Kate Remembered

Rating:
Summary: The perfect companion to other Kate books
Review: Having read Hepburn's autobiography (which the author shamelessly tells of acting as her informal editor for) and another book that tells her story behind the making of the African Queen, Kate Remembered is one of those "gotta run out and buy" books we closet Hepburn fans love to read.

Once the reader gets beyond the story of the relationship between Berg and Hepburn and Berg and his other interview subjects (which I am strongly averse to, and think most people will find rather boring - after all, we didn't pay to hear Berg's professional conquests), there are some real gems in this book. My favorites are the times when Hepburn confesses her humanity and admits her mistakes. This is truly Berg's sole victory - revealing the human side of one of America's most private and cherished celebrities.

Obviously Berg had his foot in the door early, born to a father inside the industry. True, the whole thing smacks of elitism, yet Berg can't resist telling on the people who used Hepburn and others to step over to reach another star (including Michael Jackson). Was he not much the same?

Another thing that sticks in one's mind is how Berg plays up Spencer Tracy's alcoholism but downplays the fact Hepburn constantly reminded him at her house, "drinks are at 6, dinner is at 7." Need I say more?

All in all, an enjoyable read. The dialogue is cleverly written and does make one feel as if they're an onlooker. But the relationship between Berg and Hepburn, and choosing to include it in the book is, well, rather messy.

Rating:
Summary: A great read
Review: I enjoyed this warm and respectful book detailing the author's friendship with Katharine Hepburn. It's the only book I've read about her so far, and I felt I received not only a satisfying glimpse of her personality but enough background to get a handle on the important moments of her career and private life (such as her relationships with Howard Hughes and Spencer Tracy). There were also fascinating glimpses of Michael Jackson (who has dinner with her, in one anecdote) and the monumentally egotistical Warren Beatty (who has the author convince her to appear in "Love Affair"). The only thing I found a bit strange about this book is that the author wrote a biography of an editor and mentions publishing and editing quite a bit - and this book has more than a few spelling and punctuation errors. I don't think it was a good idea to rush it to market. Otherwise, it's great. It was a refreshing and pleasant read.

Rating:
Summary: Mixed feelings
Review: I wanted to like Scott Berg's bio/memoir of Katharine Hepburn. I've read most of the books about (as well as those written by) Miss Hepburn, and would have been drawn to Mr. Berg's book, whatever the reviews. It's interesting that the book this one resembles most is the coffee table photo book, The Private World of Katharine Hepburn. Like that book, Berg's dwells on the ordinary (and not so ordinary) details of Hepburn's life; her two homes, the people she associates with, the artifacts she has chosen to keep on display. And Berg's description of his times with Hepburn flesh out the physical picture. For a character so famously committed to privacy, the "authorized" stories of her life have contained an extraordinary amount of such detail, forming a fairly consistent body of "myth" about the ageing Hepburn. There's good and bad in that, I think, as much of Hepburn's continuing fascination for her fans has to do with the way she has conducted her life, as well as the work she has done over the years.

But in painting a picture of Katharine Hepburn as a friend or dinner companion might see her, Berg infuses his book with more information about himself than we really need. His relationships with people like Irene Mayer Selznick certainly inform his view of Hepburn, but they, and his multi-page digressions into the progress of his own books, make me an impatient reader. This book is short enough, and shallow enough in its details that I become jealous of the pages wasted in discussion of Mr. Berg's own projects.

The inclusion of Irene Selznick's observations intrigues me, because they are among the few places in the book where we see Hepburn through someone else's eyes. Though Berg is careful o say that his is by no more as a comprehensive Hepburn biography, I would ave liked to see more context for Hepburn's version of things.

Kate Remembered suffers from one failing that has afflicted many Hepburn biographies: it's depiction of Spencer Tracy is just as shallow and one-dimensional as that of other, more distant Hepburn chroniclers. To be sure, Tracy was a troubled man, who gave Hepburn more than her share of grief and heartache, but I was hoping to learn more than the details of his alcoholism. I opened this book wondering what Mr. Tracy was like as a human being; what Miss Hepburn might have to say about the man she obviously worshiped. It's interesting that despite Mr. Berg's first chapter discussion of how open Hepburn was about Tracy, the portrait painted of the actor later on is maddeningly unfulfilling. Like other biographers, Berg seems to imply that Tracy was a man who used and abused Hepburn and that she would have been better off without him. Presumably, Miss Hepburn did not feel that way, and it would be nice to read a biography of her that gave Tracy a bit more credit.

Kate Remembered is an interesting read, and Berg is a skilled writer who weaves his story together in a compelling way. I only wish that he had more to say.

Rating:
Summary: Makes you feel like you got to know Hepburn better!
Review: I've enjoyed A. Scott Berg's previous biographies (MAX PERKINS:
EDITOR OF GENIUS, GOLDWYN: A BIOGRAPHY and LINDBERGH),
so naturally I looked forward to reading his latest: KATE REMEMBERED.

Yet this effort was a bit different from his other efforts . . . to quote
from the Author's Note, "This book is . . . not a critical study of either
Katharine Hepburn's life or her career. It is, rather as true an account
of her life as I can present, based on countless hours of private

conversations during which she reminisced . . . And so, more than
my remembrances, this book intends to convey hers."

