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Hepburn vs. Hepburn | page 1, 2
Born and raised in Belgium, Audrey's father was a banker and her mother a baroness descended from a long line of aristocrats connected to the royal court of Holland. Audrey's parents nicknamed her "Princess," as if they knew she would be Hollywood royalty someday. In what must surely be a record, she wears a tiara in four films: "Roman Holiday" (1953), "War and Peace" (1956), "My Fair Lady" (1964) and "Breakfast at Tiffany's." Audrey personified the idea of "everygirl" as princess. My masseur, Jon, who also serves as my romantic advisor, spiritual guide and No. 1 gossip source, took this idea even further. "I have never met a woman without a princess fantasy," he said. "Some are engulfed by them." Some men are too, I thought, but there's more to life than being a princess. For proof, just look at Katharine. In films such as "Woman of the Year" (1942), "Adam's Rib" (1949) and "Desk Set" (1957), Katharine Hepburn is a lesson in leadership. She's commanding, competent and concise. When she announces at one point in "Woman of the Year" that she is quitting her job, Spencer Tracy cracks, "Oh, are you running for president?" The first female president of the United States will be a Katharine Hepburn fan. Born at the outset of the 20th century, when women didn't even have the right to vote, Katharine was to become a role model for women everywhere, showing them how to take charge in a professional environment, and do so with style. Her mother, a leading suffragette who co-founded both Planned Parenthood and the League of Women Voters, was disappointed that her daughter chose a career as an actress, but her disapproval was poorly directed. Katharine's work made a lasting contribution to feminist ideals on an international scale. Her clothing was not as chic as Audrey's, but she wore it well and always looked "smart" (a term which means little to people today). There doesn't seem to be an easily defined Katharine "look," as is made clear by perusing Ryan's new book, which lays out her entire life through photographs. She had the rare knack of being able to wear anything. She could put on a seductress gown or gardening gear and appear at ease in both. There was even an element of transvestism in Katharine's work throughout her career, evident in films like "Christopher Strong" (1933), "Sylvia Scarlett" (1936) and "The Iron Petticoat" (1956). It's not surprising that when she decided to do Shakespeare, she took the cross-dressing role of Rosalind in "As You Like It." She acted in five Shakespearean plays, but it's of great regret to me that she was never cast as Julius Caesar. It would have been her greatest part. If Audrey were to have done Shakespeare, it's doubtful she would have played a major role. Not Lady Macbeth or Cleopatra for her, but always the princess, always the good daughter. Even the lovesick Juliet may have been too dark for her. She simply lacked the gravity needed for an important dramatic role. A springtime figure, she would have been out of place in the bleak settings of tragedy. In "The African Queen" (1951), Katharine fascinates us with her stoic resolve, her unyielding countenance and her determination -- but she also shows us her vulnerabilities, and we see that her strength is built upon pain. When she was 13, Katharine discovered her beloved older brother, Tom, hanging dead from a rafter. Following his death, she took on his role as the eldest child in the family. "I sort of became two people instead of one," she once said, "a boy and a girl." In "The African Queen" she is again the woman forced to take on great responsibility following the death of an older brother. Her English period costume of the 1910s becomes progressively ripped and soiled, and the more ragged her dress becomes, the more glorious she looks. She takes on a kind of rugged femininity that a city princess like Audrey would never be able to pull off. She is manlier than any man as a result. Freak out, baby.
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