Katharine Hepburn papers

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Description: The Katharine Hepburn papers consist of correspondence, scripts, photographs, scrapbooks, programs, contracts, financial papers, production materials, notebooks, and clippings documenting the theatrical career of the legendary actress. A few items from radio, television, and motion picture performances are also included. There are also a number of materials from her files relating to the theater, such as books, programs for performing arts events she attended, and memorabilia relating to 19th and early 20th century actors.
Names: Hepburn, Katharine, 1907-2003 (Creator); Adams, Maude, 1872-1953 (Correspondent); Akins, Zoë, 1886-1958 (Author); Barry, Philip, 1896-1949 (Author); Benthall, Michael (Correspondent); Collier, Constance, 1878-1955 (Correspondent); Dean, Julia, approximately 1878-1952 (Actor); Helpmann, Robert, Sir, 1909-1986 (Actor); Helpmann, Robert, Sir, 1909-1986.1986 (Correspondent); Hughes, Howard, 1905-1976 (Correspondent); Langner, Lawrence, 1890-1962 (Correspondent); Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 (Author); Tracy, Spencer, 1900-1967 (Actor); American Shakespeare Festival Theatre and Academy (Production company); Old Vic Company (Production company); Theatre Guild (Production company)
Dates / Origin: Date Created: 1854 - 1997
Library locations: Billy Rose Theatre Division; Shelf locator: *T-Mss 2007-009
Topics: Actresses; Actresses -- United States; Motion picture actors and actresses -- United States; Theater -- Australia; Theater -- New York (State) -- New York (N.Y.); Theater -- United States; Women in the theater; Australia -- Photographs; Hepburn, Katharine, 1907-2003
Genres: Clippings; Correspondence; Costume design drawings; Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc.; Photographs; Programs; Scrapbooks; Window cards
Notes: Biographical/historical: Star of stage and screen, and international icon, actress Katharine Houghton Hepburn was born on May 12, 1907 in Hartford, Connecticut to Dr. Thomas N. Hepburn, a distinguished urologist and surgeon specializing in the treatment of venereal disease, and Katharine (Kit) Martha Houghton, an advocate of women’s suffrage and birth control. Hepburn’s parents devoted themselves to working for social causes in which they believed, as well as to raising their family. Hepburn was the second of six children. Known as “Kath” and “Kathy” as a child, Hepburn, reputedly a determined tomboy, at one point took the name “Jimmy.” In 1921, while visiting their mother’s friend Mary ("Auntie") Towle in Greenwich Village, Hepburn found her adored older brother, Tom, dead, a possible suicide. She was admitted to her mother’s alma mater, Bryn Mawr College, in 1925. In her junior year (1927), she performed in The Truth About Blayds by A.A. Milne (although there are no materials in the papers on this production) and in her senior year (1928), she played Pandora in The Woman in the Moone by John Lyly (a.k.a. Lilly) in the college’s May Day celebration. Around the time of her 1928 graduation from Bryn Mawr, Hepburn was hired by Edwin H. Knopf for his stock company in Baltimore. She played small parts in The Czarina and The Cradle Snatchers. Also in the company were Mary Boland, Kenneth MacKenna, Dudley Digges, and Robert Montgomery. Through Kenneth MacKenna (who wrote a letter of introduction), Hepburn began studying with acting teacher Frances Robinson-Duff. Later that summer, Knopf’s company produced The Big Pondby George Middleton and A.E. Thomas in Great Neck, New York. Hepburn was fired after only one performance. She made her Broadway debut as a hostess under the name “Katherine [sic] Burns” in Night Hostess by Philip Dunning, which opened at the Martin Beck Theatre on September 12, 1928. That same year, Hepburn also understudied Hope Williams in the role of Linda Seton in Philip Barry’s play, Holiday. (Hepburn would later play the role in the film.) She also played Veronica Sims in These Days by Katharine Clugston, opening at the Cort Theatre on November 12, 1928. On December 12th, Hepburn married Ludlow Ogden Smith, from whom she was divorced in 1934. Between 1929 and 1931, Hepburn toured and performed in several plays such as Death Takes a Holidayby Alberto Casella (from which she was fired in 1929), Art and Mrs. Bottle by Benn Levy (1930), and The Animal Kingdom by Philip Barry (1931). She also understudied Eunice Stoddard as Katia in A Month in the Country (1930), and performed in summer stock in Stockbridge, Massachusetts in 1930 (although there are no materials in the papers on these productions), as well as in Ivoryton, Connecticut in 1931. Hepburn’s success as Antiope in The Warrior’s Husband by Julian F. Thompson, which opened Mar. 11, 1932 at the Morosco Theatre won her a screen test in Hollywood, leading her to her first role in A Bill of Divorcementand movie stardom. The film was directed by George Cukor, who became one of Hepburn’s closest friends. (Also around this time, Hepburn was represented by noted agent Leland Hayward.) However, throughout her career, Hepburn would always return to the legitimate stage. After winning her first (of four) Academy