Katharine Hepburn was labeled “box office poison” by theater owners in 1938 — and responded by choosing her own scripts, defying studio contracts, wearing trousers when women were expected in skirts, and building a sixty-year career entirely on her own terms. She won four Academy Awards, more than any other actor in history, by refusing to play the game Hollywood demanded.

This episode traces Hepburn from her unconventional Connecticut upbringing through her battles with the studio system, her legendary partnership with Spencer Tracy, and the fierce independence that made her the template for every actress who came after.

• Hepburn’s privileged but unconventional childhood and the family tragedies that shaped her
• The “box office poison” label and how she engineered her own comeback with The Philadelphia Story
• The twenty-six-year relationship with Spencer Tracy that Hollywood kept secret
• Four Best Actress Oscars and a career built on defying every expectation the industry imposed