Customer Reviews (1)

An illustrated history of Katharine Hepburn's acting career
This look at "Katharine Hepburn" looks at only the first four decades of her remarkable film career, which means from her 1932 debut in "A Bill of Divorcement" through her 39th theatrical film "A Delicate Balance" in 1973.Since that point in time Hepburn won her fourth Oscar for "On Golden Pond," made "Rooster Cogburn and the Lady" with John Wayne, and did a series of television movies including "The Glass Menagerie," "Love Among the Ruins" with Laurence Olivier, and "The Corn is Green."However, it does do a nice job of looking at the early years of Hepburn's career ("early" as in she turned 96 this month) and tracing the actresses' transformation on the screen from the aggressive, strong-willed young woman who is determined to remain independent in a man's world, to the lonely spinster in a wistful, even desperate, search for love.

Alvin H. Marill only briefly sketches out her childhood (the apparent suicide of her older brother Tom is said to have died in an accident) because the main focus is on Hepburn's public persona.Her career is divided into four parts: The Stage Years, when she managed to be fired from more parts than she performed; The RKO Years, where she won her first Oscar for "Morning Glory," as well as the classic "Bringing Up Baby," while being dismissed as Box Office Poison; The MGM Years begins with her return to stardom in "The Philadelphia Story" and her first film with Spencer Tracy, "Woman of the Year," and ends with "Adam's Rib," "The African Queen," and "Pat & Mike"; and The Independent Years, which saw Hepburn receive six Oscar nominations and win two for "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" and "The Lion in Winter," while making eight films from 1955 to 1968.

Marill provides descriptions of the plot of each film including some of the most famous lines Hepburn ever uttered on screen, behind the scenes stories and insights, and comments by critics and the media.The result is a quick paced review of Katharine Hepburn's celebrated career that provides a sense of its ups and downs.My copy is falling apart because this was what I used to assemble my video collection of everything she ever did that exists on tape.This volume is one of The Illustrated History of the Movies series, offering a comprehensive overview of the influential figures, forms, and styles in the development of the motion pictures.The book is illustrated with black & white photographs with two or three for every film and some early shots of Hepburn on Broadway, including a nice shot of her as Antiope in the 1932 play "The Warrior's Husband" that made her a star. ... Read more

Product Description
One of the most visible and vocal actresses of all time, Katharine Hepburn has graced both stage and screen for over 50 years. The model of strength and perseverance in the human spirit, she has overcome obstacles in both her personal life and career and made herself one of the world's brightest stars. 135 color & b&w photos. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Amazingly clear high quality photos
Not a book with all full page photos,b ut you won't have to squint to see any of these either.

Picked up this hardback on sales a week ago. Great book, with gorgeous pics. I am not a huge fan of her at all. Though I am in love with a few of her films from her early days (with Cary Grabt and Spence) But I did like a few of her films.
These photos are very high quality and this book is a must at this price.

Even if you don't think you want a picture book of Kate (which is what I thought) page through it you may find you have to have it since it is less than $10. It is a great addition to my high quality portrait book collection. Almost all of the photos are of a young beautiful Kate too. Not jammed full of old lady photos (it only has a few at the end). No offense I just pref. glamour portraits and wanted to assure others that do as well.

Kate is Stunning!
If you love Kate the way that I do, you will enjoy these wonderfulphotographs of her career.There were so many shots that I had never seenbefore.Her life as an actor was so incredible that seeing this timecapsule of wonderful images helps you understand the woman.It iswonderfully narrated.I love this book and I think the true Kate fan willalso. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

One of the Most Beautiful Collections of Actress Photos
I have loved this book for over 25 years now.I still have my copy I acquired when I was a teenager, the dust jacket is long gone but the book is still cherished.These are five extraordinary women in film history.This book is not as lavish as Larry Carr's first book FOUR FABULOUS FACES (on Crawford, Garbo, Dietrich, and Swanson)but it's an awesome collection of pictures and a good introduction to these stars.I've always felt Davis and Hepburn may have been included for their still being household names and good selling points for the book, though they certainly deserve to be in here, Carr is clearly not as enthusiastic about them as the other ladies and Davis particularly gets a bit of criticism that is sound but seems a little inappropiate given the way he praises Del Rio, Loy, and Lombard to the skies.This was actually the first book published that I can recall that took Davis to task for her ego and allegedly troublesome behaviour. Nevertheless, only a fool would deny Bette Davis is one of the five greatest women stars in film history, and most would say she is in the top two or even number one.The only woman who can compare with her is Katharine Hepburn and while Carr mentions a quirk or two of Hepburn's he is generally highly complementary.Carole Lombard had a major revival in the 1970's and Carr is right there with the crowd praising her elegance and wonderful comic talent; the cooly glamorous Myrna Loy is clearly another major favorite of Carr's, although recognized as a superstar, she is not written about on the level of Hepburn and Davis or even Lombard so it's especially nice to see her getting her due.And then there is Dolores Del Rio.I had never seen her before I got this book 25 years ago, probably never had even heard of her.Back then, I kind of resented someone I was not familiar with at all was put on a pedestal with these mega superstars.Well, I am pleased to say I got over my ignorance, today I absolute love Dolores Del Rio and recognize her awesome, almost peerless beauty.She was also an excellent actress and quite a historically important one given her trailblazing career as a Hispanic star.She most definately is a "fabulous face" and one that deserves to be recognized one of the most dignified and breathtakingly beautiful women motion pictures will ever know. This book is a must for anyone who loves the golden era of Hollywood.

