Hepburn Quotes

On Katharine Hepburn: "She was this slip of a women and I never liked skinny women. But she had this thing, this air you might call it, the most totally magnetic women I`d ever seen, and probably ever seen since. You had to look at her, you had to listen to her, there was no escaping her.

- Cary Grant

(in reference to Katharine Hepburn`s tie for the 1968 Oscar with Barbra Streisand): "I wanted to be the first to win three Oscars, but Miss Hepburn has done it. Actually it hasn`t been done. Miss Hepburn only won half an Oscar. If they`d given me half an Oscar I would have thrown it back in their faces. You see, I`m an Aries. I never lose."

- Bette Davis

(on Barbra Streisand) I think Barbra Streisand is a genius, the creativity she has! And I am very impressed with her as a person. Some years ago I was on the Academy Awards broadcast, she came up to me. I was standing in the wings and Barbra walked across the stage to greet me. Very polite, very nice. You don`t find many young women who extend that kind of gracious courtesy to an older woman. Audrey Hepburn does. And Barbra. I`ve not forgotten how charming she was.

- Myrna Loy

"Who is Katharine Hepburn? It took me a long time to create that creature."

- Katharine Hepburn

(on Katharine Hepburn) I worship that bloody woman. I`ve never enjoyed working with anyone so much in my whole life, not even Richard Burton. There were no problems, not a one.

- Peter O'Toole

"Nobody can imitate me. You can always see impersonations of Katharine Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe. But not me. Because I`ve always drawn on myself only."

- Joan Crawford

On being asked why he was always billed above Katharine Hepburn in their films together, when politeness dictated the other way around: "Because this is a movie, you chowder-head, not a lifeboat!".

- Spencer Tracy

On why he never left his wife for Katharine Hepburn: "I can get a divorce whenever I want to. But my wife and Kate like things just as they are".

- Spencer Tracy

(on Audrey Hepburn) She`s a lady. When she participates in the Academy Awards, she makes all those starlets look like tramps. Thank you for your class, Audrey, you`re quite a lady. If anyone said anything derogatory about her, I`d push them in the river.

- Van Johnson

My look is attainable. Women can look like Audrey Hepburn by flipping out their hair, buying the large sunglasses, and the little sleeveless dresses.

- Audrey Hepburn

"Katharine Hepburn and Vivien Leigh are my heroes. Not because of their ability, but because of their perseverance".

- Keira Knightley

(On preparing for her role as Queen Amidala) "George worked with me a lot, on changing my voice and my movement and the way I carried myself. We worked on this accent that ... kinda goes to old, older generations of actresses who used kind of an unidentifiable accent. `Is it American or is it British?` and I watched Lauren Bacall, Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn. If you look at them, their voices and the stature is so regal, even in their everyday characters. And that`s kinda why I used it to model after".

- Natalie Portman

(on making Wait Until Dark (1967)) It was the only heavy I`d ever played up until then, and I had a miserable time; I was crazy about Audrey Hepburn. I was just in awe of her. She was an extraordinary person in every way, and I just hated terrorizing her. It just wasn`t fun for me.

- Alan Arkin

(on his character Harry Roat Jr. terrorizing Suzy Hendrix (Audrey Hepburn) in Wait Until Dark (1967)) I hated it. I just thought she was terrific. I had an enormous amount of regard for her. I didn`t like being cruel to her. It made me very uncomfortable.

- Alan Arkin

During Katherine Hepburn`s time when she was just coming into her own at 40.

