much has been said about Katherine Hepburn's scandalous private life but there's one lover that sparked more controversy than all the rest allegedly she entertained a romance with married director John Ford on his deathbed hiitburn went to visit him and their conversation was recorded left alone and assuming that the tape had stopped rolling hitb bur and Ford continued to talk and unwittingly revealed a heartbreaking glimpse into their darker history growing up in the early 20th century Catherine was raised by incredibly Progressive parents her mother was a member of the Connecticut women's suffrage association and would take young Catherine to demonstrations her parents were considered scandalous by some but that was only the tip of the iceberg growing up hiitburn despised being a girl she identified more with the boys and decided to chop off all of her hair insisting that everyone call her Jimmy instead of persecuting her tomboy nature her parents celebrated it encouraging her to be her authentic self because of their unconditional support she blossomed into a woman destined for greatness hurn became a talented golfer but even more importantly she began digging into her love of movies she had a healthy and Charming childhood but little did she know her life was about to take an unbelievably dark turn when she was 13 Catherine and her older brother Tom went on a trip to New York during Easter break to stay with their aunt the siblings seemed to be the very picture of happiness but the morning after an outing to the theater hebburn discovered something so disturbing it would haunt her for the rest of her life she found her beloved 15-year-old brother dead seemingly having taken his own life hitb was inconsolable but her family's reaction to the incident was chilling denial crept through HB bur's grieving family like a disease they refused to admit that Tom had taken his own life and insisted that it must have been some kind of botched experiment Catherine became a more anxious person distrustful of other people and as time wore on the loss of her brother continued to burden her no matter where she went the memory of Tom followed in college she was awkward and self-conscious refusing to join the other girls in the dining hall but her struggle to fit in wouldn't last forever after all heurn was a born Rebel College opened up hitb bur's risk-taking sensibilities in one of her more wild moments hurn even stripped off her clothes and bathed in the Closter Pond she was even suspended for smoking in her dorm in her second year she joined the drama group and ended up playing the lead in one of the plays it required her to dress up like a man and that was a look that she often dawned off stage as well she sparked up a romance with Ludo Ogden Smith a socialite businessman and her future husband but like many cases of young love hiitburn and Smith came together at the wrong time and in the end fate dealt them a brutal hand after getting a taste of theater in college hiitburn knew in her heart that this was her dream but her father wasn't convinced being an actress often went hand inhand with poverty and he couldn't Envision her being a success forever strong welded hipb bur forged forward hoping to prove him wrong but it wasn't going to be easy Believe It or Not Katherine hebburn wasn't one of those actresses that made a sudden leap to fame she started in theater and at first she stumbled in the most humiliating ways possible there were criticisms about her piercing voice then after only a month into her theater career as an under study she was suddenly called on to fill in for the lead role for opening night she completely dropped the ball she was late messed up her lanes and even physically tripped over herself after being fired she consoled herself by getting married but after only a few weeks of playing the wife she was dying to run off and get back to her career through their six years of marriage hiitburn exploited her husband's deep devotion for her to his credit Smith was a doting husband supporting his wife both emotionally and financially but his affections were never fully reciprocated in the end her heart was made for the theater Catherine was having a hard time holding down a job no matter how hard she tried theater companies kept firing her in 1931 she asked dramatist Philip Barry why he didn't want her in his play his response was so painfully honest it cut her to the core but remember hitb bur was never a fragile Little Flower the rejection threw her for a loop but she just kept trying good thing she did because just as hitb bur began to a flounder she landed the role that would change her life forever in 1932 she got her big break in the warriors's husband a Broadway show that finally earned the positive reviews she'd been dreaming of and like any proper Hollywood fairy tale there was a scout in the audience who couldn't take his eyes off of the magnetic lead in the blink of an eye hurn was at RKO Studios for a screen test although Landing a role in a bill of