Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery
Despite being declared “box office poison” in 1938 after a series of poorly received films, Katharine Hepburn revived her career with her role in 1940’s The Philadelphia Story. She would go on to win three more Best Actress Academy Awards for Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967), The Lion in Winter (1968) and On Golden Pond (1981). Her four wins in the Best Actress category are a record that holds to this day.
Hepburn’s Academy Awards and this portrait are on display in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery exhibition “20th Century Americans.”
