Hepburn, Katharine Houghton

Hepburn, Katharine Houghton (1909–2003), American star best known for her work in films but also an excellent stage actress. She made her first appearance in 1928 in Baltimore and her New York début the same year. From 1932 she worked mainly in Hollywood until 1939, when she made a triumphant return to Broadway in Philip Barry's The Philadelphia Story. She again worked in films until 1950, when she played Rosalind in As You Like It in New York. Two years later she made her London début as the Lady in Shaw's The Millionairess (NY, 1952). In 1955 she was seen in a series of Shakespearian parts in Australia with the Old Vic company; and in 1957 she played Portia in The Merchant of Venice and Beatrice in Much Ado about Nothing at Stratford, Conn. (see AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE THEATRE), returning in 1960 with her Viola in Twelfth Night and Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra. In New York in 1969 she starred in Coco, a musical based on the life of the French fashion designer Chanel. Later starring roles were in Enid Bagnold's A Matter of Gravity (1976) and Ernest Thompson's West Side Waltz (1981).