divorcement was a chance of a lifetime Catherine hurn laid down the L she wanted $1,500 a week which for an unknown actress was unheard of the studio took a massive risk in casting hurn but they wouldn't regret it although the movie was hb's very first screen acting gig she seemed completely unfazed by the pressure she didn't Wilt she blossomed and when her debut performance hit the big screen critics were a struck on the strength of the film RKO signed her to a long-term contract and just 2 years later she had won the first of four Oscars she would win in her career although she never once attended an Oscar ceremony but as hurn soon realized the world of Hollywood was far more than just playing pretend behind closed doors the personal lives of actors were filled with their own dramas and before long she too found herself swept up in a scandal her move to Hollywood brought her failing marriage to its inevitable end not only because of her skyrocketing career but because of the flurried affair she embarked on with married agent Leland Hayward surprisingly heer's divorce ended on a peaceful note and she and her ex-husband remained friends for the rest of her life while heurn fooled around with Hayward she also busied herself with falling for another man and she kept this infatuation as quiet as possible according to controversial biographer Barbara Leeming hurn also caught the attention of director John Ford whom she worked with on the set of 1936 is Mary of Scotland Ford and hebburn were like two peas in a pod there was an ease to their growing friendship and by the time Mary of Scotland had wrapped the director was head over heels for his tomboyish lead in fact he was so enamored with her that he planned on getting a divorce from his wife Mary so he could marry hurn but that all came crashing down when his wife threatened to take his daughter away according to Ford's niece hiitburn even tried to sway Mary by offering her 15 $50,000 hoping to free both Ford and his child in the process but the actress sorely underestimated Mary Ford was known as being a heavy drinker sometimes going on Benders for days at a time but never whilst in the middle of making a movie however hurn would receive a panicked phone call from producer Cliff Reed telling her that Ford had done something completely out of character he'd gone on a wild drinking Bender while in the midst of filming the actress rushed to Ford's home where she found him alone and completely inebriated in an attempt to help him she forced him to drink both whiskey and cter oil and to her horror instead of making him feel better the cocktail made the director grievously ill she felt sure that she'd nearly killed him but even worse she realized she couldn't save him from his own self-destructive Behavior while the actress waited in vain for her tormented director her other lover leand Hayward grew more more impatient after both he and hebburn secured divorces it seemed like they were finally free to marry but hebburn dealt Hayward a heartbreaking blow she turned down his proposal but rejecting a powerful man like Hayward was a risky business as she soon learned the consequences were severe whether it was because she snubbed his proposal or because of her affair with Ford Hayward ended up giving the actress the cold shoulder he' originally promised her a part in the play Stage Door but after her betrayal he ripped it out from under her feet by 1936 hitb bur's acting career had taken a worrisome nose dive she starred in four consecutive flops to make matters worse her prickly personality was turning the press against her hiitburn could be abrasive and downright rude as a very private person she hated doing interviews and refused to give autographs this wasn't winning her any popularity points and soon she'd earned herself an unfortunate nickname Catherine of arrogance audiences were beginning to turn against her she had catapulted to the top because of her unique qualities but now her questionable attire and manly attitude Drew harsh criticisms aware of her falling star hurn began to realize just how fickle Hollywood could be when she learned about the Epic feature Gone With the Wind she decided to go for the part hopeful that this would be her next big project but producer Dave David snik rejected her in the most insulting way possible he told her that she wasn't sensual enough and that she lacked the characters sex appeal for a short while heurn decided to run away from Hollywood and its Barbed insults and it led her straight into the arms of her next romantic Conquest while on tour with a theatrical production of Jane air in January 1937 she received a dinner invitation from notorious businessman Howard Hughes they'd been introduced previously through their mutual friend Carrie Grant and since then Hughes couldn't get hit burn out of his head when she landed in Boston for a twoe run of her play Hughes took hurn on a number of dates and the two of them made quite the pair the millionaire Aviator and the Glamorous actress Hughes