Though it says more, these 4 stars are my favorite
First Edition, 265 pages. This book is a sequel to Larry Carr's previous book, "Four Fabulous Faces". In this edition, he concentrates on five legendary Hollywood actresses: Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, Dolores Del Rio, Carole Lombard and Myrna Loy.

Through ton of incredible B&W photographs, Mr Carr traces the lives and film careers of each woman and the evolution of their appearance, using screen test shots, movie stills, studio portraits, high fashion sittings and candid photographs. Many of the B&W photographs are full page size and rarely published. This book is a must for fans of old Hollywood and any one or all of the five actresses included. The book is 9" x 11" in size.

As to it saying More in the title, this book is part 2 even better fo me than part 1 which are 4 different starlets.

I was especially pleased that he had interviewed Myrna Loy for the book. So her biography part was top drawer, as are the others.

So many pages that this is the best of both worlds without sacrificing either element photos or bios. And I bought it for the photos I'll admit, and was not sorry. It is a beautiful 1st rate photo book. And I collect the best of them. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

This book is rubbish but not for the reasons the prior reviewer cites
The prior reviewer claims that William Mann's recent book convincingly 'outs' Hepburn.Of course it doesn't.Its just another in a long line of gay celebrity biographers claiming that conveniently dead golden age Hollywood stars were homosexual.In general, none of them were and Kate Hepburn is no exception.

Edwards book is lousy because it is riddled with factual and chronological errors.She repeatedly mistates when Hepburn made films, did theatrical appearances, etc. And when Edwards wasn't getting the chronology wrong, she was plagarizing the few prior books about Kate that were out by 1985.Any one who has read the Tracy biography by Larry Swindell or the Charles Higham biography of KH or Garson Kanin's book will see that Edwards lifted huge sections from all of them frequently without any attribution.

Unfortunately as an early biography of Kate, this book has been used as source material by many subsequent biographers, even Scott Berg, and many of her errors have been repeated over and over again. To date, no good biography has been written about Hepburn which is amazing considering just how many books there are out there about her.Hopefully with the release of her papers by her estate, a responsible and skilled biographer will do an accurate and exhaustive biography of Hepburn.This isn't it.

That Was No Closet
Anne Edwards's "A Remarkable Woman: A Biography of Katherine Hepburn," was published in 1985, while the iconic Hepburn was still very much alive.A remarkable book, it shares the virtues of Edwards's biographies of Vivien Leigh and Judy Garland.Many people were interviewed, it's bursting with footnotes, and it offers thorough, almost day to day coverage of the performer's career.It is also more than discreet, perhaps a touch sentimental.

Edwards gives the reader an insider's view of the making of many of Hepburn's outstanding movies, from her first Oscar winning "Morning Glory," through the screwball comedies, to the great films made with Spencer Tracy, to some of the late triumphs of her career: "The African Queen," "Summertime," and the Oscar-winning "Lion in Winter."She offers you-are-there coverage on the last of Hepburn's Oscars, the touching "On Golden Pond," made with Henry Fonda-- it was his last picture-- and his daughter Jane, who produced it.The author is particularly strong on Hepburn's long struggle for stage success-- she quotes the famous critic Dorothy Parker's crack about an early Hepburn performance: the actress ran the emotional gamut from "A" to "B."

However, the Hollywood Hepburn found when she first went out was a small town of artistic bohemians.In those pre-code, pre-Hays days it was a laissez-faire town.Hepburn's open, extremely close relationships with women were gossiped about among her peers, frequently hinted at in print.Only later, when the climate changed, and Hepburn became more determined to acquire stardom and hold it did she hide that aspect of her personality.Edwards takes us over and over to the door of Hepburn's particular closet, while never opening it.She tells us of the critically important early relationship with Laura Harding, American Express heiress, who willingly devoted her resoources to Hepburn's career.She tells us of Hepburn's flight to Europe after a galling stage defeat.Hepburn took off with Suzanne Steel, a woman tabbed with an 'interesting' life: that escapade sure angered Harding.She tells us at significant length about Hepburn's late life relationship with Phyllis Wilbourne; it lasted until Wilbourne's death.It's enough to remind me of a crack once heard about the coming-out of an indiscreet gay acquaintance of some note: that was no closet you were in, that was a warehouse.

