Editing Katharine Hepburn (section)

=== Film, television, and theatre (1971–1983) ===

Hepburn stayed active throughout the 1970s, focusing on roles described by Andrew Britton as "either a devouring mother or a batty old lady living [alone]".{{sfn|Britton|2003|p=41}} First she traveled to Spain to film a version of [[Euripides]]' ''[[The Trojan Women (film)|The Trojan Women]]'' (1971) alongside [[Vanessa Redgrave]]. When asked why she had taken the role, she responded that she wanted to broaden her range and try everything while she still had time.{{sfn|Dickens|1990|p=202}} The movie was poorly received,{{sfn|Dickens|1990|p=202}} but the Kansas City Film Critics Circle named Hepburn's performance the best from an actress that year. In 1971, she signed on to star in an adaptation of [[Graham Greene]]'s ''[[Travels with My Aunt]]'', but was unhappy with early versions of the script and took to rewriting it herself. The studio disliked her changes, so Hepburn abandoned the project and was replaced with [[Maggie Smith]].{{sfn|Edwards|1985|pp=374–376}} Her next film, an adaptation of [[Edward Albee]]'s ''[[A Delicate Balance (film)|A Delicate Balance]]'' (1973) directed by [[Tony Richardson]], had a small release and received generally unfavorable reviews.{{sfn|Dickens|1990|p=29}}

In 1973, Hepburn ventured into television for the first time, starring in a production of Tennessee Williams' ''[[The Glass Menagerie (1973 film)|The Glass Menagerie]]''. She had been wary of the medium, but it proved to be one of the main television events of the year, scoring high in the [[Nielsen ratings]].{{sfnm|1a1=Berg|1y=2004|1pp=256–257|2a1=Higham|2y=2004|2p=227}} Hepburn received an [[Emmy Award]] nomination for playing wistful Southern mother Amanda Wingfield, which opened her mind to future work on the small screen.{{sfn|Berg|2004|p=257}} Her next project was the television movie ''[[Love Among the Ruins (film)|Love Among the Ruins]]'' (1975), a London-based Edwardian drama with her friend [[Laurence Olivier]]. It received positive reviews and high ratings and earned Hepburn her only Emmy Award.{{sfn|Berg|2004|p=258}}

[[File:Hepburn rooster cogburn.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Screenshot of Hepburn in rural clothes, age 68|In the western ''[[Rooster Cogburn (film)|Rooster Cogburn]]'' (1975), where Hepburn costarred with [[John Wayne]]]]

Hepburn made her only appearance at the Academy Awards in 1974, to present the [[Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award]] to [[Lawrence Weingarten]]. She received a standing ovation, and joked with the audience, "I'm very happy I didn't hear anyone call out, 'It's about time'."{{sfn|Berg|2004|p=260}} The following year, she was paired with [[John Wayne]] in the western ''[[Rooster Cogburn (film)|Rooster Cogburn]]'', a sequel to his Oscar-winning film ''[[True Grit (1969 film)|True Grit]]''. Echoing her ''African Queen'' character, Hepburn played a deeply religious unmarried woman who teams up with a masculine loner to avenge a family member's death.{{sfn|Dickens|1990|p=29}} The movie received mediocre reviews. Its casting was enough to draw some people to the box office, but it did not meet studio expectations and was only moderately successful.{{sfnm|1a1=Berg|1y=2004|1p=29|2a1=Dickens|2y=1990|2pp=29–30}}

In 1976, Hepburn returned to Broadway for a three-month run of [[Enid Bagnold]]'s play ''[[A Matter of Gravity]]''. The role of eccentric Mrs. Basil was deemed a perfect showcase for the actress,{{sfn|Edwards|1985|p=390}} and the play was popular despite poor reviews.{{sfn|Dickens|1990|p=30}} It later went on a successful nationwide tour.{{sfn|Berg|2004|p=259}} During its Los Angeles run, Hepburn fractured her hip, but she chose to continue the tour performing in a wheelchair.{{sfn|Higham|2004|p=230}} That year, she was voted "Favorite Motion Picture Actress" by the [[People's Choice Awards]].<ref>{{cite web|title=People's Choice Awards 1976 Nominees |url=http://www.peopleschoice.com/pca/awards/nominees/index.jsp?year=1976 |publisher=People's Choice |access-date=November 8, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111202135324/http://www.peopleschoice.com/pca/awards/nominees/index.jsp?year=1976 |archive-date=December 2, 2011}}</ref>