certainly wasn't your typical Prince Charming but something in hurn balanced him unlike any other secretly however hurn still pained for forward and hoped that he'd finally leave his wife but that never happened by May 1937 she tired of waiting around and made a startling decision she moved in with her new boyfriend for hiitburn life with Hughes included Yachts airplanes attention and power he had just set a new record for traveling around the world and the couple were flying high but in the end no amount of money could buy them true love after his record-breaking success Hughes accompanied hurn on a trip to visit her family in Fenwick partway through their Journey he surprised hurn with the ultimate question he wanted her to marry him but hebburn wasn't about to give up her independence so hastily she still had one more test for Hughes and if he wanted her to be his wife he'd have to pass it to hebburn her family was one of the most important things in her life before she could wed Hughes she wanted to know that he loved what she loved her family and her hometown upon arriving in Fenwick it became clear that Hughes detested the entire visit but that wasn't the worst part hb's family weren't happy with his behavior he wasn't interested in them whatsoever and came across as arrogant and discourteous and that was that the nail in the coffin Hughes ended up returning to the West Coast without Catherine after starring in 1938's bringing up baby hiitburn ended up being called box office poison it wasn't a good look for the struggling actress and she found herself back on the stage touring the Philadelphia Story the show was a huge success and thanks to her generous ex-boyfriend she had the film rights hidden in her back pocket thanks to her dazzling performances Hollywood was eager to produce a film adaptation of the Philadelphia Story this time hurn called all the shots firstly she sold the rights to the best studio in the business MGM but she was only getting started feisty actress also had a strict set of conditions she wanted her Hollywood Throne B and she was going to do anything to get it when it came to Casting hurn knew she was going to be the star but she picked two legendary actors to flank her Carrie Grant and Jimmy Stewart the movie was tailor made to restore her reputation she needed audiences to fall in love with her all over again it was a masterful plan and only a sharp-minded actress like hebburn could have pulled off one of the most impressive comebacks in Hollywood when the film hit the screens her hard work reaped gold The Philadelphia Story was a massive success her star was on the rise once again but she wasn't done proving herself hiitburn was a Fearless woman in charge and most fittingly her next project was a romcom titled woman of the year once again she got the ball rolling winning herself a fair share of power in the process she got to pick her director George Stevens and her leading man Spencer Tracy little did she know meeting Tracy would turn her life upside down many believe that Spen or Tracy was the love of Catherine Hepburn's life and women of the Year marked the beginning of their tumultuous romance hurn fell for Tracy the instant she laid eyes on him but at first he wasn't as equally enamored with his Leading Lady as she was with him hitb bur and Tracy's onscreen tension captivated the imaginations of their audiences their popularity had Studios casting them opposite one another time and time again but in reality their connection was far more complicated than it seemed hitb bur and Tracy's performances were so easy so filled with meaningful eye contact that audiences began to get suspicious in order to keep their actors's morality Clauses in check the studios worked to bury their secret love affair the resulting radio silence only bred rumors of course almost everyone in Hollywood knew the scandalous truth Tracy was a married man and as such his diance with hbor only fed his growing Catholic guilt his religion took him to the darkest places when his son was born deaf Tracy blamed himself he felt like it was God's punishment for his many sins As Time passed Tracy's demons only stalked him harder and as his lover heurn was along for the ride she accepted that Tracy was never going to give up his wife for her his Devotion to his religion wouldn't allow it Tracy distanced himself from his wife and children spending most of his time in rented spaces or motels his love for hebburn could never be publicly celebrated and the pair were doomed to keep their Affair a secret forever Tracy battled anxiety depression and addiction hurn herself called him tortured and their relationship significantly affected her career by the 1940s hebburn began devoting large chunks of her time to helping him with his insomnia and drinking problem in many ways she was a maternal figure in Tracy's life but when confronted with the notion of actually becoming a mother she freely admitted that that she never wanted to have children but if there was one contradiction to