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Post by Kerrie on Mar 29, 2005 15:08:18 GMT -5
Hi
Why are various biographers so against Spencer ?
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Post by Shelly on Mar 29, 2005 23:21:43 GMT -5
Kerrie,
I think part of the reason is that there are far more biographies of Kate than there are of Spencer.The few books about Spencer were written before Kate acknowledged a relationship with him. In trying to put together a narrative that supports the main subject of their book (Kate), authors see Spencer (married man, alcaholic) as a villain who perhaps took advantage of Kate's devotion to him. Spencer is in direct conflict with the "independent" Kate storyline. Also, Kate spoke about her life with Spencer, while he never did. The relationship is understood from her point of view, and though Kate never said this herself, the collective impression left is that she sacrificed for him and he didn't sacrifice for her. Finally, many of the accounts of their relationship vividly describe the way Kate cared for Spencer. The few great stories, like the Garson Kanin tale about Spencer defending Kate's acting talent to the famous playwright, are lost in the mix.
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Post by Karina on Apr 25, 2005 8:14:48 GMT -5
I think you're both right. On the one hand we have the whole "she sacrificed herself for him more than he did for her" issue. Katharine put her career on hold mainly to take care of him - I'm not sure he'd have done the same for her. And his occasionally giving up drink for short periods of time doesn't really measure up to the ways in which she showed devotion & respect. But so what? Who says any or equal measures of sacrifice have to take place to make a great relationship?
And Kerrie yes, Katharine maintained her individual career, lifestyle and independence, but when they were together, several of their friends commented that Kate's behaviour changed and she became almost submissively. No-one rushed to note any changes in Spence's behaviour though.
That said, the relationship obviously suited both sides for a multitude of reasons, most of which we can only guess at. A lot of people no doubt think Spence got to have his cake & eat it, by continuing to maintain the semblance of his life with Louise & the children, taking the occasional mistress and going off on drinking binges during his long years with Kate. But she wasn't forced to tolerate this, - she chose to accept it and allowed it to fit in with her expectations at the time. After his death, she might have wondered whether or not he truly loved her, but ultimately she chose to continue the relationship and to live with the good memories rather than confront him outright and risk a negative reply.
It's very sad though, if Kate really didn't know how he felt, when it's up there on the big screen for all to see in the final scene of GWCTD - unless of course they were just doing brilliantly what they both did best......?
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Post by Karina on Apr 25, 2005 16:15:43 GMT -5
Yes, I've read his book several times - in fact if you look elsewhere on the forum, you'll see I've classed it as one of my 2 favourite KH biographies.
Basically though, I'm just trying to answer your original question about why Spencer gets such a bad rap - testing the waters as it were by trying to second guess what causes people to form negative opinions based on the material that's been available for public review so far.
I wonder if we'll ever get a closer insight into their relationship by those who knew them well? Kathy Houghton seems to have changed her mind about writing about her aunt, do you know anyone else who's likely to share "the truth" about their relationship?
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Post by Karina on Apr 27, 2005 3:45:51 GMT -5
Are you referring to the book being researched by 2 women (their names escape me at the moment), or something else? And who's this William guy supposed to be writing yet another tome on Katharine - unfortunately in the same vein as the DP one, I think. Talking of which, do you think DP will actually get round to writing his second volume, if only to read out of curiosity, cast aside and disbelieve 99% of it!
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Post by Karina on Apr 27, 2005 8:31:09 GMT -5
I meant the proposed book by Seldon West (OK, that's one woman, but I'm sure I read about another one who was assisting her...)
I've not actually read any of Robert Parrish's Hollywood books, so I can't comment - are they really awful?
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Post by smith on May 8, 2005 15:14:19 GMT -5
I have heard rumours of pressure to make it more salacious and its called the Secret Life of Katharine Hepburn or something like that - doesn't sound great
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Post by Cate on May 11, 2005 2:14:14 GMT -5
I think anyone should avoid books that begin with "The Secret Life of..." Unless you're like me and want to read anything written about Katharine Hepburn be it tabloid or truth. Separating the two with common sense is the key...
In the beginning, after I started to read about Kate, I had a little angst towards Spence (is that the right word??...) just because of what Karina said. He, from what was written about him, seemed to take advantage of Kate's love for him and was a total alcoholic. But what is so great about it is that Kate knew all this, she knew he wasn't going to change, he wasn't going to sacrifice his "marriage" for her but she took it all on anyway. She loved him in the true sense of the word.
Catherine
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Post by smith on May 11, 2005 5:33:41 GMT -5
Playing advocate here for Spencer - by all accounts he was a very witty man , intelligent and women adored him . He was an alcoholic but he also went for long periods of time when he didn't drink at all and by the time Katharine met him the absolute worst of his drinking days were over . He still had a problem and he occasionally went off the deep end but they were much rarer after he met Katharine . I doubt that he took advantage of Katharine in any way but that's another story .
I don't know whether you saw the interview with Kathy Houghton in 2003 but she got to know Spencer quite well in the final years of his life . She said she was pretty upset by what has been written about Spencer - that yes he had a drinking problem but she absolutely adored him . She told a really funny story about when Spencer came to visit the Hepburn family .
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