Katharine the Great: A Lifetime of Secrets Revealed... (1907-1950) [Paperback]

Dawin Porter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2004

Katharine Hepburn was the world's greatest screen diva--the most famous actress in American history. But until the appearance of this biography, no one had ever published the intimate details of her complicated and ferociously secretive private life. Thanks to the deferential and obsequious whitewashes which followed in the immediate wake of her death, readers probably know WHAT KATE REMEMBERED. Here, however, is an unvarnished account of what Katharine Hepburn desperately wanted to forget.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Katharine the Great" is fabulous. Within its pages, Darwin Porter redefines the art of celebrity biography. -- Al Vuono, "The Public Eye," Radio Station WICN 90.5 FM, Worcester/Boston, March 16, 2004

A new biography claims that Katharine Hepburn was bisexual. PREDICTION: Hepburn's secret life is destined to become a hit movie. -- Edmonton (Canada) Sun

A new biography of Katharine Hepburn reveals a bohemian love life -- The London Times Online

A shocking new biography by Darwin Porter reveals how Katharine Hepburn was driven to the brink of suicide. -- Mail on Sunday (London)

According to Porter, the love affair between Hepburn and Tracy wasn't as heartfelt as it appeared. -- World News

And somehow, Hepburn kept most of her scandals out of the press...Katharine the Great is hard to put down. -- The Dallas Voice, April 9, 2004

Here's the REAL story about what motivated Hollywood's Holy Terror. -- The Georgia Literary Association

New bio says Hepburn was busily bisexual: It rips open the star's little black book of A-list lesbian lovers. -- Rush & Molloy (New York Daily News), February 2, 2004

No wonder Hepburn never bothered to marry. PREDICTION: Hepburn's Secret Life is destined to become a hit movie. -- The Edmonton (Canada) Sun

SAY IT AIN'T SO: The legendary love affair between Hepburn and Tracy wasn't as heartfelt as it appeared. -- The Irish Independent

From the Publisher

There's a carload of other biographies about Hepburn that either got the facts wrong or whitewashed them to the point where there's almost been a consistent act of academic sabotage. Here at last is a biography that isn't afraid to wrestle with the outrageous ego and ferociously guarded privacy of Hollywood's most phobically mysterious super-diva, Katharine the Great

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 569 pages
• Publisher: Blood Moon Productions (February 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0974811807
• ISBN-13: 978-0974811802
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #251,801 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Ew., December 30, 2006

By 

Emily (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Katharine the Great: A Lifetime of Secrets Revealed... (1907-1950) (Paperback)

Just ew. In addition to being truly painfully written, this is gross. Nothing is sourced, all the dialogue (no matter who allegedly spoke it) uses exactly the same vocabulary, intonation, etc., and overall the book seems to be more about the author (whom I now believe is in desperate need of psychiatric help) than about Katharine Hepburn. Interesting, also, that all the so-called "scandalous" material seems to come from only a few people, none of whom have ever been anything but remotely associated with Hepburn. The author seems to be in constant need to drive home the shock value of his assertions: Hepburn was bisexual! She was promiscuous! and etc. Even if she was (which he definitely has not managed to prove), so what? She still stands as one of the greatest and most talented actors of all time, and people still get enormous enjoyment out of her movies. In addition to this, she was a far better and more interesting writer than the author of this fictional book.
The existence of this book makes a sweeping negative statement about us as a society--that a sick, pathetic individual like this author could publish anything, and that he would be able to continue publishing trash. After reading 100 pages I feel as though I need a shower--I am incredibly ashamed of myself for reading even one page.
Besides the disgustingness and nonexistent research of this book, it was incredibly boring. It exists mostly as a laundry list of supposed affairs and dissipations, all written in ungrammatical boring prose. This is probably this book's greatest sin--no matter how unconventional Katharine Hepburn's life was, I don't think anyone would argue that it was boring.

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars All the negative reviews removed...hmmm, January 18, 2005

By 

William R. Krupp "wrk6539" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Katharine the Great: A Lifetime of Secrets Revealed... (1907-1950) (Paperback)

[...]

Don't be fooled. There is nothing well written or insightful about this awful book. You can't libel the dead, so Porter goes to town on just about everyone, with pages and pages of supposed "notes" that are nothing but a list of names with no attributable quotes.

There are also those who claim that the book's detractors (and trust me, they outnumbered these paid hacks by a large margin at one time) just can't believe that there were gay golden age Hollywood starts who slept around. As a gay man I find this the most insulting aspect of this whole enterprise. Darwin Porter seems almost pathological in his need to validate his own orientation by asserting that EVERYONE in old Hollywood was gay. It seems silly and more than a little pathetic that anyone would need to work this hard to quiet his own demons, but this book says a lot more about the author than it does about Katharine Hepburn.

On a final note, take a look at the other "reviews" by the people on this page. You'll find more than a few of them who only seem to review Darwin Porter books. Curious, very curious.

Still, Amazon has chosen to leave these while removing the honest reviews from real people. Even more curious.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars should have been better, October 9, 2006

By 

Demivoix (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Katharine the Great: A Lifetime of Secrets Revealed... (1907-1950) (Paperback)

The book gets 3 stars because of sloppy editing and proofreading (i.e.p.148: "He housed Kate and Laura and the Hays-Adams Hotel" and clearly wrong information: p. 138 "In the late 1930s, when she was a struggling actress, Katharine Hepburn had waited for an interview...in Harris's offices above the Moresco Theatre." ; p. 141 "In 1933, several years after her stint as Harris's driver, ...Kate arrived, fresh from California, at Harris's offices above the Moresco Theatre." Hepburn was a struggling actress in the late 1920s, not the late 1930s.

At times, pages read as if they had been written by assistants who did not keep up with what had preceded their contribution. Information is needlessly repeated. And, the writing is inconsistent. veering from good to sophomoric to good to bad to good again.

Hepburn deserved better.