Berg met Hepburn in 1983 and remained close friends with her
until the end of her life . . . he describes their many quiet
dinners in her New York City town house, winter swims at her
Connecticut home and unusual appearances by such notables
as Warren Beatty and Michael Jackson . . . Berg also gives
insight into Hepburn's relationships with both Spencer Tracy
and Howard Hughes.

In reading, I really feel that I got to know Hepburn better . . . it
almost felt that I was there with her, listening in on some of
her conversations.

One, in particular, made me laugh out loud . . . when Berg first
met her, she asked him if he wanted to use the bathroom . . . he
said "no" . . . she then asked if he was really sure . . . so he
decided to use the bathroom and sure enough, he had to
go . . . Hepburn was not surprised, telling him that after all,

her father was a urologist.

There were many other memorable passages; among them:
* [on having children] She proceeded to illustrate her main point.
"Let's say I have a little child," she explained, "and it's
seven o'clock at night and Baby Johnny or Baby Janey
suddenly comes down with a one-hundred-and three-degree
fever. And I've go twelve hundred people waiting to see me that night
at the St. James Theatre. Now some of those people, I'm thinking, have
waited months for their tickets, and some of them have scraped
together money they can't  really afford and arranged baby-sitters
so that they can have their special night that year. And now little
Johnny or little Janey is in pain and screaming and yelling. And there's
no question what I have to do. I would walk into that baby's room, and
take a pillow, and smother that adorable child!"

* At one point, Hepburn-whom some wags in town had by then dubbed
"Katharine of Arrogance"-suggested that she play both roles. "But if
you play both queens," asked John Carradine, a favorite Ford player who
had a supporting role in the film, "how would you know which on to
upstage?" Hepburn found nothing amusing about the comment at the
time. Years later she roared with laughter telling it.

* Kate was never one to speak in abstractions. For all her wisdom,
she was seldom one to philosophize. But in my last long
conversation with her, the evening of her nephew Munday's
marriage--when we were alone and she seemed strangely
pensive--I could not resist asking, "So what do you think it's all
about? Life, I mean. What's the purpose? What are we doing
here?"

I would have felt embarrassed asking such trite questions had Kate
not spared me by answering without hesitation, "To work hard," she
said, "and to love someone." Then she paused.

But that was not all. "and to have some fun," she added. "And if
you're lucky, you keep your health . . . and somebody loves you back."

Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Aunt
Review: On June 3, 2004, Sotheby's opened an exhibition of Kathryn Hepburn's property which will be auctioned off from her estate. Sotheby's had inquiries from all over from fans to advanced collectors to galleries. What is it about this star that has created such interest in owning a piece of this star?

Scott Berg, who had long personal friendship with Hepburn, does an excellent job in providing a behind the scenes glimpse into her life, what made her tick, and possibly, why she has been so attractive to so many. "Kate Remembered" is a well-written, fast-paced biography. This is a biography written with the reader in mind.

Berg describes the source of her fierce independence and her moves from stage to movies and later to TV. He also gives us a glimpse of some of the biggest names in Hollywood during her era, and the role Louis Mayer and Sam Goldwyn played in shaping their careers. He spares no details of her relationships with George Stevens, Cary Grant, Howard Hughes, Leland Hayward, and, of course, Spencer Tracy.

Learn about her views of Sir Laurence Olivier (a "small" man), John Wayne, Timothy Dalton, Peter O'Toole, and Bob Hope (a big egomaniac), Warren Beatty (vanity), Michael Jackson (a ten year old boy in 25 year old body), and her favorite movies.

While Hepburn stood alone with her fierce independence, beauty, and brains, Berg shows us that this hardly defined the feisty woman from Connecticut. She was a woman "with attitude" not caught up with Hollywood, a woman who was grounded, a woman who never developed a sense of entitlement, and, yet, a woman who had few friends as she got older.

Berg goes into great detail about why Tracy was the event in her life that taught her how to love rather than seeking to be loved; why Judd Harris tired to destroy her after she resurrected her career; why she felt she could never attend the Academy Awards; and how "The Philadelphia Story," which saved her career, was created and produced.

Some of the book's priceless quotes include:

Her response after Sean Penn punched out a photographer... "Why wouldn't someone who pays to see your picture in the movies, not want to take your picture?"

On her profession..."Actors and actresses are prostitutes selling themselves for our entertainment."

On having children... She never wanted to have to make the choice between giving a scheduled performance or staying home to care for a sick screaming child.

"Life, it is not easy. Life is tough for everyone, most become its victim."

She was the keeper of her own flame, and while she maintained a starry distance, she always seemed like our favorite aunt. And Berg's book tells us why, she was our favorite aunt!

We are fortunate for her enduring relationship with Scott Berg that made this book possible.

Rating:
Summary: Kate Remembered
Review: The life of the late, great Katharine Hepburn has been accurately and thoroughly preserved in print by her friend Berg. Released upon her death in June 2003, Kate Remembered not only captures the amazing history of Hepburn's life and career, but Berg manages to capture her personality, her passions, and her dry wit. The author, who met the actress in the early 1980s, had unprecedented access to her, and his friendship and admiration for her are evident in his writing. In addition to telling the life story of the incomparable actress, the book even serves as a history of early Hollywood and Broadway. Masterfully read by actor/director Tony Goldwyn, the audio version gives an entirely new dimension to Berg's already visual narrative. His interpretation of Hepburn's trademark voice is endearing and adds depth to the clean and flowing production. Recommended for most collections, especially those strong in biography and movie history.