The Woman Who Was Hepburn Pays Tribute to the American Icon
by Mike Monopoli

“If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.” ~ Kate Hepburn

Celebrated author William J. Mann has recently released his brilliant new biography Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn. Mann, a prolific novelist and historian, resides in Provincetown with his partner, Dr. Timothy Huber. In this new work, which he considers a respectful and truthful account of Hepburn’s life, he reveals intimate details that the star at times struggled to conceal. “In writing this book, I realized I was dealing with a cherished American icon,” says Mann, “and I needed to understand the obligation and responsibility I had in doing that. Only the full truths can give credit to what our heroes did with the actual challenges they faced. People who live worthy lives can stand up to the scrutiny of biographers. Certainly Hepburn led a worthy life. Often public figures remain wrapped in these unchallenged ‘truths,’ facts that we supposedly know are true, but in fact are the cheap garments of hacks and press agents, who keep their wayward charges safely moored to the boundaries of convention. The truth is always more fascinating than the legend. It’s always more instructive. It’s never inappropriate when discussed with context, respect and compassion.”

Hepburn, a Connecticut Yankee, was a strong willed, independent woman with a secret dream of becoming famous. “She went to Hollywood thinking she didn’t have to behave the way other stars behaved. She lived with Laura Harding at the time, who was her lover,” reveals Mann. “She lived very openly with Laura, not thinking she needed to explain it. She wore men’s clothes and she came out with incredibly radical left wing opinions that scandalized the film magazines. She was not living according to the rules of Hollywood. She was not showing up with Clark Gable on her arm, she was showing up with Laura Harding, both of them often in tuxedoes.” Regarding her career, Mann tells us that “…many of Hepburn’s films were too different for the mainstream,” referring to “Bringing Up Baby” in which the Hollywood formula is upended. In this film, Hepburn’s character is the sexual aggressor, pursuing Cary Grant, portraying a take-charge woman. This perceived role-reversal was rarely seen in Hollywood at the time, when men still took on a dominant role.

“Sylvia Scarlett” may be of particular interest to the GLBT community. Controversial and ahead of its time, this film explored issues of sexuality and was not well received. “It’s probably the queerest film made in Hollywood,” jokes Mann during a speech at the Jacob Edwards library in Southbridge as part of their Pride celebration. “She spent most of her time on screen masquerading as a boy. Cary Grant meets her, kind of finds her attractive, doesn’t know what to do with it. She meets Brian Aherne, who finds her attractive and doesn’t know what to do with it. Her father’s girlfriend finds him kind of attractive, and doesn’t know what do to do with that. It’s all about the fluidity of desire and identity and sexuality. It was brilliant.”

Suffering from a questionable image, Hepburn decided to stick with her dream of being a famous Hollywood actress and began re-inventing herself. Her efforts included a transition from tomboy to glamour girl, and a couple of carefully chosen movie roles which would put her into her “rightful” place as an actress. Still, her liberal leanings showed through, particularly with her film “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” which promoted interracial love.

“That Hepburn loved other women, that she made her life with other women, was an essential fact of her life,” says Mann. “In fact it’s one of the most important things, I think, to understand about her. I don’t use labels in my book, and I’m uncomfortable when reviewers say that I’ve ‘outed’ Katherine Hepburn as a lesbian. She preferred the company of women, but she still fell madly in love with men, even though she didn’t like having sex with them very much.”

“It is only by understanding that kind of nuanced truth about people’s lives that we can understand not only them, but ourselves,” adds Mann. “Perhaps by her openness and her fluidity of her own identity we can learn that rigid definitions only separate us, and keep us apart from each other. Perhaps her life can allow us to open our own lives and hearts. Maybe these ideas of sexuality and gender shouldn’t separate us, but that we should see each other as people, as she did.”

Asked if he’d ever had any personal contact with the great Kate, the author shares a story from when he was a young writer in Hartford. Assigned to write an article about her early years, he requested an interview but the star, of course, declined. While researching his subject, he discovered her true date of birth in a Hartford city directory: May 12, 1907, a date much earlier than she had ever claimed. When the article came out, Mann sent her a copy including a note asking forgiveness for the revelation. She replied with a typewritten note, just one line: “Dear William Mann, Good sleuthing.”