Awards for Morning Glory (1933), Hepburn returned to the stage in the Jed Harris production of The Lake by Dorothy Massingham and Murray MacDonald at the Martin Beck Theatre. The play was lambasted by the critics and Hepburn did not return to the stage until she toured in Helen Jerome’s adaptation of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë in 1936-1937. The tour was produced by the Theatre Guild. In 1939, The Philadelphia Story triumphantly reunited Hepburn with both Philip Barry and the Theatre Guild. Shirley Booth, Joseph Cotten, and Van Heflin co-starred. Hepburn next returned to the stage in another Philip Barry play, Without Love, which opened on Nov. 10, 1942 at the St. James Theatre and co-starred Elliot Nugent and featured Audrey Christie. The 1942 film Woman of the Year also marked the beginning of Hepburn’s professional (and personal) partnership with Spencer Tracy. At the urging of the Theatre Guild’s Lawrence Langner, Hepburn took on the challenge of playing Rosalind in Shakespeare’s As You Like It, which opened at the Cort Theatre on Jan. 26, 1950. William Prince and Cloris Leachman were also in the cast. After playing to sold out houses, Hepburn took the play on tour and kept a record (sometimes humorous) of her travels throughout the U.S. After filming The African Queen, she toured England in The Millionairess by George Bernard Shaw, opening at London’s New Theatre on June 27, 1952 and then at Broadway’s Shubert Theatre on Oct. 17 of that same year. Hepburn’s costumes were by Pierre Balmain. Cyril Ritchard and Robert Helpmann were also in the cast directed Michael Benthall. Benthall and Helpmann began a close friendship with Hepburn that lasted until their deaths. In 1955, with Robert Helpmann, she toured Australia with the Old Vic Company in three Shakespeare plays: The Merchant of Venice, The Taming of the Shrew, and Measure for Measure. Several scrapbooks in the papers document the tour. For two summers (1957 and 1960), Hepburn performed at the fledgling American Shakespeare Festival Theatre in Stratford, Connecticut. In 1957, she appeared with Morris Carnovsky in The Merchant of Venice and with Alfred Drake in Much Ado About Nothing, the latter production touring after the summer season. She performed in Twelfth Night and in Antony and Cleopatra with Robert Ryan as Antony (1960). Despite her initial reluctance, Hepburn made her musical debut as Coco Chanel in Coco, the musical by Alan Jay Lerner and André Previn in 1969, at the age of sixty-two. She also toured with the show after its Broadway run. Hepburn would repeat this process for her last two Broadway productions—A Matter of Gravity by Enid Bagnold (1976) and The West Side Waltzby Ernest Thompson (1981)—but also doing pre-Broadway tours for these two shows. Her work in Coco and The West Side Waltzearned her two Tony nominations. In her later years, Hepburn continued to perform in films and on television, but she returned to the stage once more to introduce celebrity cast members at an Irish Repertory Theatre benefit performance of Yeats: A Celebration! at the Booth Theatre, June 6, 1994. Katharine Hepburn died at her home in Old Saybrook, Connecticut on June 29, 2003 at the age of ninety-six. Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television, Volume 5. Detroit, MI : Gale Research, Co., 1988. James, Caryn. "Katharine Hepburn, Spirited Actress, Dies at 96." New York Times [New York, N.Y.] 30 June 2003, A1. "Katharine Hepburn." American Decades. Gale Research, 1998. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2007. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC; Biographical/historical: 1907 Katharine Houghton Hepburn born May 12, Hartford, Connecticut 1928 Performs in The Woman in the Moone and receives degree from Bryn Mawr College Performs with Edwin H. Knopf Stock Company, Baltimore, Maryland Performs in The Big Pond for Knopf in Great Neck, New York and is fired after one performance Makes Broadway debut under “Katherine Burns” in Night Hostess, Sept. 12, Martin Beck Theatre Performs in These Days, Nov. 12, Cort Theatre Understudies Hope Williams in Holiday, Plymouth Theatre Marries Ludlow Ogden Smith, Dec. 12 1929 Tours in Death Takes a Holiday and is fired before Broadway opening 1930 Understudies Eunice Stoddard in A Month in the Country, Guild Theatre Performs in summer stock at The Berkshire Playhouse, Stockbridge, Massachusetts Performs in Art and Mrs. Bottle, Nov. 18, Maxine Elliott’s Theatre 1931 Performs in summer stock in Ivoryton, Connecticut Performs in The Animal Kingdomand is fired before Broadway opening 1932 Opens in The Warrior’s Husband, Mar. 11, Morosco Theatre Performs in The Bride the Sun Shines On, summer stock, Ossining, New York 1933 Opens in The Lake, Dec. 26, Martin Beck Theatre 1934 Divorces Ludlow Ogden Smith 1936 Tours in Jane Eyre, Dec. – Apr. 1937 1939 Opens in The Philadelphia Story, Mar. 28, Shubert Theatre, New York, then tours (1940) 1942 Opens in Without Love, Nov. 10, St. James Theatre, New York 1950 Performs in As You Like It, Jan. 26, Cort Theatre, then tours 1952 Opens in The Millionairess, June 27, New Theatre, London; then Oct. 17, Shubert Theatre, New York 1955 