- Andie MacDowell

Thank you. I so didn`t expected this. I wore a really tight dress that`s very ungracious walking up those stairs. Thank you very much, I sort of don`t know where to begin. Playing Katharine Hepburn, I absolutely did not expect to be standing here in front of you all. But Hepburn aside, I actually would like to say, as an actor coming from another country to this country, I am so astounded and amazed, and grateful, at the power of the SAG union and what it does for its members. And I hope that other countries, mine own included, you know, is inspired by that - I think it`s incredible. (SAG acceptance speech Feb. 5, 2005)

- Cate Blanchett

(Talking about modelling her Lois Lane performance on Katharine Hepburn): I watched a lot of Hepburn (Katharine Hepburn) to prepare for Lois, particularly The Philadelphia Story (1940) and Guess Who`s Coming to Dinner (1967). Hepburn (Katharine Hepburn) is a great model for how I see Lois - strong but fragile.

- Kate Bosworth

Even now I feel furious with myself because whenever there`s a camera pointed towards me my MGM training makes me smile. I don`t like it. You can see it on all the people who came from that era because there was no question of them not smiling for the camera. Even Katharine Hepburn -- and God knows she was a dramatic actress -- if the camera is on her she smiles.

- Leslie Caron

I don`t want to spit in the eye of good fortune, but it was weird. I felt like I`d butted in line in front of Lucille Ball, Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn. Hello? How did this happen? I was only the sixth woman to receive it, but they found 26 men to give it to. I thought that was embarrassing. (on her Lifetime Achievement Award from the AFI)

- Meryl Streep

I like the idea of growing old gracefully and full of wrinkles... like Audrey Hepburn.

- Natalie Imbruglia

I think mystery is kind of great. I don`t know anything about Bette Davis or Katharine Hepburn or Ava Gardner - not really - and I like that. I love watching their movies because they`re my personal movie stars. I don`t know what they eat and who their trainer is.

- Rachel Weisz

If I could meet anybody in the whole world, dead or alive, it would be Audrey Hepburn. She is my idol. I`ve been watching her movies since I was a little kid.

- Emily VanCamp

(on Audrey Hepburn) A great lady. It`s quite an achievement to spend that long in Hollywood and not become a Hollywood product. She always maneuvered around that -- and that takes intelligence. She was always her own person.

- David Niven

(On working with Katharine Hepburn) "She is snippy you know, which is a shame. She was never on my side".

- Ginger Rogers

(Cary Grant) is quite remarkable, you know. I think (Audrey Hepburn) is now too old for him, and in his next picture he will be making love to someone like Jane Fonda.

- Ingrid Bergman

I won`t consider myself a star until I`ve had more experience. I think the real stars are people like Streisand, Brando, Dustin Hoffman, Hepburn... Hepburn is my favorite. She epitomizes to me what a star should be.

- Lynda Carter

Where do I begin? I loved working with Kate Hepburn, which was one of the highlights of my life; Working with Richard Burton in Beckett was another great joy.

- Peter O'Toole

The face of Garbo is an Idea, that of Hepburn an Event.

- Ethel Barrymore

(on Katharine Hepburn) She talks at you as though you were a microphone; she lectured the hell out of me on temperance and the evils of drink. She doesn`t give a damn how she looks. I don`t think she tries to be a character. I think she is one.

- Humphrey Bogart

(on Audrey Hepburn) She`s a tomboy and a fine comedienne. You`d never think of her being able to do my type of comedy. But she can. She has great energy, frail as she looks. But, well, she`s so beautiful, so ethereal, it would be sacrilege to put her through it.

- Lucille Ball

I`ve worked with an awful lot of people. Katy Hepburn, Spencer Tracy.

- Vincente Minnelli

Well you`re talking about a long career, a lot of movies, a lot of stars. I guess working with Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn was a great privilege.

- Mark Rydell

If I could meet anybody in the whole world, dead or alive, it would be Audrey Hepburn. She is my idol. I`ve been watching her movies since I was a little kid.

- Emily VanCamp

(on Katharine Hepburn) This dame is terrific -- and expert in her craft and so electrifying on set that if you don`t watch out, you`re likely to wind up as part of the scenery.

- Bob Hope

When I did that interview with Hepburn, the only ground rule was, you did not discuss Spencer Tracy. Spencer Tracy`s widow is still alive, and she respected that.

- Morley Safer