As a budding film buff roughly forty years ago, I recall arriving at the natural conclusion that since Katharine and Audrey Hepburn not only shared a last name but were also both famous movie personalities, they must somehow be related. Was Kate her mother or her aunt, I asked myself.
Once I learned they were in fact not kin, I observed what a big world it was, and took comfort that there was a perfectly logical reason why these two actresses looked nothing like each other.
Of course any lack of physical resemblance was only the beginning of their differences. In fact, on closer examination, the two almost seem like a study in contrasts.
Kate was old New England stock to the core, while Audrey was descended from authentic European aristocracy. A Bryn Mawr graduate, Kate was born to comfort and privilege, while Audrey's distinguished bloodline could not exempt her from some harsh early years fighting off starvation in Nazi-occupied Holland. (Being the daughter of an Englishman certainly did not help).
The always outspoken Kate screamed feminism before feminism was even a term, sporting trousers and spouting opinions with a man's aggressive assurance, while Audrey, a fashion icon who wore Givenchy creations in many of her films, personified womanliness in its most graceful, delicate and ethereal form.
Kate put career first her whole life, choosing not to wed and have children after an early, failed first marriage. Her on- and off-screen partner, Spencer Tracy, himself a married, devout Catholic, would not divorce, and served as both surrogate father (and later, child/patient) to Kate.
By contrast, Audrey would wed twice (once to actor Mel Ferrer), and bear a son by each marriage. Then, in the late sixties, she would consciously choose family over show business.
Thus Kate had more longevity, but more bumps along the way, while Audrey's career was basically up, up, up- until she herself chose to bow out.
While in their later years both Kate and Audrey pursued extremely private lives, Kate never lent her name to any cause in a highly visible way, while Audrey's early brush with malnutrition galvanized her into becoming a roving ambassador for UNICEF, using her celebrity to improve the lot of the world's hungry and dispossessed.
Finally, Kate would see ripe old age (she died at 96), while Audrey would succumb to cancer in 1993, at age 63. Had she lived, the younger actress would have turned eighty on May 4th.
In an "Entertainment Weekly" online poll from a decade ago, Kate and Audrey received the most votes for "Best Classic Actress Of the Twentieth Century", with Kate edging out her younger rival by less than a percentage point.
Given their close proximity in this poll, I had to wonder which Hepburn resonates more with today's audiences. Believing in sound research, I simply asked my wife Olivia which actress she prefers on-screen, and relates to more overall.
"Audrey", she shot back without hesitation. "Kate grates on me after a while. And Audrey reminds women that femininity can be an asset."
I know just what she means. Kate can come off as arch, mannish and impossibly upper-crust in her films, and she was also notoriously demanding to work with. The luminous Audrey, on the other hand, was by most accounts precisely what she seemed to be: an angel. Still, Kate had a special energy that mesmerized viewers, and in my opinion, boasts a slightly more impressive and enduring filmography.
Regardless of one's personal preferences, what these two women indisputably shared was immense talent, dedication, and that rare phenomenon called star quality: the ability to project a distinctive, readily identifiable persona that viewers respond to and care about.
What follows are my own top picks for each star. All you need to do is... pick your Hepburn!
Kate's Klassics
Stage Door (1937)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Woman Of The Year (1942)
Adam's Rib (1949)
Summertime (1955)
Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962)
A Lion In Winter (1968)
Audrey's All-Timers
Roman Holiday (1953)
Sabrina (1954)
A Nun's Story (1959)
Breakfast At Tiffany's (1961)
Charade (1963)
My Fair Lady (1964)
How To Steal A Million (1966)
Wait Until Dark (1967)
For full write-ups on each of these films, and close to 2,000 more outstanding titles on DVD, visit www.bestmoviesbyfarr.com.