Hepburn's self-proclaimed selfishness it was her undying Devotion to Spencer Tracy during the decades they spent together hurn enjoyed a prosperous career unlike many of her contemporaries she achieved the near impossible staying relevant even as she aged she was flexible and moved toward the parts that interested her the most in the 1950s she even took a risk by dipping her toes into Shakespeare the 6s presented HB bur with some harrowing challenges for One spencer Tracy's Health went into rapid decline she stepped away from acting for 5 years just to care for him in the end they both returned to the screen for their ninth and final film together 1967's Guess who's coming to dinner but it was a Bittersweet experience she would go on to win her second Oscar for her role in the film but on June 10th 1967 only 17 days after the film wrapped Spencer Tracy died his secret partner and devoted love Katherine hebburn was at his side still respecting the sanctity of their secret she didn't even attend his funeral she waited until Louise Tracy's death in 1983 before she finally revealed the truth but while this Infamous Hollywood Love Story seemed like an open and shut case some believed that there were Secrets hidden behind the secrets throughout her entire life Catherine heurn faced criticism about her boyish looks and fashion sense not to mention her masculine attitude she had no real interest in marriage or babies and as a result the media began to wonder whether heurn was a lesbian but it didn't end there once linked to Spencer Tracy the rumors expanded to include him as well just as there's controversy surrounding hitb bur's supposed relationship with John Ford there's also a great debate about her relationship with Spencer Tracy some believe that their Affair was a cover for their true desires that hebburn was a lesbian and Tracy was gay the actor's struggle with depression is often cited as a consequence of his repressed feelings whatever the case may be the speculation couldn't detract from hurn and Tracy's unique bond an undeniable connection that survived the many barriers that stood between them although the loss of Tracy left a burning void in her personal life hiitburn handled her grief in a singular way instead of shrinking away from the Limelight she raced toward it for her performance as Queen elanar of aquatan in lion and winter she won her third Oscar not that she cared she held on to her Fame with an iron grip but as the actress aged she changed in more ways than one hitb bur had always been ambivalent about the press as she Grew Older however she began to open up a little bit more in 1973 she even graced dick Cavit with a delightful 2-hour interview which allowed her funloving personality to shine through one thing was for sure Katherine hurn certainly knew her own mind her opinionated nature never waned and she certainly didn't mind if her views ruffled some feathers she proudly advocated for birth control and abortion rights when asked about her politics she didn't clam up or give a vague answer and then a Hollywood where God always gets a shout out hurn had no problem declaring herself a proud atheist in 197 23 heurn was reunited with one of her supposed Flames John Ford Ford's grandson was writing a book about him and arranged a meeting between the two he recorded their conversation and got a lot more than he bargained for when he left to grab something from his car he left the tapes Rolling unaware they were still being recorded Ford told heurn that he loved her and she was appricated take a snse and I'll come by in the morning okay okay I love you it's mutual that private moment is at least some evidence that they had a deeper history than most believed John Ford would die in August of that same year as hurn Grew Older her contemporaries friends and lovers began to disappear but still she remained even into her 80s Katherine heurn was a force to be reckoned with her athleticism didn't ceased with her old age and she continued to play tennis almost daily she even discovered new hobbies like painting but when it came to spelling old Secrets hiitburn wasn't done yet after her brother's passing her grieving process drove her to do something quite surprising she changed her birth date to his making her 2 years older hurn the queen of Secrets kept this one lie alive until she published her autobiography wherein she confessed her real birthday in the spring of 1993 Hepburn's Health finally took a hit up until then she'd continue to act but after being hospitalized for exhaustion her decline began in Earnest 3 years later pneumonia came for her in a brutal way and by 1997 the Outlook was Bleak she held on for six more years but it was an incredibly difficult time the actress struggled with dementia and in 2003 she passed from Cardiac Arrest but there was one silver lining 96-year-old Katherine heurn had closed her eyes in the place she loved the most her family home in Fenwick connectic it if you enjoyed this video please give it a like And subscribe for more