For more than twenty years, Katharine Hepburn imparted many of the details of her life to me suggesting that I weave them into a book - one that would appear upon her death. Sad to say, the time has come to publish that book. But I find comfort in knowing she lived a very rich 96 years; and I have tried my best to honour her wish of making the book as true to her spirit as possible - as inspiring, as loving and as fun.' Scott Berg
KATE REMEMBERED is a loving tribute and a tender farewell that reveals an unusual relationship in a unique life, one fully lived - and largely according to Katharine Hepburn's own rules. More importantly, it sets down many of the stories of that life as she saw them, full of sentiments she felt should not be made public until after her death. Ultimately, this book is not only a story of the poignant final twenty years in which Scott Berg knew Katharine Hepburn, but also a tale of a great theatrical personality and the better part of the century that was the stage for her distinguished life.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Even those who've read many Hepburn biographies will find Berg's immersion in the actor's world engrossing, full of crisply-voiced takes on old Hollywood and intimate looks at her everyday life. As a longtime friend and ardent fan, Berg (Lindbergh; Max Perkins; etc.) does not attempt an objective biography; instead, he aims to convey Hepburn's thoughts and memories. Framed by Berg and Hepburn's 20-year friendship, the book charts the inescapable subjects of Hepburn's life, such as her romance with Spencer Tracy and her assessment of her own performances. She considered Tracy the greatest American screen actor and her last years with him (in the 1960s) the happiest of her life. Among her movies, she spoke warmly of her films with George Cukor. As to Hepburn's sexual orientation, Berg notes that in the 1930s she lived with actress Laura Harding and decades later was rumored to have exceptionally close relations with a woman, but Hepburn reported nothing. Most interesting is Berg's depiction of Hepburn's early acting days: how she moved from Broadway to Hollywood, negotiated an outsized salary, and, after becoming box-office poison, fought her way back with The Philadelphia Story. Throughout those years, she was befriended personally and professionally by her husband Ludlow Ogden Smith and by industrialist Howard Hughes. Berg is true to his subject and lets her voice come through in every quote, whether she's pooh-poohing him for thinking the 50-ish-degree water near her Connecticut house is cold ("Only for the first few seconds. And then you're numb") or explaining why she never tried to marry Spencer Tracy:"I never wanted to marry Spencer Tracy." Photos.
