The Hollywood icon Katharine Hepburn said didn’t have a soul
Throughout her lengthy career in the Golden Age of Hollywood, Katharine Hepburn emerged as a figure of genuinely steadfast independence with a personality that could occasionally border on being rude. Her outspoken nature proved time and time again that the actor wasn’t around in the movie industry to make friends but to put her views forward.
That kind of spirit made Hepburn perfect for playing the strong woman that she became known for, but it also meant that sometimes, she could upset some of her fellow actors. As Hepburn got older, it appeared as though she was wary of her position at the forefront of female actors in Hollywood and its being threatened by new faces. Most notably, this includes the equal icon of American cinema, Jane Fonda.
In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Fonda pointed out her problematic relationship with Hepburn, saying, “She was really competitive. She really thought that I was out to win more Academy Awards than she was, and when she won for On Golden Pond, I called to congratulate her, and she said, ‘You’ll never catch me now.'”
By the sounds of it, there was a sense that Hepburn was worried about her fading status as one of the most prominent Hollywood icons around. It’s a somewhat naturally occurring paradigm that incurs as one ages and the Hollywood machine continues to churn out actors and stars with claims to fame of their own.
According to Fonda, though, their rift was because of more than mere professional jealousy and actually went into personal affairs, too. “She did not like me,” Fonda said bluntly. “She once told [writer] Dominick Dunne that I didn’t have a soul.” Evidently, there was a bitterness in Hepburn for her new rival in show business.
In another interview with Sandra Bernhard, Fonda once again recalled her problems with Hepburn, or more likely, the other way around, as Fonda herself never looks to have spoken ill of her. She explained, “I remember Katharine Hepburn saying to me, ‘You never could’ve made it back then.'”
“She was a prickly one,” Fonda added of Hepburn. “I just wasn’t glamorous enough. She hated the fact that I didn’t pay enough attention to how I presented myself.” Hepburn was indeed something of a glamorous part of Hollywood, so when Fonda turned up, she felt that she had been undermined somewhat, proving that she was indeed something of a prickly figure.
