Legendary actress and icon Katharine Hepburn dies at 96
Miss Hepburn died at her home in Old Saybrook with family by her side, said Cynthia McFadden, her friend and the executor of her estate.
"Through her films, generations to come will discover her humor, her grace, her keen intelligence," McFadden said in a statement from the family. "She was and always will be an American original. She died as she lived, with dignity and grace."
One of the rare Hollywood icons whose performances lived up to her legendary status, Miss Hepburn displayed a remarkable longevity. Her film career spanned six decades, and she won three of her four Oscars for best actress after the age of 60.
No one has surpassed her record of four Oscars for best actress and 12 nominations in the best-actress category. (Meryl Streep bettered Miss Hepburn's nominations total only this year with 13 nominations, but they came in two categories.)
Miss Hepburn won Oscars for "Morning Glory" (1933), "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (1967), "The Lion in Winter" (1968) and "On Golden Pond" (1981).
The American Film Institute recently named her the top female screen legend.
Miss Hepburn was born in Hartford, Conn., on May 12, 1907, one of six children of Dr. Thomas Hepburn, a noted urologist and pioneer in social hygiene, and Katharine Houghton Hepburn, who worked for birth control and getting the vote for women.
As the product of a wealthy, freethinking New England family, Miss Hepburn was forthright in her opinions and unconventional in her conduct.
"The boat may be only a canoe," she once said of her prickly sense of independence, "but I'm paddling it."
Friends and admirers mourned the loss of a generous neighbor and a role model to generations of actors.
After news of her death had spread, dozens of people gathered at Saybrook Point near Miss Hepburn's home.
"She was one of us," said Barbara Maynard who knew the actress for more than 30 years. Miss Hepburn helped the town buy waterfront property for a park and donated a fire engine.
"I think every actress in the world looked up to her with a kind of reverence and a sense of, 'Oh, boy, if only I could be like her,' "actress Elizabeth Taylor said. "We never looked at her with envy or jealousy because she worked with such grace and wit and charm. You only wish that one day you could be like her. I am so glad that she and Spence (Spencer Tracy) are finally together again."
Miss Hepburn and Tracy made nine films together and remained close companions until Tracy's death in 1967.
President Bush and first lady Laura Bush expressed their condolences. "Katharine Hepburn delighted audiences with her unique talent for more than six decades," Bush said. "She was known for her intelligence and wit and will be remembered as one of the nation's artistic treasures."
Miss Hepburn had been in declining health, having undergone hip-replacement surgery and suffering tremors similar to Parkinson's disease.
"I'm what is known as gradually disintegrating," she said in a 1990 interview. "I don't fear the next world, or anything. I don't fear hell, and I don't look forward to heaven."
Opinionated, articulate and given to short, to-the-point pronouncements, Miss Hepburn wasn't fond of interviews. "My privacy is my own. I am the one to decide whether it will be invaded." But she made certain that she was quotable whenever she did one.
"With all the opportunities I had, I could have done more. And if I'd done more, I could have been quite remarkable," she said.
McFadden said that according to Miss Hepburn's wishes, there will be no memorial service and burial will be private. Miss Hepburn is survived by a sister, Margaret Hepburn Perry; a brother, Dr. Robert Hepburn; and 13 nieces and nephews.
Information from The Orlando Sentinel and Los Angeles Times is included in this report.