In the matter of Hepburn's personal life, then, Edwards follows exactly the party line set forth by the actress and her advisors.The author charts Hepburn's heterosexual relationships, with the husband of her youth, Ludlow Smith; the Hollywood studs Leland Hayward, John Ford, Howard Hughes, and, above all, Spencer Tracy exactly as the actress wished them to be known.Well, we loved Hepburn's work, then and now, and we loved, too, the charming tale she told.Only now, thirty years later, in "Kate," does William Mann say explicitly what Edwards, who saw much of it, would not say.

This...is Katharine Hepburn? Not according to her Auto-bio
Edwards rewrote this book with supposed corrections. HA! Then why is Kate birthday listed as November 8, 1909 in the Oct. 1999 edition? Kate wrote her auto-bio 8 years early. Maybe Edwardss should READ, RESEARCH THEN, snd ONLY THEN, Write. ... Read more

Product Description
If Garbo was the first actress to give the cinema its true and subtle sexuality, then Katharine Hepburn was the first to give it spirit and verbal intelligence. It was with Hepburn that women in the cinema came of age: "She didn't grow up in Hollywood," said George Cukor; "Hollywood grew up to her."In this biography, Sheridan Morley provides a fitting tribute to Katharine Hepburn. Her style and wit, her sense of grandeur, are abundantly apparent in these pages. her career is a testament to survival in an evanescent profession. She did once reveal that when she died she expected people to miss her "just like they'd miss a very old monument", and indeed from A Bill of Divorcement to On Golden Pond, Hepburn's films form a foundation in the twentieth century history of film. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

I think this chap has a problem...
...with the great female stars, he has written many biographies of Hollywood, Broadway and West End stars and yet there is a marked difference. His books on male stars are well researched, celebratory and complimentary. In contrast his books on female stars are either scant, slight or plain nasty.
Depending on the sex of your star of choice I would give him a wide birth, even if the star is male I would consider his credibilty; which is not great in my opinion. This book is scant, silly and a real missed opportunity. It does not do the great lady any justice whatsoever!

Not what I was looking for.
I bought this book based on the description "lavish pictorial biography".It has only 15 pictures in it.I'm returning it and shopping for a different book with more pictures. ... Read more

Product Description
Geoffrey Giulano's biography chronicles the many facets of one of the most celebrated actresses of our time – from her unconventional aristocratic upbringing to her meteoric rise on the silver screen to the highs and lows of her personal relationships.Thoroughly researched and featuring exclusive interviews – including some with Hepburn herself! – this is a fitting tribute to an American icon. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

THE REAL KATE IN ALL HER GUTSY GLORY!
Wow, how did this guy manage to find so many rare interviews with Kate Hepburn and her family and friends? What a well researched, beautifully recorded audio-biography of one of Hollywood's brightest stars and an inspiration to people everywhere. Hats off to Random House Audio for this highly original work! ... Read more

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Multilingual Edition: German, French, English ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Captures the Very Soul of Katherine Hepburn
Katherine Hepburn, or "Kate," as she was informally known, epitomized the era of Hollywood aristocracy. Indeed she had come from an aristocratic Eastern family, yet when this genuine beauty became known for her preference for pants, eyes began to open wide. She was a pensive, sensual, provocative conundrum who couldn't have cared less what anyone thought of her, let alone her adoring public, yet became one of the world's most famous and beloved actresses of all time.

What she couldn't or wouldn't divulge about her thoughts or personal life was subtly caught on camera, more notably on movie and publicity stills. She became the "first lady of cinema," yet many in the industry considered her to be unattractive and lacking in sex appeal, a quality that filled the screen and the casting couches with young, beautiful women. Any woman with Katherine Hepburn's sang-froid didn't revel in such nonsense. Indeed, they dubbed her "Katherine of Arrogance."

Inexplicably "David O. Selznick, who oversaw her early career at RKO, found her unattractive and refused to cast her in Gone With the Wind (1939) because she lacked `sex qualities.'" (pg. 12) The gorgeous, sensual, pulchritude of the black-and white-art photography in this book begs to differ. In William J. Mann's 2006 memoir of Kate, the photographic portrait of her seems barren in contrast. Kate's last image, which in part states that she was "impish, chubby, and adored the world over," is not what her fans care to remember her by. Taschen captures the woman we saw, the woman we imagined her to be, and the woman we want to see and remember. They capture the very soul of Katherine Houghton Hepburn, a real American beauty.

