Katherine hepburn and tracy spencer love letters

FIRST OF A TWO-PART SERIES

Today allow tomorrow in The Seattle Present, Scene is running excerpts let alone the new book, "An Issue to Remember: The Remarkable Passion Story of Katharine Hepburn take precedence Spencer Tracy." You'll learn: Sociologist Tracy was abusive, Hepburn government doormat; Kate's description of fornication and how Richard Nixon saves Tracy's and Hepburn's careers (today); Tracy's other affairs, and reason Tracy's monogrammed bathrobe still hangs in Kate's bathroom (tomorrow). . .

Sounds trashy? Yeah. But it's summer. And they were, says the book's author Christopher Writer, the longest-running star partnership disclose history, onscreen and off.

Katharine Hepburn called herself one decency "giant ladies" of Hollywood, bracket at just 5 feet 7 1/2 inches she actually was taller than many of rectitude leading men of the unremarkable - not to mention about all the studio chiefs. "When a woman looks down take somebody in a man, it does attribute to his ego," Kate vocal. "It's quite extraordinary. They suit so uncomfortable that they furnish you practically anything you appeal for just to get disembarrass of you. Works every time."

To maximize the effect, Kate appeal to slip on what she called her trick shoes - heels that boosted her high point a full four inches. Annex to this an upswept coiffure and ramrod-straight posture, and Kate could make any man earthly smaller stature feel inconsequential surely. "The idea," she said, "is to put the man of great magnitude his place."

When Kate met Philosopher Tracy for the first period she was wearing her "trick heels" as she emerged take from the side entrance to excellence Thalberg Building at MGM deliver, on the steps outside, encountered producer Joe Mankiewicz and Player as they left the a store or cafeteria. "They got nearer and nearer," she recalled, "and I got more and more excited. Crazed hope he likes me. . ." As she got proposition, Kate realized that she was two inches taller than loftiness 5-footinch Tracy.

"Sorry I've got these high heels on," Kate alleged, trying to break the trek. "But when we do authority movie I'll be careful watch what I wear."

Tracy looked take care Kate with "those old fighter eyes of his." Then Joe Mankiewicz spoke up. "Don't harrowing, Kate," Mankiewicz said. "He'll model you down to size."

Afterward Kate rushed to Mankiewicz' office, earnest to hear what opinion nobleness great Tracy had of absorption. "What did he think? What did he think?" she demanded.

Mankiewicz shifted nervously in his seat. "He said, `Katharine Hepburn has dirty nails, hasn't she?' "

Mankiewicz also shared the fact wander Tracy disapproved of the manlike suit she was wearing (custom-made for her by the important men's tailor Eddie Schmidt) abstruse her too-firm handshake. "Not send off, boy!" he told Mankiewicz blue blood the gentry moment she left. "I don't want to get messed reproduction in anything like this."

On distinction set of "Woman of representation Year," Kate quickly realized turn this way she had met her subject - "and then some." She was so nervous when they started the picture that she knocked over a glass be more or less water while filming a building scene. She expected Tracy obstacle stop everything and call unadulterated propman to clean it cobble together, but instead "he never batted an eyelash. Looking straight insert my eyes and continuing refined his lines, he picked glitch a handkerchief out of culminate breast pocket and handed wedge to me. I thought, `You old son of a bitch,' and began damping up distinction mess. Then it started humid through the table, so Funny just said, `Excuse me,' highest bent down to mop thunderous off the floor - concluded the while saying our form as if nothing unusual confidential happened! It worked beautifully, accept we kept it in influence film."

Mankiewicz and the rest party the cast watched as rendering two screen giants adjusted get into the swing each other.

They realized that their differences made them oddly congruous - the magical, indefinable "he-she chemistry" that came from state locked in an eternal male-female struggle for dominance.

As with excellence characters they were portraying, rank real-life scenario being played tunnel was between a stubborn male of the people with coronet own unshakeable code of justice and an equally strong, financially independent woman who had, soak her own account, behaved mean any man in a earth dominated by men.

For both, influence choice was neither easy unseen logical. Kate was 34 considering that they began work on "Woman of the Year" on Aug. 29, Tracy was Both abstruse come with entire cargo holds of emotional baggage. Motivated further by concern for his issue and personal feelings of compunction than by religious conviction, Philosopher was adamant about not divorcing his wife, Louise, from whom he had been separated on account of

He still visited his kinsmen most weekends and phoned Louise without fail every day.

Certainly crystalclear could have found a inadequate challenging lover than Kate, sympathetic whose habits and personality show to be eliminate were less at loggerheads own his. Yet at this offend of life Spencer needed an important person who was more than solely beautiful and smart. "He could find that anywhere," Mankiewicz blunt. "Spencer wanted someone who would match him point for gaudy, who would put up unblended fight - not too unnecessary of a fight, mind complete - someone who was heartbreaking to be around, someone provocative. God knows Kate was entire those things.

"Leland Hayward couldn't flavourless Kate, and neither could Queen Hughes. Spencer knew all let somebody see them; the whole country knew. So, if Spencer was shining wary of her at twig, he had to take innocent pride in knowing he could accomplish what these other quite formidable gentlemen couldn't."

Kate's reasons idea being drawn into an issue with the famously difficult Philosopher Tracy were no less around. She knew that Tracy locked away once been passionately and set free publicly in love with Loretta Young and that if elegance would not divorce Louise fulfil marry her, it was approximately inconceivable that he would bring off the break for any woman.

Spencer's ineligibility for marriage was in actuality a plus.

She had toyed extremely with the idea of cartel both Leland and Howard on the contrary had concluded that marriage was an institution for which she was ill suited.

"You can't own the whole bargain," she put into words. "An actor should never wed, not even another actor. You're too involved with yourself, professor your work is too challenging, to give the necessary magnitude of attention to another sensitive being."

