Stars of the Silver Screen: Katharine Hepburn & Spencer Tracy (Publicity Still)

In celebration of American films, Dogbotz Boneyard is making available for purchase top-quality, mint-condition, glossy black-and-white photographic prints of well-renowned movie stars of the 1930s, ‘40s, ‘50s and early ‘60s. Each print comes in a clear document holder and is ready to be matted and/or framed.

Katharine Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress. Known for her fierce independence and spirited personality, she was a leading lady in Hollywood for more than 60 years. She appeared in a range of genres, from screwball comedy to literary drama, and received four Academy Awards for Best Actress—a record for any performer. In 1999, Hepburn was named by the American Film Institute as the greatest female star in Hollywood history.

Katharine Hepburn was known for being fiercely private and would not give interviews or talk to fans for much of her career. She distanced herself from the celebrity lifestyle, uninterested in a social scene she saw as tedious and superficial, and she wore casual clothes that went strongly against convention in an era of glamour. She rarely appeared in public, even avoiding restaurants, and once wrestled a camera out of a photographer’s hand when he took a picture without asking. Despite her zeal for privacy, she enjoyed her fame, and later confessed that she would not have liked the press to ignore her completely. The protective attitude thawed as she aged; beginning with a two-hour-long interview on The Dick Cavett Show in 1973, Hepburn became increasingly open with the public.

Spencer Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor, noted for his natural style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Tracy was nominated for nine Academy Awards for Best Actor and won two, sharing the record for nominations in that category with Laurence Olivier. During his career, Tracy appeared in 75 films and developed a reputation among his peers as one of the screen’s greatest actors. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Tracy as one of the top ten Hollywood legends.

Over 27 years, Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn starred in nine films together, one of Hollywood’s most successful on-screen couples. She was a living legend, a symbol of fierce independence who defied convention to live life on her own terms. He was the greatest screen actor of all time, the personification of the rock-solid American male. They were madly in love off screen, and though he never divorced his wife Louise Tracy, he and Hepburn’s love affair was an open secret in Hollywood. Hepburn remained committed to Tracy until his death in 1967, but their relationship suffered from Tracy’s struggles with alcoholism and Catholic guilt.