Research Catalog

Title

Katharine Hepburn papers, 1854-1997 (bulk 1928-1994)

Author

Hepburn, Katharine, 1907-2003.

Supplementary Content

Finding Aid

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Adams, Maude, 1872-1953.
• Akins, Zoë, 1886-1958.
• Barry, Philip, 1896-1949.
• Benthall, Michael
• Collier, Constance, 1878-1955.
• Dean, Julia, approximately 1878-1952.
• Helpmann, Robert, Sir, 1909-1986.
• Hughes, Howard, 1905-1976.
• Langner, Lawrence, 1890-1962.
• Tracy, Spencer, 1900-1967.
• American Shakespeare Festival Theatre and Academy
• Old Vic Company
• Theatre Guild

Description

30 linear feet (65 boxes )

Summary

The Katharine Hepburn papers consist of clippings, contracts, correspondence, financial papers, notebooks, photographs, production materials, programs, scrapbooks, and scripts documenting the theatrical career of the legendary actress from the late 1920s through the mid-1990s.

Subjects

• Scripts (documents)
• Theater > United States
• Tracy, Spencer, 1900-1967 > Correspondence
• Correspondence
• Women in the theater
• Hepburn, Katharine, 1907-2003
• Contracts
• Helpmann, Robert, Sir, 1909-1986 > Correspondence
• Sketches
• Actresses > United States
• Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 > As you like it > Stage history
• Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 > Stage history > 1950-
• Clippings
• Window cards
• Collier, Constance, 1878-1955 > Correspondence
• Theater > New York (State) > New York
• Programs
• Costume design drawings
• Notebooks
• Scrapbooks
• Theater > Australia
• Financial records
• Benthall, Michael > Correspondence
• Motion picture actors and actresses > United States
• Australia > Photographs
• Telegrams
• Photographs

Genre/Form

• Clippings.
• Contracts.
• Correspondence.
• Costume design drawings.
• Financial records.
• Notebooks.
• Photographs.
• Programs.
• Scrapbooks.
• Scripts (documents)
• Sketches.
• Telegrams.
• Window cards.

Access (note)

• Collection is open to the public. Reproductions permitted only with permission of the copyright holder. Advance notice may be required. Inquiries regarding audio and video materials in the series may directed to the Music and Recorded Sound Division (music@nypl.org). Patrons may also search the research catalog for the Katharine Hepburn audiovisual materials, *L(Special) 08-31. Audio/visual materials may be subject to preservation evaluation and migration prior to access.

Source (note)

• Hepburn, Katharine

Biography (note)

• Although she was best known as a star of the screen, actress Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003) got her start in the theater and frequently returned to the stage throughout much of her long and distinguished career.
• After winning the first of four Academy Awards for Morning Glory (1933), Hepburn returned to the stage in The Lake (1933).

Call Number

*T-Mss 2007-009

OCLC

184904443

Author

Hepburn, Katharine, 1907-2003.

Title

Katharine Hepburn papers, 1854-1997 (bulk 1928-1994)

Restricted Access

Collection is open to the public. Reproductions permitted only with permission of the copyright holder. Advance notice may be required. Inquiries regarding audio and video materials in the series may directed to the Music and Recorded Sound Division (music@nypl.org). Patrons may also search the research catalog for the Katharine Hepburn audiovisual materials, *L(Special) 08-31. Audio/visual materials may be subject to preservation evaluation and migration prior to access.

Biography

Although she was best known as a star of the screen, actress Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003) got her start in the theater and frequently returned to the stage throughout much of her long and distinguished career. Born Katharine Houghton Hepburn in Hartford, Connecticut, Hepburn was the second of six children. She was admitted to her mother's alma mater, Bryn Mawr College, in 1925. In her junior year (1927), she performed in The Truth About Blayds and in her senior year (1928), she played Pandora in The Woman in the Moone. Around the time of her 1928 graduation, Hepburn was hired by Edwin H. Knopf for his stock company in Baltimore. She played small parts and began studying with acting teacher Frances Robinson-Duff. She made her Broadway debut under the name "Katherine [sic] Burns" in Night Hostess (1928). In that same year, Hepburn also understudied the role of Linda Seton in Philip Barry's play, Holiday and appeared in These Days. Between 1929 and 1931, Hepburn toured and performed in several plays, did additional understudy work, and performed in summer stock. Hepburn's success as Antiope in The Warrior's Husband (1932) won her a screen test in Hollywood, leading to a role in A Bill of Divorcement (1932) and subsequent movie stardom.

After winning the first of four Academy Awards for Morning Glory (1933), Hepburn returned to the stage in The Lake (1933). The play was lambasted by the critics and Hepburn did not return to the stage until she toured in the Theatre Guild production of Jane Eyre (1937). In 1939, The Philadelphia Story triumphantly reunited Hepburn with both Philip Barry and the Theatre Guild. Hepburn next returned to the stage in another Barry play, Without Love (1942). At the urging of the Guild's Lawrence Langner, Hepburn took on the challenge of playing Rosalind in Shakespeare's As You Like It (1950). Hepburn took the play on tour and kept a record of her travels throughout the United States. After filming The African Queen, she toured England in The Millionairess by George Bernard Shaw (1952) and later opened in the play on Broadway. In 1955, with Robert Helpmann, she toured Australia with the Old Vic Company in three Shakespeare plays. For two summers (1957 and 1960), Hepburn performed at the fledging American Shakespeare Festival Theatre in Stratford, Connecticut. Despite her initial reluctance, Hepburn made her musical debut as Coco Chanel in Coco (1969). She also toured with the show both before and after its Broadway run. She would repeat this process for her last two Broadway productions, A Matter of Gravity (1976) and The West Side Waltz (1981). In her later years, Hepburn continued to perform in films and on television, but she returned to the stage once more to introduce celebrity cast members at an Irish Repertory Theatre benefit performance of Yeats: A Celebration! at the Booth Theatre, June 6, 1994.

Connect to:

NYPL Digital Collections

Request Access to Theatre Division Special Collections material

Finding Aid

Occupation

Actresses.

Added Author

Adams, Maude, 1872-1953.

Akins, Zoë, 1886-1958.

Barry, Philip, 1896-1949.

Benthall, Michael.

Collier, Constance, 1878-1955.

Dean, Julia, approximately 1878-1952.

Helpmann, Robert, Sir, 1909-1986.

Hughes, Howard, 1905-1976.

Langner, Lawrence, 1890-1962.

Tracy, Spencer, 1900-1967.

Akins, Zoë, 1886-1958. Human element.

Barry, Philip, 1896-1949. Liberty Jones.

Barry, Philip, 1896-1949. Second threshold.

American Shakespeare Festival Theatre and Academy.

Old Vic Company.

Theatre Guild.

Research Call Number

*T-Mss 2007-009