Customer Reviews

Katharine Hepburn (Biography (a & E))

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book rates right up with the biography by Barbara Leaming as a really badly written and inaccurate biography of Katharine Hepburn. Holland basically cribbed her book from the books by Leaming, Christopher Andersen and others. Apparently, she does not think it necessary to actually do any of her own research. Having taken the bulk of her book from other writers, she manages to carry over into her book many of the errors of chronology and fact that so many of the Hepburn biographies contain. From Leaming she got the totallly fictitious Tracy/Hepburn/John Ford triangle. For whoever reads this book, please be assured that Katharine Hepburn had no life long unrequited affair with John Ford. It simply didn't happen. Also, Holland's portrait of Spencer Tracy is completely inaccurate. He was not an abusive, morose drunk. He was, in fact, one of the wittiest, most talented actors to ever live. The Tracy portrayed in the Holland book has no relation to the real Tracy. Holland's portrayal of Katharine Hepburn is no better. She manages to make Ms. Hepburn appear as a victim which is as far from the truth as can be.

For anyone who is interested in an accurate and fair biography of Katharine Hepburn, this is not it. There is really no good biography of Hepburn written to date. Hopefully one of these days one will be written. For now the best choices are Ms. Hepburns two books and the books by Garson Kanin (for the Tracy and Hepburn years) and by James Prideaux (for Ms. Hepburns later years.)

The highlight of this delighful biography is the author's ability to remove the veil between the audience and the actress. I have read many Katherine Hepburn biographies and this was the one that revealed the most about Hepburn's private life, in the sense that I was able to really feel her voice coming trough, her point of view shining through.

192 pages hardly allows the author room to expound on Hepburn's real life. I felt that I got a good overview of her, but would like to more about her-- especially what it was like to work with her on various movies. This is a good introductory biography, but I want more.