Back when I was a little girl growing up in Texas, I fell in love with It’s a Wonderful Life, particularly Jimmy Stewart and his charming acting style.

It wasn’t long before I began to enjoy classic films. I was only 12 years old, when in my acting class, the teacher showed us a film called Bringing Up Baby starring Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant. I laughed so much, I had tears rolling down my face. I still think this is one of the best old Hollywood comedies directed by Howard Hawkes.

Katherine Hepburn’s humor was unique, and I couldn’t wait to learn more about the old Hollywood legend.

I bought her biography and devoured every detail of her life. She was from a large family with a strict father who had high expectations for his kids. She was very close to her older brother Tom. She’s the one who discovered him after he committed suicide. It was such a sad story that it stuck with me all these years later. I also found it amazing that she could be hilariously funny after having experienced something so painfully tragic.

Ironically, Katherine Hepburn made an appearance in one of my news pieces that I submitted for the Emmys when I won Most Outstanding News Editor of Los Angeles.  It was a package about a book that came out after her death claiming she had several relationships with women, and even though she was with Spencer Tracy for 26 years, he never left his wife. They were both at his bedside when he died. Katherine fascinated me, and I’ve seen most of her films. I felt a real kinship with Katherine. I still do.

She had another film with Cary Grant.

This one also had Jimmy Stewart.

It was like a dream come true to discover this film as a young girl eager for more. It was another comedy called The Philadelphia Story directed by George Cukor.

A full blown obsession began with Hepburn, Grant, and Stewart. When Jimmy Stewart passed away in 1997, I cried. I had a childish fantasy that I would meet him one day when I moved out to LA, and that he would be my grandpa. Silly as it sounds, it was a very detailed fantasy that I clung to at that young age, so when he passed, it was brutal for me. I clipped the article and still have it neatly tucked inside a glossy picture book of Jimmy Stewart’s glory days. A fighter pilot, military hero who was the father of twins and loved his wife till the day he died.

This entry was posted on February 7, 2014 at 5:53 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in Production by Blinking Dog Productions No Comments Yet