Summary: Publisher Summary 1 A fascinating biography of Katharine Hepburn furnishes a revealing study of the complex, intelligent, sophisticated woman behind the mythic Hollywood image, drawing on new interviews with friends and family and previously unavailable materials to capture a unique close-up of a remarkable woman. Reprint. 50,000 first printing.   Publisher Summary 2 A New York Times Book ReviewNotable Book of the Year   One of Publishers Weekly's 100 Best Books of the Year   Katharine Hepburn was her own creation. She charmed the public with the image of an East Coast aristocrat, wearing pants and freely speaking her mind, and the image stuck. But that show didn't come easily to her, or without tremendous effort and concealment. None of her success did.   What lay beneath Hepburn's public roles was an ambitious, vulnerable woman whose relationships and sexuality were never as simple and wholesome as Kate--and her biographers--suggested. With this biography, William J. Mann challenges much of what we think we know about the Great Kate, and shows how a woman originally considered too controversial for Hollywood stardom learned the fine art of imagemaking, and transformed herself into an icon as all-American as the Statue of Liberty.   Publisher Summary 3 A New York Times Book ReviewNotable Book of the Year   One of Publishers Weekly's 100 Best Books of the Year Katharine Hepburn was her own creation--an ambitious, vulnerable woman who charmed the public with the image of an East Coast aristocrat, wearing pants and freely speaking her mind. But that show didn't come easily to her, or without tremendous effort and concealment. None of her success did.With this biography, William J. Mann challenges much of what we think we know about the Great Kate, and shows how a woman originally considered too controversial for Hollywood stardom learned the fine art of image making and transformed herself into an icon as all-American as the Statue of Liberty. With new material drawn from Hepburn's private papers, William J. Mann's Kateis "not just the best on Hepburn--it's a book that sets new standards in movie biography" (David Thomson, The New York Observer).