Editing Katharine Hepburn (section)

=== Relationships ===
<!-- Do not change this heading as 'Ludlow Ogden Smith' redirects here -->
Hepburn's only marriage was to Ludlow Ogden Smith, a socialite-businessman from Philadelphia whom she met while a student at Bryn Mawr. The couple wed on December 12, 1928, when she was 21 and he was 29.{{sfn|Higham|2004|p=10}} Smith changed his name to S. Ogden Ludlow at her behest so that she would not be "Kate Smith", which she considered too plain.{{sfn|Berg|2004|p=73}} She never fully committed to the marriage, prioritizing her career.{{sfn|Higham|2004|p=10}} Furthermore, Hepburn's fiery personality did not go well with Smith's calm, quiet demeanor. She was also having an affair with her agent, [[Leland Hayward]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Elizabeth |date=2024-03-13 |title=Tragic Details About Katharine Hepburn's Life |url=https://www.thelist.com/1537888/katharine-hepburn-tragic-life/ |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=The List |language=en-US}}</ref> The move to Hollywood in 1932 cemented the couple's estrangement.{{sfn|Hepburn|1991|p=153}} Hepburn filed for divorce in [[Yucatán]] on April 30, 1934, and it was finalized on May 8.<ref>"Katharine Hepburn Secures Divorce From Ludlow Smith". ''Meriden Record''. May 9, 1934.</ref> Hepburn often expressed her gratitude toward Smith for his financial and moral support in the early days of her career, and in her autobiography she called herself "a terrible pig" for exploiting his love.{{sfn|Hepburn|1991|p=154}} The pair remained friends until his death in 1979.{{sfn|Chandler|2011|p=54}}

Hepburn's affair with Hayward began after she moved to California, although they were both married.{{sfn|Berg|2004|p=90}} Hayward proposed to the actress after they had both divorced, but she declined, later explaining, "I liked the idea of being my own single self."{{sfn|Hepburn|1991|pp=185, 191}} The affair lasted four years.{{sfn|Hepburn|1991|p=189}} In 1936, while she was touring with ''Jane Eyre,'' Hepburn began a relationship with entrepreneur [[Howard Hughes]]. She had been introduced to him a year earlier by their mutual friend Cary Grant.{{sfn|Berg|2004|p=127}} Hughes wished to marry her, and the tabloids reported their impending nuptials, but Hepburn stayed focused on resurrecting her failing career.{{sfn|Berg|2004|p=131}} They separated in 1938, when Hepburn left Hollywood after being labeled "box office poison".{{sfnm|1a1=Berg|1y=2004|1p=132|2a1=Hepburn|2y=1991|2pp=204–205}}

Hepburn stuck to her decision not to remarry and made a conscious choice not to have children. She believed that motherhood required a full-time commitment and said it was not one she was willing to make.<ref name="cavett" /> "I would have been a terrible mother," she told Berg, "because I'm basically a very selfish human being."{{sfn|Berg|2004|p=50}} She felt she had partially experienced parenthood through her much younger siblings, which fulfilled any need to have children of her own.{{sfn|Hepburn|1991|p=37}}

