In 'Me: Stories of My Life,' the Katherine Hepburn persona is on full display—witty, weird, and surprisingly warm.
By her own account, Hepburn gave everything to her 27-year clandestine relationship with the married Spencer Tracy, who she had long admired from afar. According to Hepburn, Tracy initially balked at appearing in 1942’sexclaiming, “How can I do a picture with a woman who has dirt under her fingernails and who is of ambiguous sexuality and always wears pants.”
While Hepburn presents their unequal relationship as solely her choice, it appears to be a classic AL-Anon relationship, with the practical, strident partner being used by a mentally ill partner. As Edwards notes, Tracy could be remarkably cruel to Hepburn, “squashing” her down in front of friends and co-workers. Mann believes Tracy was in fact gay or bisexual, and that Hepburn exaggerated the extent of their romance.
As Edward writes, after Tracy’s death Hepburn proudly came out of the shadows, recounting their secret love story to one and all. It may have been payback against Tracy’s sainted widow, Louise, whose careless comment to her, “I thought you were only a rumor,” admittedly cut her to the core: Hepburn retained her fighting spirit till the end, though she clearly softens the edges. According to Edwards, after feeling mistreated by director Joe Mankiewicz in 1959’sshe proved she was not one to mess with. “When Mankiewicz had called the final ‘cut’ on the film, Kate strode across the sound stage to him,” Edwards writes. “’Are you absolutely sure you won’t need my services anymore?’ she asked. ‘Yes, I am sure.’ ‘Absolutely?’ ‘Absolutely.
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