Herod the Great

NAME Herod the Great (also known as Herod I), King of Judea.

WHAT FAMOUS FOR Herod the Great is best known for ruling Judea as a Roman client king, orchestrating immense building projects including the enlargement of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and for his infamous role in Christian tradition involving the “Massacre of the Innocents.”

FAMILY BACKGROUND Herod’s father, Antipater the Idumaean, was a powerful courtier and later Roman-appointed procurator of Judea; he came from an Idumaean (Edomite) family that had been incorporated into the Jewish state and compelled to adopt Judaism under the Hasmonean high priest John Hyrcanus in the late 2nd century BC.​

Herod’s mother, Cypros, was a Nabataean Arab noblewoman from the region of Petra, giving Herod ethnically Arab ancestry on both sides, though he was raised within a Judaized Idumaean milieu.​

Antipater used his diplomatic skills to align with both the Hasmonean ruler Hyrcanus II and with key Roman figures such as Pompey and Julius Caesar, opening the way for Herod’s own rise; Antipater installed Herod as governor of Galilee while Herod’s brother Phasael governed Jerusalem.​

CHILDHOOD Details of Herod’s childhood are sparse. Josephus primarily introduces him as a young man already exercising authority in Galilee under his father’s guidance, suggesting an upbringing immersed in court politics, administration, and military affairs.​

Given his family’s position—Idumaean elites serving a Judaean royal house while courting Roman favor—Herod likely grew up navigating multiple identities: nominally Jewish by forced conversion, ethnically Idumaean–Arab, and increasingly oriented toward Hellenistic and Roman culture.​

The early feud within the Hasmonean family (between Aristobulus II and Hyrcanus II) and Roman interventions shaped the world in which Herod matured, teaching him that survival depended on agility, opportunism, and close ties to external power.​

EDUCATION He did not receive the traditional Jewish religious instruction common among nobles. Instead, Herod’s education was military, diplomatic, and administrative, largely influenced by Roman practice.

Herod surrounded himself with educated Greek advisers, most notably Nicolaus of Damascus, a philosopher-historian who became Herod’s court historian and later a principal source for Josephus, indicating Herod’s deliberate patronage of learned men and Greek literary culture.​

CAREER RECORD c. 47 BC: Appointed Provincial Governor of Galilee by his father, Antipater, at age 25 or 28. He was successful in ridding the region of bandits.

41 BC: Named Tetrarch of Galilee by Mark Antony 

40 BC: Fled to Rome after a Parthian invasion and was unexpectedly appointed King of the Jews (King of Judaea) by the Roman Senate.

37 BC: Secured his title after a three-year war, capturing Jerusalem and overthrowing the last Hasmonean king, Antigonus. He became the unchallenged ruler of Judea.

37–4 BC: King of Judea, maintaining his position through loyalty to Rome (first to Mark Antony, then to Octavian/Augustus).

APPEARANCE No reliable ancient description of Herod’s physical features survives. In Judea he carefully avoided displaying his likeness in statues or coin portraits, in deference to Jewish prohibitions on graven images, a calculated decision that leaves historians with almost no iconographic evidence.​

Possible portraits on coins or rings found outside his Jewish context are debated and cannot provide a precise image, so Herod’s exact height, build, or facial features remain unknown.​

Bronze coin of Herod minted at Samaria

FASHION As a Hellenized monarch and Roman client king, Herod wore Greco‑Roman style royal garments—such as richly dyed robes and insignia of kingship—at court and in diplomatic contexts, while adopting more restrained dress in overtly Jewish religious settings to avoid provoking outrage.​

CHARACTER Ancient and modern portrayals tend to treat Herod like a historical Rorschach test: politically dazzling on one side, morally nightmarish on the other. Josephus and generations of historians present a competent visionary, a man who could juggle diplomacy, engineering, and tax policy before breakfast. Herod not only imagined ambitious building schemes, he actually got them built—ports, fortresses, palaces, and a Temple renovation so large it practically needed its own zip code.