Rumors have existed since the 1930s that Hepburn was a [[lesbian]] or [[bisexual]], which she often joked about.{{sfn|Curtis|2011|p=881}} In 2007, [[William J. Mann]] released a biography of the actress in which he argued this was the case.{{sfn|Mann|2007|p=xxiv}} In response to this speculation, her niece, [[Katharine Houghton]] said, "I've never discovered any evidence whatsoever that she was a lesbian."{{sfn|Curtis|2011|p=449}} However, in a 2017 documentary, columnist [[Liz Smith (journalist)|Liz Smith]], who was a close friend,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0306/30/lkl.00.html |title=Tribute to Katharine Hepburn |work=Larry King Live |publisher=CNN Transcripts |date=June 30, 2003 |access-date=September 11, 2017 |archive-date=May 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518132101/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0306/30/lkl.00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> attested that she was.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.thewrap.com/scotty-and-the-secret-history-of-hollywood-review-scotty-bowers-full-service/| title='Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood' Review: Sex Abounded in Hollywood's Golden Age| date=July 28, 2018| access-date=September 11, 2017| archive-date=September 18, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918224908/https://www.thewrap.com/scotty-and-the-secret-history-of-hollywood-review-scotty-bowers-full-service/| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2773246/ |title=Tyrnauer, Matt ''Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood,'' Altimeter Films, 2017 |website=[[IMDb]] |access-date=July 1, 2018 |archive-date=August 17, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180817100101/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2773246/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Spencer Tracy ====
{{Main articles|Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy}}
[[File:Tracy Hepburn Desk Set.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Hepburn is sitting with Spencer Tracy, she age 50 and he age 57, and they are smiling at each other.|Spencer Tracy and Hepburn in a publicity photo for ''[[Desk Set]]'' (1957)]]
The most significant relationship of Hepburn's life was with [[Spencer Tracy]], her co-star in nine films. In her autobiography, she wrote, "It was a unique feeling that I had for [Tracy]. I would have done anything for him."{{sfn|Hepburn|1991|p=392}} [[Lauren Bacall]], a close friend, later wrote of how "blindingly" in love Hepburn was with the actor.{{sfn|Bacall|2005|p=488}} The relationship has subsequently been publicized as one of Hollywood's legendary love affairs.<ref name="nyt obit" /><ref name="fascinating" /><ref name="kh the movie" />

Hepburn and Tracy met at MGM in 1941, when they were to begin filming ''[[Woman of the Year]]'', when she was 34 and he was 41. Tracy was initially wary of Hepburn, unimpressed by her dirty fingernails and suspecting that she was a lesbian, but Hepburn said she "knew right away that [she] found him irresistible".{{sfn|Hepburn|1991|pp=395, 400}} Tracy remained married throughout their relationship. Although he and his wife, [[Louise Tracy|Louise]], had been living separate lives since the 1930s, there was never an official split and neither party pursued a divorce.{{sfn|Curtis|2011|p=718}} Hepburn did not interfere.{{sfn|Hepburn|1991|p=405}}

With Tracy determined to conceal the relationship with Hepburn from his wife, it had to remain private.{{sfn|Curtis|2011|p=583}} They were careful not to be seen in public together and maintained separate residences.<ref name="kh the movie" />{{sfn|Berg|2004|p=187}} Tracy suffered from a severe [[alcohol addiction]] and was extremely moody and frequently depressed; Hepburn described him as "tortured",{{sfn|Hepburn|1991|p=399}} and she devoted herself to making his life easier.{{sfnm|1a1=Hepburn|1y=1991|1p=389|2a1=Bacall|2y=2005|2p=288|3a1=Curtis|3y=2011|3p=749}} Reports from people who saw them together describe how Hepburn's entire demeanor changed when around Tracy.{{sfnm|1a1=Higham|1y=2004|1p=191|2a1=Chandler|2y=2011|2p=153|3a2=Curtis|3y=2011|3p=747}} She reportedly mothered and obeyed him, and he soon became dependent on her.{{sfn|Curtis|2011|pp=493, 623, 727, 747, 798}} They often spent significant stretches of time apart due to their work, especially in the 1950s when Hepburn frequently traveled abroad for film commitments.{{sfnm|1a1=Curtis|1y=2011|1p=716|2a1=Kanin|2y=1971|2p=241}}

Tracy's alcoholism took an immense toll on his health and in the early 1960s, Hepburn took a five-year break in her career to care for him.{{sfn|Hepburn|1991|p=393}} She moved into Tracy's house for this period and was with him when he died on June 10, 1967.{{sfn|Curtis|2011|p=861}} Out of consideration for Tracy's family, she did not attend his funeral.{{sfn|Curtis|2011|p=878}} It was only after Louise Tracy's death in 1983, that Hepburn began to speak publicly about her feelings for Tracy, though their relationship had been an [[open secret]] for many years.{{sfn|Berg|2004|p=163}} In response to the question of why she stayed with Tracy for so long, despite the nature of their relationship, she said, "I honestly don't know. I can only say that I could never have left him."{{sfn|Hepburn|1991|p=393}} She claimed to not know how he felt about her, and that they "just passed twenty-seven years together in what was to me absolute bliss".{{sfn|Hepburn|1991|p=396}}