Ranking the Oscar Winning Performances of Katharine Hepburn

Katharine Hepburn in Summertime

As Oscar Sunday lingers closer, it's time to look at the rich history and commemorate each passing day with something unique and special. For today's entry, it feels important to mark the 4 days left by honoring the only actress in Oscar history to have 4 acting wins: Katharine Hepburn. With a total of 12 nominations, she is widely considered one of the best actresses in classic film history for her strong and independent women characters and her charming and distinct voice. Her legacy lives on and while she may not have won for her most iconic films (The African Queen, The Philadelphia Story), she left behind an enviable body of work the likes of which are hard to ignore. The following is a ranking of her 4 wins.

Birthday Take: Stanley Kramer in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (1967)

Scene from Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Welcome to The Birthday Take, a column dedicated to celebrating Oscar nominees and winners' birthdays by paying tribute to the work that got them noticed. This isn't meant to be an exhaustive retrospective, but more of a highlight of one nominated work that makes them noteworthy. The column will run whenever there is a birthday and will hopefully give a dense exploration of the finest performances and techniques applied to film. So please join me as we blow out the candles and dig into the delicious substance.