Synopses & Reviews
The first major Katharine Hepburn biography independent of her control reveals the smart, complicated, and sophisticated woman behind the image.
Onscreen she played society girls, Spencer Tracy's sidekick, lionesses in winter. But the best character Katharine Hepburn ever created was Katharine Hepburn: a Connecticut Yankee, outspoken and elegant, she wore pants whatever the occasion and bristled at Hollywood glitter. So captivating was her image that she never seemed less than authentic. But how well did we know her, really? Was there a woman behind the image who was more human, more driven, and ultimately more triumphant because of her vulnerability?
William J. Mann a cultural historian and journalist, a sympathetic admirer but no mere fan has fashioned an intimate, often revisionist, and truly unique close-up that challenges much of what we think we know about the Great Kate. Previous biographies mostly products of friends and fans have recycled the stories she hid behind, taking Hollywood myths at face value. Mann goes deeper, delivering new details from friends and family who have not been previously interviewed and drawing on materials only available since Hepburn's death.
With affection, intelligence, and a voluminous knowledge of Hollywood history, Mann shows us how a woman originally considered too special and controversial for fame learned the fine arts of movie stardom and transformed herself into an icon as durable and all-American as the Statue of Liberty.
Review
"[A] compelling look at a larger-than-life film figure." Library Journal
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"Tapping into a wellspring of sources, the author has managed to reanimate with great skill and dexterity this shrewd, sophisticated woman. A sprawling salute to an awe-inspiring, world-class actor." Kirkus Reviews
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"[T]his is a particularly comprehensive and absorbing account of her life and legend....Mann is never less than respectful and even-handed when discussing aspects of her life she may have preferred stay in the shadows." Washington Post
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"A dishy, needy book somewhat unworthy of its subject....[R]ather tiresome." Newsday
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"Mann is less interested in Hepburn's career than in the private arc she traveled alongside it, insisting, reasonably enough, that it is 'time to take off the blinders'..." New York Times
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"'Who was she?' Mann asks in the preface to Kate, his fascinating and provocative new look at the legend....Mann has made Kate a page-turner and a revelation." USA Today
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"In the end, the book is just gossip-mongering with high-end aspirations." Los Angeles Times
Synopsis
A fascinating biography of Katharine Hepburn furnishes a revealing study of the complex, intelligent, sophisticated woman behind the mythic Hollywood image, drawing on new interviews with friends and family and previously unavailable materials to capture a unique close-up of a remarkable woman. 75,000 first printing.
Synopsis
The first major Katharine Hepburn biography independent of her control reveals the smart, complicated, and sophisticated woman behind the image.
Synopsis
A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year
One of Publishers Weekly's 100 Best Books of the Year
Katharine Hepburn was her own creation--an ambitious, vulnerable woman who charmed the public with the image of an East Coast aristocrat, wearing pants and freely speaking her mind. But that show didn't come easily to her, or without tremendous effort and concealment. None of her success did.
With this biography, William J. Mann challenges much of what we think we know about the Great Kate, and shows how a woman originally considered too controversial for Hollywood stardom learned the fine art of image making and transformed herself into an icon as all-American as the Statue of Liberty. With new material drawn from Hepburn's private papers, William J. Mann's Kate is "not just the best on Hepburn--it's a book that sets new standards in movie biography" (David Thomson, The New York Observer).
About the Author
William J. Mann has written for the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, the Hartford Courant, Salon, and other publications. He is the author of Edge of Midnight: The Life of John Schlesinger; Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood; and Wisecracker: The Life and Times of William Haines. He lives in Provincetown, Massachusetts.