Katharine Hepburn Dies.
At age 96, Katharine Hepburn has died. Perhaps the best actress of all time, she won a record 4 Academy Awards and was nominated 12 times(which itself was a record until Meryl Streep surpassed her record in nominations in 2003).I'm not one to go goo-goo gaa-gaa over performers or entertainers most of the time. There are, however, some exceptions. Katherine Hepburn is one of them.I was first introduced to her work at age 20 by a girl I was involved with at the time. The first(and still my favorite) movie I saw of hers was The Lion In Winter. The Lion In Winter is about the struggles of the royal family of the time; Hepburn played the iron-willed, Machiavellian Eleanor of Aquitaine, pitted against Henry the II, Richard the Lion-Hearted and his two lesser brothers, Geoffrey and John. A barrel-chested Peter O'Toole was her co-star, along with Anthony Hopkins(one of his very first movies) and a very young Timothy Dalton(it was his first movie). The less impressive Nigel Terry also made his film debut in The Lion In Winter; his second film was Excalibur as King Arthur. One has to wonder how anyone watching The Lion In Winter could decide that the sniveling John would make a good stately King Arthur(Arthur in Excalibur was almost as whiny, wimpy and snively as John in The Lion In Winter and I suspect it's a weakness of the actor).The Lion In Winter remains as one of my favorite films of all time. It has perhaps the wittiest, most clevel dialogue I've ever seen in a film. The fire, the intensity of both Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn light up the screen and for the viewer who can appreciate a film that has no special effects nor gorgeous, lithe, scantily-clad 20-somethings to fall back upon, this is a sure win. That film signaled the beginning of my crush on Katharine Hepburn. After watching a number of her films, and the films of her contemporaries, I always felt she never quite got the credit(by the public) that she deserved. She was always a step behind the bombshells, the "beauties" of her time. Katherine Hepburn's beauty isn't necessarily one that is immediately appreciated by the eye. Still, maybe if you closed your eyes and just heard her speak, listened to her words and the way she spoke them, you might see the strength in the way she delivered her dialogue. Of course, watching her with your eyes open is a plus; she is a marvel to watch on the screen, with her own brand of charisma. Her facial expressions, her amused smiles, her bright, lively eyes...yes, I definitely had a crush on her.She's got a number of excellent films under her belt. I'd also recommend The Philadelphia Story(co-starring Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart) which was another of my favorites of her work. For those Bogart fans out there, she played across from him in the African Queen. While it was a popular flick, and a decent one, it wasn't one of my favorites.Anyway, if you're tired of a lot of the modern garbage coming out of Hollywood, pay a visit to your local rental store and pick up some of Hepburn's work. It's worth it. Well worth it. Her death is a loss to the acting profession, but she lived a long, interesting and productive life. I don't think anyone could ask for more.P.S.: Here is a decent article that gives a very brief summary of Hepburn and her life: http://www.msnbc.com/news/932769.asp