[fable]

Don't know about a revolution in acting, but she was one of the few women in Hollywood in her time who bucked the national image of women and stayed employed. I think she did this by being very canny. She never fought the studio bosses, like Louise Brooks. (Brooks, who was once the leading female talent in German and American films, was blacklisted by the powerful Louis B. Mayer because she asked for a raise after turning in several blockblusters.) Instead, she concentrated on speaking her mind about women and their role in society. She also provided a role model for the working woman, while people like Doris Day were more stereotypically publically praising women who stayed at home and raised very large families. (I still remember one image from the Doris Day Show, in the late 1960s: Day interviewing a woman from the audience who had seven children. Day turns to the audience and squeals, "Seven children! Isn't that just marvelous!" Loud applause.)

She maintained her base in New York and Connecticut, avoiding the typical Hollywood scene. She was articulate, stubborn, forceful, eccentric, thin-skinned, intelligent, shrewd, hardworking, and well-meaning. She supported countless charities with all her extraordinary vigor. Few actresses possessed her combination of individuality and genuine talent, and she had little time for the empty heads that were made into stars by the studios. Definitely one of a kind, Hepburn. She wins my O Rare Ben Jonson award for 2003.