Unfortunately, Herod also possessed the people skills of a cornered wolverine. He eliminated rivals with unnerving efficiency, including several members of his own household. The roll call is grim: Mariamne I, her brother Aristobulus III, their sons Alexander and Aristobulus, and eventually his oldest surviving son, Antipater—plus assorted others who had the misfortune of looking suspicious on a Tuesday. 

Modern psychologists—never ones to pass up a compelling historical case study—have suggested that Herod’s later years checked a lot of boxes for paranoid personality disorder: volcanic jealousy, obsessive suspicion, and a persistent sense that someone, somewhere, was out to get him. 

Josephus also paints a picture of a man spiritually complicated, Jewish when politically convenient and conveniently non-Jewish when it suited his cultural ambitions. Herod renovates the Temple and avoids graven images in Judea, yet happily imports Greek culture, stages pagan-style games, and tramples religious customs. The result was centuries of simmering resentment, which no amount of marble architecture could entirely smooth over.

SPEAKING VOICE Herod’s political career presupposes strong rhetorical skills. He successfully addressed the Roman Senate when acclaimed king and later impressed Octavian at Rhodes with a bold, carefully argued defense of his past loyalties and future reliability, indicating confident, persuasive oratory in Greek before the highest Roman elites.​

Within his kingdom, he would have needed to communicate in Aramaic (and perhaps some Hebrew in ritual contexts).

SENSE OF HUMOUR There is no clear evidence of Herod’s own sense of humor. Surviving anecdotes instead highlight the grim wit of others about him—most famously Augustus’ remark that it was better to be Herod’s pig than his son, a dark joke about Herod’s adherence to dietary rules versus his readiness to kill his children.​

Given his paranoia and violent temper, Herod’s court was probably not a place for relaxed, egalitarian joking; humor, if present, would likely have been carefully deferential and shaped by fear of offending a volatile monarch.​

RELATIONSHIPS Herod’s relationships were intense, politically charged, and often tragic.

– Wives and children: He had multiple wives (traditionally around ten), including Doris (his first wife) and, most notably, Mariamne I, a Hasmonean princess whose lineage helped legitimize his rule. Their marriage was marked by his genuine passion and consuming jealousy; he eventually had her executed on accusations of infidelity and conspiracy, a decision he reportedly later regretted bitterly.​

Mariamne Leaving the Judgment Seat of Herod, oil on canvas by John William Waterhouse, 1887

With his various wives he had many children, yet he executed three of his sons: Alexander, Aristobulus (sons of Mariamne I), and his firstborn, Antipater (son of Doris), due to suspicion of plots against him. Herod constantly revised succession plans under the influence of court intrigue, siblings (like his sister Salome), and his own fears.​

– With Rome: Herod’s most stable relationship was with Roman power. He was consistently loyal, first to Antony and then to Augustus, and cultivated close ties with Roman generals, emperors, and governors, from whom he sought both confirmation of his title and opportunities to extend his realm and prestige.​

– With the Jewish population: Many Judeans never fully accepted him as legitimate because of his Idumaean ancestry, reliance on Roman power, and Hellenizing policies. Although he tried to win support by enhancing the Temple and sponsoring famine relief, his repressive methods, heavy taxation, and readiness to execute opponents fostered deep resentment.​

MONEY AND FAME Herod ruled a relatively small kingdom, but he was among the wealthier rulers of the eastern Mediterranean in his day.

He drew income from heavy taxation, royal estates, customs revenues, and lucrative monopolies, such as the extraction of bitumen (asphalt) from the Dead Sea used in shipbuilding and industry. He also leased copper mines in Cyprus from the Roman emperor.​

Vast resources flowed into prestige projects—fortress-palaces, cities, harbors, aqueducts, theaters, and the Temple. He also funded spectacles and games, including substantial financial support for the Olympic Games in Greece, enhancing his international profile.​

To Roman elites, Herod was a conspicuously loyal and effective client king, known for his architectural ambition and generosity to cities beyond his own borders; to many of his subjects, however, he was infamous as an oppressive, foreign-backed tyrant whose fame was inseparable from fear.​

