h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Katherine Hepburn - A8399316
Author: Opticalillusion- what do you think of this -->A7497651 ? - U231227

Introducing Hepburn: as part of the vogue project

I'll look in detail at the entry later; for the moment, I'll just mention that the correct spelling is 'Katharine'.

Yay... nice entry, biographical without being boring!

Only one quibble after reading it:

>But this didn’t stop her and in by 1939 she had returned to Broadway and put in an appearance in The Philadelphia Story (1939) which was especially written with her in mind to play the role of spoiled socialite Tracy Lord.>

Does this refer to the broadway play, the film or both? - the next line about the Oscar makes it ambiguous (to me at least)

And were the play and film done in the same year? It's just I vauguely remember something about her doing the film (as the comeback from the " box office poison" films) after she'd already been in the play.

I may be wrong

Hi Opti! It's me, so by now you know what's coming:

Firstly, it's the unofficial standard for biographical entries to put what the person is famous for in the title, so this would be Katharine Hepburn - Actress.

"Born May 12, 1907" (1st line) I don't think you need to say this as you mention it a few lines down.

"Silver Screen" -> "silver screen"

"Hartford, CT," -> "Hartofrd, Conneticut"

"She also had five siblings and was most distraught when she found her brother dead from either an attempted suicide or a stunt gone terribly wrong." - It seems odd to put that here. How old was she when this happened?


"(and later divorced in 1934) and also during that year she appeared in Night Hostess."

->

"(and later divorced in 1934). During that year she also appeared in Night Hostess." You need to say what this is - a play, a film, what?


"Although she was fired from that show after only one night" Why?
"but she was soon fired from her role in the show" Again, why? Also get rid one of the "but"s in this sentence

"began to become" -> "began to be"

"to great review" -> "to great reviews"

"such as Broadway’s such as A Bill of Divorcement (1932) Little Women and Morning Glory."

Firstly you have "such as" twice, secondly you mention Broadway just after you've said they were films. Which is it?

"Due to her role" -> "Thanks to her role"

"Following her success she returned to Broadway which offered her a role in The Lake(1933), but she was unable to obtain a release from RKO and went back to Hollywood to appear in Spitfire. Due to the Spitfire becoming a forgettable film Hepburn was released from her contract and able to play in The Lake but it too was considered a flop."

->

"Following her success she returned to Broadway, having been offered a role in The Lake (1933). However, she was unable to obtain a release from RKO and went back to Hollywood to appear in Spitfire. The film, though, was a flop and as a result Hepburn was released from her contract and able to appear in The Lake after all. Unfortunately for her, this too was considered a flop."

I would also specify what RKO is, is it her studio? Also may be worth mentioning that studios then often employed stars so they could only appear in that studio's films for the length of the contract.


"Despite these failures Hepburn kept on pushing for other roles in other films" Delete the first "other".

"During the later 30s" -> "During the later 1930s"

"Hepburn had become known as "box office poison"" - unfortunately, the eds don't like that style of speech marks in the EG, you have to use single ones.

"But this didn’t stop her" -> "This didn't stop her"

"and in by 1939 she had returned to Broadway and put in an appearance in The Philadelphia Story (1939) which was especially written with her in mind to play the role of spoiled socialite Tracy Lord. The film was an instant success and she was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar."

If it's on Broadway, it's a play, so how could she be nominated for an Oscar?

"Silver Screen" -> "silver screen"

"But they still had their own houses" -> "they still had their own houses"

"Guess Who’s coming to Dinner" -> "Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner"

"Hepburn the Later Years" (header) -> "The Later Years"

"The African Queen(1951)" -> "The African Queen (1951)".

"The film was filmed out in Africa and a lot of the cast and crew icluding Hepburn fell ill with milaria and dysentry."

->

"The film was made in Africa and many of the cast and crew, including Hepburn, fell ill with malaria and dysentry."

"The Making of The African Queen: Or, How I Went to Africa With Bogart, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind.," get rid of the full stop at the end.


"She received a total of seven Academy Award nominations, won two Oscars for Best Actress, for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and The Lion in Winter and appeared in three Shakespeare plays in London and Australia."

->

"She received a total of seven Academy Award nominations, of which she won two for Best Actress, (for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and The Lion in Winter). She also appeared in three Shakespeare plays in London and Australia."

"Which she further expanded on with four more Shakespeare productions in Stratford, CT during 1957-1960"

->

"Hepburn also acted in four more Shakespearean productions in Stratford, Conneticut, between 1957 and 1960."

"but as she was 49 people deemed her too old for the parts" -> "but as she was 49, she was deemed too old for the parts".

"She also received nominations for her roles in Suddenly Last Summer (1959) and Long Day's Journey Into Night." It seems odd to discuss these here when you've mentioned Oscar nominations earlier.

"Before going on to appear in The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969) and Coco (1969), which was a huge success despite her doubts about her singing."

->

"She also appeared in The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969) and Coco (1969), which was a huge success despite her doubts about her singing."

"Hepburn also appeared in 1973s television production The Glass Menagerieand she followed this television production with another entitled Love Among the Ruins (1975)"

->

"Hepburn also appeared in the 1973 television production The Glass Menagerie and followed this with another, entitled Love Among the Ruins (1975)"

"Hepburn won her fourth Academy Award for best Actress for her role in 1981s On Golden Pond."

->

"Hepburn won her fourth Academy Award for best Actress for her role in 1981's On Golden Pond." Again, you are mentioning Oscars. See earlier comment.

"Whilst her last three appearances before her retirement were in the 1994 films One christmas, Love Affair and This Can’t Be Love. 1991 saw in the release of Hepburn’s autobiography entitled Me: Stories of My Life."

->

"Her last three appearances before her retirement were in the 1994 films One Christmas, Love Affair and This Can’t Be Love. 1991 saw the release of Hepburn’s autobiography entitled Me: Stories of My Life."


"was encouraged a lot" -> "was greatly encouraged in this"

"cycling and swimming in the Ocean" -> "cycling, and swimming in the ocean"

"CT" -> "Conneticut"

"But as she grew older" -> "However, as she grew older"

"she found herself a recluse unable to go out she passed away by the side of loved ones on June 29, 2003, at the age of 96."

->

"she found herself a recluse, unable to go out. Hepburn passed away on June 29, 2003 at the age of 96, with loved ones by her side."

"In honor of her extensive theater work" -> British spellings, please! "honour" and "theatre".

Great stuff, keep it up!

Oh yes, and I think (better check this though) that film, play and book titles ought to be in italics.

Thanks Elentari for going to so much trouble to get this sorted.

there are still a few things that need to be gone through in both peoples comments but I have made a start.

I keep spelling Connecticut wrong - you can tell I'm not American, can't you?

Ok will use your new spelling of Connecticut unless you or anyone says differently.

Sorry I don't have time to read the entry but

"Oh yes, and I think (better check this though) that film, play and book titles ought to be in italics" - just confirming this is true.

e.g: The African Queen (1951)

Also your dates: "Hepburn passed away on June 29, 2003 at the age of 96, with loved ones by her side".

They should be typed thus: 29 June, 2003 (this is house-style)

I'll be back to read the entry through later

What is the vogue project?

Thanks for your input

The vogue project comes from Coelacanths idea of having an entry for every person mentioned in Madonna's song vogue.

ah I have forgot what I have and haven't done

Still working on this Opti?

Opti, if this is part of the vouge project, please can you respond to some of the concerns that people have raised out the project ?