Tours Australia with Old Vic Theatre Company in The Merchant of Venice, The Taming of the Shrew, and Measure for Measure 1957 Performs in The Merchant of Venice and Much Ado About Nothing, American Shakespeare Festival, Stratford, Ct., then tours with Much Ado About Nothing (1958) 1960 Performs in Twelfth Nightand Antony and Cleopatra, American Shakespeare Festival, Stratford, Connecticut 1969 Opens in Coco, Dec. 18, Mark Hellinger Theatre, then tours (1970-1971) 1976 Opens in A Matter of Gravity, Feb. 3, Broadhurst Theatre (after pre-Broadway tour), then tours (1976-1977) 1981 Opens in The West Side Waltz, Nov. 19, Ethel Barrymore Theatre (after pre-broadway tour), then tours (1982) 2003 Katharine Houghton Hepburn dies, June 29, Old Saybrook, Connecticut; Content: The Katharine Hepburn papers consist of correspondence, scripts, photographs, scrapbooks, programs, promptbooks, contracts, financial papers, production materials, notebooks, sheet music, and clippings documenting the theatrical career and related activities of the legendary actress from the late 1920s through the mid-1990s. A few items from radio, television, and motion picture performances are also included, as well as several awards, costume designs, window cards, and books. There are also a number of materials from her files relating to the theater, such as programs for performing arts events she attended, and memorabilia relating to 19th and early 20th century actors such as Maude Adams and Julia Dean. Copies of Frances Robinson-Duff’s acting lessons, Alfred Dixon’s vocal drills (kept in a leather folio with the initials “S.T.” engraved on it), as well as extensive research materials for productions, attest to Hepburn’s professionalism. The star-studded correspondence is mostly related to productions in which Hepburn appeared, but also includes general correspondence and solicitations regarding potential appearances, as well as correspondence from fans and aspiring theater professionals. There is a significant amount of correspondence from Hepburn’s close friends and theatrical associates Constance Collier, Michael Benthall, and Robert Helpmann. Although there are numerous letters and drafts of letters from Hepburn, many of her replies are handwritten directly on the correspondence. Post-1950 productions are more thoroughly documented than earlier shows. Hepburn’s handwritten notes and notebooks on blocking, script changes, casting, and other aspects of production provide valuable insight into her work process. There are also a number of sketches by Hepburn done on scripts and notes. Of particular note is her often-humorous history of the As You Like It tour (1950-1951) giving details for each venue played, as well as Hepburn’s impressions. Congratulatory telegrams, notes, and floral cards abound from theater and film notables and other celebrities such as Lauren Bacall, Stephen Vincent Benet, Humphrey Bogart, George Cukor, Nancy Davis [Reagan], John Ford, Judy Garland, Charlton Heston, Joan Crawford, Lillian Gish, Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, Helen Hayes, Van Johnson, Corliss Lamont, Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier, Ethel Merman, Peter O’Toole, Michael Redgrave, and Ralph Richardson, to name only a few. The Production files also contain several telegrams and floral cards from Spencer Tracy (using the alias “Pot”) sent to Hepburn during the London run of The Millionairess (1952). Hepburn’s As You Like It(1950) fan mail contains a handwritten note from “Howard” [Hughes], probably; throughout the papers, several other telegrams and floral cards sent under aliases such as “The Boss,” “Dan,” and “Stephen” are possibly also from Hughes. A number of telegrams are “Unsigned.” The papers are rich in numerous versions of scripts for productions in which Hepburn appeared. There are also scripts sent to her by professional colleagues such as Zöe Akins, Philip Barry, and Chester Erskine. Several of the scrapbooks in the papers document Hepburn’s Australian tour with the Old Vic Company in 1955; one other, a gift from the Theatre Guild, contains historical lithographs of As You Like It. Most of the photographs are production-related, but a small number of candid photos of Hepburn, as well as photos of her friends and associates, such as Michael Benthall, Constance Collier, and Robert Helpmann, are also found in the papers. Oversized materials include artwork, photographs, research materials, window cards for A Matter of Gravity and The West Side Waltz, costume designs, and a 1906 souvenir of a British production of Cymbeline. Of special note are proclamations of appreciation by the American Shakespeare Festival cast of Much Ado About Nothing (1957-1958), and the Coco orchestra members (ca. 1970).
Physical Description: Extent: 30 linear feet 65 boxes
Type of Resource: Text
Identifiers: Other local Identifier: *T-Mss 2007-009; NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b16756919; MSS Unit ID: 21820; Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 915e1c50-67db-0134-c2c0-00505686d14e

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Katharine Hepburn papers

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