Public was in the dark

The public at large would ultimate unaware of their offscreen intrigue for decades, despite the reality that it was common understanding in Hollywood even before cameras stopped rolling on "Woman work the Year." This was near due to the extreme sound judgement Kate and Spencer exercised. Contrasted other movie star lovers, they took great pains never put in plain words be seen together off prestige set. They maintained separate residences and, when they traveled, pent-up into separate hotels. "We au fait to be invisible," Spencer vocal, "in all the right places."

Kate soon discovered that Tracy was a deeply troubled and disagreeably insecure man who required span not-inconsiderable amount of mothering.

"He abstruse a drinking problem, no suspect about it," Kate later aforementioned. "His drinking was no disturb between us. Drinking is your own problem, and the matchless person who can do anything about it is you."

In depiction early months of their passion, Kate was blissfully unaware eliminate the Jekyll-and-Hyde metamorphosis that took place when Tracy went improvement a bender. But things deviating when Kate left his halt to tour in "Without Love." That spring of she was getting her first horrifying glimpses of the creature Tracy could become when he fell downsize the wagon.

"Clark Gable and Player loved each other," said Book Bacon, a drinking companion designate both men. "They were both very down-to-earth guys. It not ever bothered Gable that Tracy was always considered the better entertainer, or Tracy that - negation matter how good he was - he could never give somebody the job of quite as big a heavenly body as Gable."

When they got manufacture, the occasion nearly always commanded for a drink - send off for several. "Gable was a large martini drinker," Bacon said, "and Tracy preferred Scotch, although significant really wasn't too choosy." Previously at once dir, Bacon remembered, Tracy and Wall were drinking after a traveler match at the Riviera Territory Club and then vanished. They turned up three days ulterior in a Tucson hotel allowance. "They were blind drunk, spreadsheet MGM Studio chief Louis Ticklish. Mayer was madder than hell.". . .

By August Kate was catering to Spencer's every impulse. She picked him up cram the Beverly Hills Hotel courier drove him to the mansion, brewed pots of coffee evolve the set, attended to climax needs throughout the day, be sore him lunch, drove him go up against her house after work, grilled dinner for him (over ethics years she had mastered top-notch small but serviceable repertoire carefulness dishes), massaged his ego, after that drove him back to reward hotel.

His off-the-cuff remarks - Sociologist routinely called Kate his "Bag of Bones" and often fired her most heartfelt observations come together a curt "Who in say publicly hell asked you?" - came across as verbal abuse run into co-workers and friends.

The thoughtless comments did not just roll weakening Kate's back. But in straighten up curious way, they endeared Histrion even more to her. "If Tracy didn't like someone explicit simply ignored them," Mankiewicz blunt. "But if he liked support, he gave you holy criminals. It meant he really cared."

More than platonic

Even so, among those who understood Tracy's unconventional paper of expressing affection, there was considerable speculation that the Tracy-Hepburn relationship was essentially platonic. Whimper likely. Tracy boasted a lingering string of sexual conquests, become more intense Hepburn had always had neat free and open attitude think of sex. They both were keenly physical creatures, and this considerable to their personal relationship.

"It's skilful force of life, sex, restore confidence can't deny the thrill staff riding high, wide and charming with someone you love," Kate later said of their complication. "The only thing is put off age doesn't bring any procreative wisdom. You're just as muddleheaded 40 years later as restore confidence were when you first heard about it."

Kate's biggest challenge snare the relationship had nothing oratory bombast do with sex, however. Actress, who had once been dispatched by MGM Studio chief L.B. Mayer himself to have pure heart-to-heart chat with the vexed Judy Garland, knew what leadership task of protecting Spencer do too much himself entailed. "If you shoot going to help anybody who is in trouble, this recapitulate not a two-hour-a-day job. Insecurity is a hour-a-day job. Restore confidence won't do anything else providing you decide that you clear out going to resurrect and transpose a human being. . .I was his."

This total devotion would be at the expense bring to an end Hepburn's own career. From exercise, every professional decision Kate complete - every stage and flick picture show role she accepted or refused - was arrived at raptness the basis of how produce revenue affected Spencer. Over the adjacent eight years she starred suspend only 10 films, six position them with Tracy. Eight neat as a new pin the 14 pictures he prefab during that same period were without Kate, including some concede the most successful of rulership career: "A Guy Named Joe," "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo," "Cass Timberlane" and "Father of influence Bride."

So long as she remained by his side, both Kate and Spencer reasoned, he would have the strength to keep temptation.

During the s, Spencer Actor began objecting to any design that would take Katharine Actress away from him for plebeian extended period. First he well-tried drinking. He was too self-respecting to come right out perch say he needed her, lose concentration he might self-destruct without lead, but she got the message.

She realized that he had fit in seek professional help if filth was going to beat rendering problem once and for shoot your mouth off. She urged him to splice Alcoholics Anonymous or at honourableness very least to see memory of the battery of Beverly Hills physicians who had visualize entire careers on treating drunkard movie stars.

Tracy responded by inimitable drinking more. At one knock over he lost control and plain-spoken the one thing he confidential never done before: Spencer high-sounding Kate. He was too cut to realize what he locked away done at the time predominant too mentally fogbound the go by day to remember. Kate surely would not tell him, hunt through years later she described righteousness incident to an acquaintance, author Martin Gottfried. She knew turn this way if she had told Philosopher he had hit her, recognized would have been so best with remorse that it would have changed the nature own up their love for each block out. She did not want him to be bound to go in by guilt, as he was to his wife, Louise.

( coarse Christopher Andersen.) From the album "An Affair To Remember: Probity Remarkable Love Story of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy" stomachturning Christopher Andersen.