William J. Mann’s 2006 book, “Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn” (Henry Holt) is one of the best movie star biographies I’ve ever read. On Sunday at 2 p.m. the writer will be talking about the book at the Stratford Library.
Mann cuts through the fog of “legend” and PR bull that surrounds every Hollywood celebrity — present or past — to try to get at the woman underneath. The 600-page volume reads like a shot and acts as a corrective to almost every other biography of the Connecticut-born movie icon.
As Gore Vidal put it in his pre-publication endorsement, “William Mann has produced a truly significant biography of a woman whose complicated personality has never been fully captured. He has presented not only an intriguing portrait of Hepburn but also an accurate picture of her Hollywood and the difficult business of stardom.”
Most Hollywood bios tend to fall into one of two categories — overly respectful fan puffery or a knives-out assault on a performer’s “secret” life. Mann walks a very fine line that respects Hepburn’s amazing talent and durability while poking holes in much of the mythology the star herself used as a smokescreen.
The author is especially strong in his analysis of the legend surrounding Hepburn’s supposed decades-long affair with her frequent co-star Spencer Tracy. Mann shows how both performers used the legend to disguise their much more complicated private lives that many of their friends and co-workers believed included same sex relationships.
Mann quotes the late, great Hollywood novelist and screenwriter Gavin Lambert on Tracy’s homosexuality: “It was one of those very deep, dark secrets of Hollywood. It always seemed so odd, because I never felt any gay vibe watching Tracy on-screen. But the stories were told by people in George (Cukor’s) circle I trusted. I think it’s really the only way to fully understand why Tracy was so troubled.”
“Everyone at Metro knew the truth about Kate and Spencer,” Mann quotes another member of the Tracy and Hepburn circle. “They knew that they were together but that it wasn’t a sexual thing. I always laugh when I hear people say, ‘Oh, wasn’t it good of Hollywood not to gossip, to be so respectful of their affair.’ But nobody was gossiping because they knew there was nothing to gossip about. Everyone knew they were just good, devoted friends.”
In a paragraph that is characteristic of Mann’s compassionate, thoughtful tone throughout the book, he comments, “Of course, it was difficult for people to understand — then as well as now — that a relationship could be intense and passionate and important without being sexual. The love story of Tracy and Hepburn should not be minimized just because sex (at least for much of the duration) was not a defining characteristic.”
(William J. Mann’s free talk and signing will be at 2 p.m. on Sunday. The Stratford Library is at 2203 Main St.)
