One of my favorite movies, THE LION IN WINTER (1968), is a biting comedy-drama co-starring Peter O'Toole.  Hepburn won her third Best Actress Academy Award for this fantastic film about the family feuds between King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine over the successor to the throne of England in the 12th century.

Music Clips from THE LION IN WINTER:

"Main Title" (clip) by John Barry (a .MP3 file courtesy Sony/Columbia).
"Eleanor's Arrival" (clip) by John Barry (a .MP3 file courtesy Sony/Columbia).
"Media Vita in Morte Sumus" (clip) by John Barry (a .MP3 file courtesy Sony/Columbia).

(For help opening any of the multimedia files, visit the plug-ins page.)

In 1975, Hepburn joined Hollywood's western icon John Wayne in ROOSTER COGBURN, playing a minister's daughter who joins forces with the local marshal to bring justice to a band of rampaging thugs.  Their approaches to dispensing justice differ somewhat however, making for a comedic clash of personalities in the Old West.

Still More Memorable Quotations:

• "Of course he has a knife, he always has a knife, we all have knives! It's 1183 and we're all barbarians!" --as Eleanor of Aquitaine in THE LION IN WINTER (1968).
• "Henry's bed is Henry's province. He may people it with sheep if he wishes -- which upon occasion he has done. " -- as Eleanor of Aquitaine in THE LION IN WINTER.
• "I made Louis take me on Crusade. I dressed my women as Amazons and we rode bare-breasted halfway to Damascus. Louis had a seizure and I damn near died of windburn . . . but the troops were dazzled." --as Eleanor of Aquitaine in THE LION IN WINTER.
• "She can't be that innocent.  She keeps canaries." --as Countess Aurelia in THE MADWOMAN OF CHAILLOT (1969).
• "To be alive is to be fortunate." --as Countess Aurelia in THE MADWOMAN OF CHAILLOT (1969).
• "No matter what they say, it's water that gives you gas." --as Countess Aurelia in THE MADWOMAN OF CHAILLOT (1969).
• "Gabrielle, where men are concerned, you have no points of reference." --as Countess Aurelia in THE MADWOMAN OF CHAILLOT (1969).
• "The one thing sharper than a serpent's tooth is a sister's ingratitude." --as Agnes in A DELICATE BALANCE (1973).
• "Our motto: We do what we can!" --as Agnes in A DELICATE BALANCE (1973).
• "Will you take your cheery personality and get out of here." --as Ethel Thayer in ON GOLDEN POND (1981).
• "You know, Norman. You really are the sweetest man in the world, but I'm the only one who knows it." --as Ethel Thayer in ON GOLDEN POND (1981).

In 1981, Hepburn earned her record twelfth Best Actress nomination and her fourth Oscar statuette for her performance in ON GOLDEN POND opposite Henry Fonda in his Oscar-winning final screen appearance.  Playing an aging couple worried that the world seems to be passing them by, Hepburn and Fonda both prove that in demanding roles, their ageless talents still hold up.

Further Reading:

• Me: stories of my life by Katharine Hepburn (New York: Knopf, 1991).
• The making of The African Queen, or, How I went to Africa with Bogart, Bacall, and Huston and almost lost my mind by Katharine Hepburn (New York: Knopf, 1987).
• Kate remembered by A. Scott Berg (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, c2003).
• Katharine Hepburn by Barbara Leaming (New York: Crown Publishers, c1995).
• The films of Katharine Hepburn by Homer Dickens; revised and updated by Lawrence J. Quirk (New York, NY: Carol Pub. Group, 1990).
• A remarkable woman: a biography of Katharine Hepburn by Anne Edwards (New York : Morrow, c1985).
• Katharine Hepburn: a celebration by Sheridan Morley (London: Pavilion, 1984).
• Tracy and Hepburn; an intimate memoir (New York: Viking Press, 1971).
• Katharine Hepburn: star as feminist by Andrew Britton (New York: Continuum, 1995).
• The Golden Girls of MGM by Jane Ellen Wayne (New York: Carroll & Graf, 2003).
• The power of glamour: the women who defined the magic of stardom by Annette Tapert and Ellen Horan (New York: Crown, 1998).
• Lovers: great romances of our time through the eyes of legendary writers by John Miller and Aaron Kenedi (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1999).

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