During the summer of 1976, Hepburn starred in the low-budget family film ''[[Olly Olly Oxen Free (film)|Olly Olly Oxen Free]]''. The feature failed to find a major-studio distributor and was finally released independently in 1978. Because of its poor distribution, it played in relatively few theaters, resulting in one of the biggest misfires of Hepburn's career. The screenwriter [[James Prideaux]], who worked with Hepburn, later wrote that it "died at the moment of release" and referred to it as her "lost film".{{sfn|Prideaux|1996|p=123}} Hepburn claimed the main reason she had done it was the opportunity to ride in a hot-air balloon.{{sfn|Chandler|2011|p=280}} The television movie ''[[The Corn Is Green (1979 film)|The Corn Is Green]]'' (1979), which was filmed in Wales, followed. It was the last of ten films Hepburn made with [[George Cukor]], and gained her a third Emmy nomination.<ref>{{cite web|title=Katharine Hepburn Emmy Awards history |url=http://www.emmys.com/bios/katharine-hepburn |publisher=Primetime Emmy Awards |access-date=February 15, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101051504/http://www.emmys.com/bios/katharine-hepburn |archive-date=January 1, 2014}}</ref>

By the 1980s, Hepburn had developed a noticeable [[essential tremor|tremor]], giving her a permanently shaking head.{{sfn|Berg|2004|p=260}}<ref>{{cite news|author=Claiborne Ray, C. |title=Q & A; Head and Hand Tremors |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/22/science/q-a-head-and-hand-tremors.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 22, 2003 |access-date=November 3, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113053959/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/22/science/q-a-head-and-hand-tremors.html |archive-date=November 13, 2013}}</ref> She did not work for two years, saying in a television interview, "I've had my day—let the kids scramble and sweat it out."{{sfn|Dickens|1990|p=31}} During this period she saw the Broadway production ''[[On Golden Pond (play)|On Golden Pond]]'', and was impressed by its depiction of an elderly married couple coping with the difficulties of old age.{{sfn|Berg|2004|p=261}} [[Jane Fonda]] had purchased the screen rights for her father, actor [[Henry Fonda]], and Hepburn sought to play opposite him in the role of quirky Ethel Thayer.{{sfn|Higham|2004|p=234}} ''[[On Golden Pond (1981 film)|On Golden Pond]]'' was a success, the second-highest-grossing film of 1981.<ref>{{cite web|title=1981 Domestic Grosses |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=1981&p=.htm |website=Box Office Mojo |access-date=November 27, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120101033125/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=1981&p=.htm |archive-date=January 1, 2012 }}</ref> It demonstrated how energetic the 74-year-old Hepburn was, as she dived fully clothed into [[Squam Lake]] and gave a lively singing performance.{{sfn|Berg|2004|p=261}} The film won her a second BAFTA and a record fourth Academy Award. Homer Dickens, in his book on Hepburn, notes that it was widely considered a sentimental win, "a tribute to her enduring career".{{sfn|Dickens|1990|p=218}}

Hepburn also returned to the stage in 1981. She received a second [[Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play|Tony]] nomination for her portrayal in ''[[The West Side Waltz]]'' of a septuagenarian widow with a zest for life. ''Variety'' observed that the role was "an obvious and entirely acceptable version of [Hepburn's] own public image".{{sfn|Dickens|1990|p=245}} Walter Kerr of ''The New York Times'' wrote of Hepburn and her performance, "One mysterious thing she has learned to do is breathe unchallengeable life into lifeless lines."<ref name="nyt obit">{{cite news|last=James |first=Caryn |title=Katharine Hepburn, Spirited Actress, Dies at 96 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/30/movies/katharine-hepburn-spirited-actress-dies-at-96.html |access-date=September 25, 2011 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 30, 2003 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826135824/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/30/movies/katharine-hepburn-spirited-actress-dies-at-96.html |archive-date=August 26, 2011}}</ref> She hoped to make a film out of the production, but nobody purchased the rights.{{sfn|Berg|2004|p=262}} Hepburn's reputation as one of America's best loved actors was firmly established by this point, as she was named favorite movie actress in a survey by ''[[People (American magazine)|People]]'' magazine and again won the popularity award from People's Choice.<ref>{{cite news|title=It's Your Turn!&nbsp;– Reader's Poll |url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20081942,00.html |access-date=November 8, 2011 |newspaper=People |date=April 19, 1982 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113000015/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0%2C%2C20081942%2C00.html |archive-date=January 13, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=People's Choice Awards 1983 Nominees |url=http://www.peopleschoice.com/pca/awards/nominees/index.jsp?year=1983 |publisher=People's Choice |access-date=November 8, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111202135344/http://www.peopleschoice.com/pca/awards/nominees/index.jsp?year=1983 |archive-date=December 2, 2011}}</ref>