Editing Katharine Hepburn (section)

== Early life and education ==
[[File:DrandMrsThomasNHepburn.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Left to right: daughter Katharine, Marion, Robert, Thomas, and Richard. [[Katharine Martha Houghton Hepburn|Her mother]] is seated at center with daughter Margaret, 1921]]

Katharine Houghton Hepburn was born on May 12, 1907, in Hartford, Connecticut, the second of six children. Her parents were Thomas Norval Hepburn (1879–1962), a urologist at [[Hartford Hospital]], and [[Katharine Martha Houghton Hepburn]] (1878–1951), a feminist campaigner. Both parents fought for social change in the United States: Thomas Hepburn helped establish the New England [[American Social Health Association|Social Hygiene Association]], which educated the public about [[venereal disease]],{{sfn|Britton|2003|p=41}} while the elder Katharine headed the [[Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association]] and later campaigned for birth control with [[Margaret Sanger]].{{sfn|Berg|2004|p=40}} As a child, Hepburn joined her mother on several "Votes For Women" demonstrations.{{sfn|Chandler|2011|p=37}} The Hepburn children were raised to exercise freedom of speech and encouraged to think and debate on any topic they wished.{{sfn|Higham|2004|p=2}} Her parents were criticized by the community for their progressive views, which stimulated Hepburn to fight against barriers she encountered.<ref name="cavett">{{Cite episode |title=Katharine Hepburn: Part 2 |series=The Dick Cavett Show |series-link=The Dick Cavett Show |network= [[American Broadcasting Company]] |airdate=October 3, 1973}} Stated by Hepburn in this interview.</ref>{{Sfnm|1a1=Higham|1y=2004|1p=4|2a1=Chandler|2y=2011|2p=39|3a1=Prideaux|3y=1996|3p=74}} Hepburn said she realized from a young age that she was the product of "two very remarkable parents",{{sfn|Hepburn|1991|p=21}} and credited her "enormously lucky" upbringing with providing the foundation for her success.<ref>{{Cite episode |title=Katharine Hepburn: Part 1 |series=The Dick Cavett Show |series-link=The Dick Cavett Show |network= [[American Broadcasting Company]] |airdate=October 2, 1973}}</ref>{{sfn|Berg|2004|p=47}} She remained close with her family throughout her life.{{sfnm|1a1=Hepburn|1y=1991|1p=30|2a1=Kanin|2y=1971|2p=82}}

The young Hepburn was a tomboy who liked to call herself Jimmy and cut her hair short.{{sfn|Chandler|2011|p=30}} Thomas Hepburn was eager for his children to use their minds and bodies to the limit and taught them to swim, run, dive, ride, wrestle, and play golf and tennis.{{sfnm|1a1=Hepburn|1y=1991|1p=43|2a1=Higham|2y=2004|p=2}} Golf became a passion of Hepburn's; she took daily lessons and became very adept, reaching the semi-final of the Connecticut Young Women's Golf Championship.{{sfn|Higham|2004|p=7}} She loved swimming in [[Long Island Sound]], and took ice-cold baths every morning in the belief that "the bitterer the medicine, the better it was for you".{{sfn|Higham|2004|p=3}} Hepburn was a fan of films from a young age and went to see one every Saturday night.{{sfn|Chandler|2011|p=34}} She would put on plays and perform for her neighbors with friends and siblings for 50 cents a ticket to raise money for the [[Navajo people]].{{sfn|Higham|2004|p=4}}

[[File:Katharine Hepburn yearbook photo.jpg|thumb|upright|right|alt=Portrait of Hepburn, age 21|Hepburn's yearbook photo, 1928, [[Bryn Mawr College]]]]

In March 1921, Hepburn, 13, and her 15-year-old brother Tom were visiting New York, staying with a friend of their mother's in Greenwich Village over the Easter break. On March 30, Hepburn discovered the body of her adored older brother dead from an apparent suicide.{{sfn|Hepburn|1991|p=44}} He had tied a curtain tie around a beam and hanged himself.{{sfn|Hepburn|1991|p=46}} The Hepburn family denied it was suicide and maintained that Tom's death must have been an experiment that had gone wrong.{{sfn|Chandler|2011|p=6}} The incident made the teenage Hepburn nervous, moody, and suspicious of people.{{sfn|Higham|2004|p=5}} She shied away from other children, dropped out of [[Kingswood Oxford School|Oxford School]] (now [[Kingswood-Oxford School]]) and was tutored privately.{{sfn|Hepburn|1991|p=49}} For many years she used Tom's birthday (November 8) as her own. It was not until her 1991 autobiography, ''Me: Stories of My Life'', that Hepburn revealed her true birth date.{{sfn|Chandler|2011|p=7}}

In 1924, Hepburn was admitted to [[Bryn Mawr College]]. She initially agreed to attend the institution to satisfy her mother, who had studied there, but ultimately found the experience to be unfulfilling.{{sfn|Kanin|1971|p=285}} It was the first time she had been in school for several years, and she was self-conscious and uncomfortable with her classmates.{{sfn|Hepburn|1991|p=69}} She struggled with the scholastic demands of university, and once was suspended for smoking in her room.{{sfn|Dickens|1990|p=4}} Hepburn was drawn to acting, but roles in college plays were conditional on good grades. Once her marks had improved, she began performing regularly.{{sfn|Dickens|1990|p=4}} She performed the lead role in a production of ''[[The Woman in the Moon]]'' in her senior year, and the positive response it received cemented Hepburn's plans to pursue a theatrical career.{{sfn|Higham|2004|p=7}} She graduated with a degree in history and philosophy in June 1928.{{sfn|Horton|Simmons|2007|p=119}}