FOOD AND DRINK Herod's palaces at Jericho, Masada, Herodium, and Caesarea feature large reception halls, triclinia (dining rooms), extensive water systems, and elaborate gardens, indicating a court life centered on banquets and elite hospitality patterned on Greco‑Roman models.​

Some sources imply that, at least publicly, he observed key Jewish food norms (e.g., not eating pork) to maintain a façade of Jewish identity, even while importing other aspects of Roman luxury and living in close proximity to Gentile courts.​

MUSIC AND ARTS Herod encouraged Greek and Roman-style entertainment, including theater and amphitheater performances—controversial choices within Jewish society that disliked public pagan-style spectacles. He built theaters, amphitheaters, and a combined hippodrome-amphitheater near Jericho, introducing permanent venues for drama, musical performance, and gladiatorial or athletic spectacles into Judea.​

LITERATURE The primary source for his life is the historian Josephus, born some 40 years after Herod's death. Josephus's work, particularly The Jewish War and Antiquities of the Jews, is critical but provides the bulk of historical information. 

A contemporary, Nicolaus of Damascus (Herod's own court historian), wrote a more favorable account, which survives only through Josephus's work

Herod also stood at the center of later literary traditions: he appears as a tyrant in medieval mystery plays, is alluded to by Shakespeare (who coined the phrase “to out‑Herod Herod” for overacting tyrants), and has inspired modern novels and dramatic treatments that reinterpret his life and motives.​

NATURE Herod’s building projects show a striking preoccupation with mastering and aestheticizing natural landscapes, especially in harsh environments. At Jericho, Masada, and Herodium he created lush gardens, pools, and vineyards in desert or semi-desert settings, using complex systems of aqueducts and enormous cisterns to capture and redirect scarce water.​

The northern palace at Masada and the hilltop palace-fortress of Herodium were deliberately sited to exploit spectacular vistas over the Dead Sea and surrounding wilderness, turning nature into a stage for royal display.​

Aerial photo of Herodium from the southwest

HOBBIES AND SPORTS Herod’s “hobbies” are best inferred from his public investments:

He built stadiums and hippodromes, hosted games, and financed athletic festivals including the Olympics, indicating strong interest in Greek-style athletic and equestrian spectacles—probably as both political theater and personal fascination.​

The presence of large swimming pools and bath complexes at Jericho, Masada, and Herodium implies that bathing, swimming, and water leisure were integral aspects of royal life, though whether Herod himself swam or primarily used these as settings for display is unknown.​

No evidence suggests he personally engaged in competitive sport; his role was that of patron, organizer, and spectator.

SCIENCE AND MATHS Herod's projects depended on and stimulated advanced engineering, surveying, and construction techniques.

The artificial harbor at Caesarea Maritima required the use of hydraulic concrete poured underwater and massive stone blocks, as well as careful calculation of wave dynamics and structural loads—placing his engineers at the cutting edge of contemporary Roman technology.​

The expansion of the Temple Mount and the creation of vast cistern systems at Masada and Herodium demanded sophisticated planning of gradients, volumes, and structural supports.​

By commissioning such works and importing expert craftsmen and materials from abroad, Herod acted as a powerful patron of applied science and engineering in his era.​

PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Herod’s religious and philosophical outlook was pragmatic rather than doctrinal.  As a ruler of a Jewish people under pagan Roman overlordship, he tried to project the image of a legitimate Jewish king: rebuilding the Temple, respecting some aniconic sensibilities (no images in Judea), and occasionally defending Jewish interests in Roman forums.​

At the same time, he promoted Hellenistic culture, built overtly pagan-style theaters and temples (including a temple to Roma and Augustus at Caesarea), interfered with the high priesthood, and persecuted rabbis and traditional religious elites he saw as threats.​

Josephus interprets Herod’s horrible final illness as divine punishment for impiety and cruelty, reflecting a view that Herod’s theological posture—using religion instrumentally while disregarding God’s law—ultimately called down judgment.​