This breathtaking photobiography will bring back fond memories of an American movie icon to its readership. As the pages are turned Kate comes to life and we can hear her voice and remember movies that once mesmerized us or that oftentimes can be captured on late night television. Many of the stills' captions, in English, French, and German, are accompanied by memorable quotations. Even the simple musings, such as "If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased," will bring Kate back to life. From the visual image of a "powerful sexy woman" to those "tender and tearful moments," this is one book every fan should consider!

Quill says: Taschen captures the woman we saw, the woman we imagined her to be, and the woman we want to see and remember. They capture the very soul of Katherine Houghton Hepburn, a real American beauty. ... Read more

Product Description
Illustrated with four photographs from the 1934 film. Decorative endpapers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Katharine Hepburn
I love this book!! I have had it displayed since I received it either on my coffee table, hanging in a shadow box, or standing on an easel!!! She's my hero!!!!

It's spelled KathArine Hepburn
As for the book,if you have John Bryson's book,The Private World of Katharine Hepburn, there is no reason to buy this one.The Bryson book is far better than the Life book.Other than the Bryson pictures, the selection of pictures in the Life book is amazingly unbalanced.The book spends an inordinate amount of space on pictures from her RKO years which in many cases produced very mediocre films.It virtually ignores Spencer Tracy and the many fine films she made with him at MGM.But not to worry.There are two entire pages devoted to The Iron Pettiocoat; the worst film Hepburn ever made.The book then veers off into the Bryson stuff. I can only assume that the picture selections for the book were done by a nineteen year old intern.Certainly no one with any appreciation for Hepburn or her career could have selected these pictures. ... Read more

Product Description
4 books in one book ... Read more

Product Description
Clarence Sinclair Bull was born in Michigan but spent most of his life in Hollywood where he died in 1979. He was hired by movie mogul Sam Goldwyn in 1920 to photograph publicity stills of the studio's stars. Four years later, when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was founded, Bull was appointed as the head of their stills department where he remained throughout his career. During that time he took portraits of the most celebrated Hollywood film stars, however, he is particularly known for his photographs fo Greta Garbo who was almost exclusively photographed by Bull from 1921 to 1941. This book highlights Bull's 40-year career at MGM with nearly 200 of his enduring portraits of filmstars such as Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, Vivian Leigh, Spencer Tracy, Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly and Katherine Hepburn. This monograph presents an array of star portraits as well as a history of Hollywood in its heyday. The book will accompany a major exhibition organized by the National Portrait Gallery in collaboration with the John Kobal Collection and American Express. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

a coffee table treat
Although the title suggests an assassination, it actually refers to Clarence Sinclair Bull, who was MGM's chief portrait and glamour photographer from the studio's inception in 1924 to his retirement in 1961. He began photographing Garbo with her last silent film The Kiss in 1929, and after that she wanted no one else to photograph her. Bull would take over 4,000 individual studies of Garbo, devoting 2 days in his gallery for each of her films. She would pose in the character she was playing, since she saw the stills as part of the film-making process. The stills from The Kiss are particularly striking, "suffused with an elegaic softness and allure" writes Terence Pepper in the text. Bull enclosed Garbo's face in a black shadowy background, and, in contrast to her previous demure studies where she averted her eyes, he had her look directly into the camera and communicate directly with the viewer, "preserving her inner mood". A beret photograph is so potent that the studio used it for the film poster, and it prefigures her think-of-nothing final close-up from her later Queen Christina. Bull also transposed a vignette study of Garbo's face ontoa photograph of the Cairo Sphinx, to create "The Swedish Sphinx". When he timorously showed her the result, he was surprised that instead of being offended, she howled with laughter, and approved it's release. It may have become the most widely distributed of her images, but it remains camp at best. Bull would say that she had no bad side and no bad angle, which made her the easiest of all the stars to photograph. Plus he thought she enjoyed their sessions, never tiring of posing for him. The images confirm MGM's agenda of creating flawless beauty, held up before the admiring throng as "nothing less than the Hope diamond in the flesh". Garbo's skin has a statue-esque perfection, her hair lit to be look soft and pliable. She never smiles but emotion is still evident. The one study in colour is for Two Faced Woman, which is less flattering than the black and white stills. Her hair has been pulled back slightly with a hidden ribbon, exposing her large forehead, and the hardness of her later Cecil Beaton studies emerges, her mouth almost in a sneer of disdain. Perhaps she knew making the film would be a mistake and an end to her film career. We also have a study of Chris, Garbo's stand-in, who apparently was even more mysterious than the one she doubled for. After Garbo retired, perhaps it is only the studies of Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn that can match the iconoclastic grandness of Bull's work with Garbo, which proves that no matter how talented the photographer, the subject is everything. This kind of portraiture would decline with the collapse of the studios, and when you see the later studies of less arresting faces, perhaps this was for the best. Garbo flourished in a period where the ideals of beauty she radiated were desperately needed, but she always a reluctant star. When the world became indifferent, so did she. ... Read more