What Katharine Hepburn's On-Set Behavior Was Really Like

Hepburn liked speaking her mind, and that sometimes polluted her reputation. While filming "A Bill of Divorcement" at RKO the costume department took away her preferred clothing — trousers — since they found them boyish and sloppy. Hepburn (above in the movie "Spitfire") never gave in to their demands that she wear something else. Instead, she strode around in her underwear until her pants were returned, according to Biography. "If you obey all the rules," the publication quoted the star, "you miss all the fun."

She never wholly embraced fans as some stars do, and often sought a way out of the limelight. "Once a crowd chased me for an autograph," Biography quoted. "'Beat it,' I said, 'Go sit on a tack!' 'We made you,' they said. 'Like hell you did,' I told them." The actress was even proclaimed "box-office poison" in 1938 after she acted in several unsuccessful films. RKO and she parted, but instead of giving up, Hepburn continued acting. She appeared in the Broadway play "The Philadelphia Story," later reprising her role as Tracy Lord in the film adaptation (from Legacy). Playwright Philip Barry wrote the role specifically for Hepburn, said the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qL7Up56eZpOkunCDkG1nb2lfrLWiwIykmK2gkae2r7GMoZypmqWnu7R5zqdkrJ2kYq%2BmtMCvoKiqXayutHnRnpilpKliuaq3xGg%3D