Philosophically, Herod appears less an ideologue than a hard‑headed realist who saw religion, culture, and law as tools to secure power and legitimacy within the competing claims of Judaism, Hellenism, and Rome.​

REIGN Herod’s career began the way many regrettable stories do: with a father who thought giving his son a small army was a good idea. Appointed governor of Galilee by Antipater in 47BC, Herod quickly earned a reputation for dealing with “brigands,” a term that at the time covered everything from highway robbers to people simply annoyed by Roman taxes. Herod, never one for subtlety, put down unrest with a zeal that left the local Jewish council clutching its pearls and summoning him to explain himself. Fortunately for Herod, he had already acquired a talent that would define his life: impressing Romans. Their backing kept him safe and made it clear—if there was ever a choice between doing the legal thing and doing the Roman thing, Rome won.

Then came the Parthians, the ancient world’s equivalent of someone unplugging your computer just before you save. They swept in, installed the Hasmonean Antigonus on the throne, and Herod sensibly fled—first to Masada, where he discovered cliffs are lovely but unhelpful, and then to Rome, where power actually lives. In an extraordinary display of political agility, the Roman Senate, nudged by Mark Antony and Octavian, announced that Herod would be “king of the Judeans,” which was a bit like being told you are now in charge of the Oscars before you’ve even learned how movies work. Armed with Roman soldiers, Herod fought his way back, captured Jerusalem in 37 BC, and watched as Antigonus was executed. Herod was now king, and everyone else just had to adjust.

Herod set about tidying up Judea, which in this case meant eliminating any Hasmoneans who might try sitting in his chair. Aristobulus III inconveniently drowned in what no one believed was an accident, and Hyrcanus II did not fare much better. To appear legitimate, Herod married Mariamne I, a Hasmonean princess. Unfortunately, what looked promising on a political flowchart turned into a complete emotional catastrophe, the sort that would have generated an entire season of prestige television.

When Antony lost the Battle of Actium, Herod faced a classic career dilemma: how do you tell the new boss you were wildly devoted to the old boss? He met Octavian (soon to be Augustus) at Rhodes and did something astonishing—he told the truth. He admitted his loyalty to Antony but promised to serve Octavian with equal enthusiasm. The gamble worked. Augustus, who appreciated honesty nearly as much as flattery, confirmed Herod as king and even expanded his territory, presumably while wondering why more local rulers didn’t try this approach.

Settled on his throne and flush with Roman confidence, Herod turned to construction with the enthusiasm of someone let loose in a home improvement store. He rebuilt the Temple Mount on a scale never seen before. He founded Caesarea Maritima, complete with a man-made harbor that baffled engineers for centuries. He rebuilt Samaria as Sebaste, fortified Masada and Herodium, and sprinkled palaces and gardens around Jericho as though trying to distract everyone from all the executions. He also adored Greek culture, building theaters, amphitheaters, and gymnasia, and even financed the Olympic Games, which is quite possibly the most expensive way ever devised to buy good press. In a famine around 25 BC, he imported grain from Egypt and reduced taxes—acts of generosity that also happened to look very nice in the official record.

But power has a way of turning into indigestion. By his final decade, Herod had become so suspicious you half expect him to start checking behind curtains for conspirators. Palace architecture from this period suggests a man who preferred walls, guards, and complicated floor plans to actual human interaction. Mariamne I was executed, as were their sons Alexander and Aristobulus, followed by his oldest surviving son Antipater—each dispatched amid treason trials and frantic will-writing. Illness weakened him, though clearly not his ability to hold a grudge. When he finally died, the kingdom had to be divided among three sons, each inheriting a fragment of a legacy so tumultuous it could be measured in fortresses, drainage systems, and unresolved court cases. Herod had built cities, theaters, and an entire coastal port, but in the end, he could not build a peaceful retirement.

POLITICS Herod’s political life was defined by three core strategies. First, he relied on absolute loyalty to Rome. He consistently aligned himself with whichever Roman faction held power — first Julius Caesar, then Mark Antony, and finally Augustus. In return, he received kingship, territorial expansion, and considerable autonomy, so long as he maintained order and served Roman interests.

Second, he pursued a centralized monarchy at home. Herod deliberately weakened or eliminated competing centers of authority, including the Hasmonean royal line, traditional priestly elites, and nationalist challengers. He replaced them with officials loyal to him and reorganized institutions such as the Sanhedrin to reduce their independence and influence.

Finally, Herod used Hellenization and prestige politics to secure his legitimacy. Through monumental building projects, public games, and diplomatic gifts to Greek and Roman cities, he worked to integrate Judea into the wider Hellenistic–Roman world. He hoped that cultural alignment and visible grandeur would strengthen his rule despite his contested ethnic and religious standing.

This combination made Herod a model Roman client king — respected in imperial circles but widely disliked by his own subjects, and remembered in later Jewish and Christian traditions as a ruthless and manipulative tyrant.

SCANDAL Herod’s reign was riddled with episodes that ancient and modern observers alike have regarded as scandalous:

-Dynastic murders: The engineered drowning of the popular high priest Aristobulus III, the execution of Hyrcanus II, the killing of Mariamne I, and the later execution of his sons Alexander, Aristobulus, and Antipater on charges of treason horrified contemporaries and cemented his reputation for familial brutality.​

– Religious offenses: Many Jews saw his building of theaters and pagan-style games in Jerusalem, his manipulation of the high priesthood, and the erection of a golden eagle over the Temple gate (later torn down by pious students) as acts of sacrilege.​

– “Massacre of the Innocents”:  Herod is remembered for ordering the slaughter of all children aged two and younger in Bethlehem, after reports that a newborn “King of the Jews” had appeared (Matthew 2:16).  Holy Innocents Day, observed on December 28, commemorates this event and functions like an April Fool’s Day in several countries, including Spain, Hispanic America, and the Philippines.

Massacre of the Innocents, 10th century Codex Egberti. Herod on the left.

MILITARY RECORD Herod was a competent and often ruthless commander:

– As governor of Galilee, he pursued and executed bandit leaders and resisters, winning Roman praise for restoring order.​

– During the Parthian crisis, he led campaigns to reclaim his kingdom, culminating in the siege and capture of Jerusalem with Roman assistance in 37 BC.​

– He fought wars against the Nabataeans and engaged in border security operations, fortifying frontier and desert sites like Masada, Hyrcania, and Machaerus as both military bastions and royal refuges.​

His enduring military legacy lies less in battlefield glory than in his network of fortresses and his ability to maintain internal control and Roman favor for decades in a volatile region.​

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS Herod appears vigorous through much of his life, able to travel, campaign, and oversee massive projects into his sixties. In his final years, however, he suffered a devastating and agonizing illness.

Josephus describes symptoms including intense itching, abdominal pain, difficulty breathing, convulsions, swelling, and gangrene of the genitals “that engendered worms.” Modern medical analyses, drawing on these descriptions, most commonly diagnose chronic kidney disease complicated by Fournier’s gangrene (a severe, often fatal infection of the genital region); other scholars have proposed schistosomiasis as an underlying cause.​

The disease left him physically debilitated, mentally unstable, and intermittently violent and suicidal, yet still politically active enough to order executions and revise his will in the months before his death.​ (2)

HOMES Herod’s residences formed a network of political, military, and leisure sites:

– Jerusalem: He built an enormous royal palace on the city’s western hill with reception halls, impressive gardens, and strong fortifications, making Jerusalem the symbolic center of his rule alongside the expanded Temple complex.​

– Jericho: Herod’s favorite winter capital, a “garden city” in the Jordan Valley, where he constructed multiple palaces with courtyards, pools, and lush gardens, using the mild climate and abundant water to create an oasis of luxury; it was likely here that he died.​

– Masada: A wilderness fortress overlooking the Dead Sea, transformed into an opulent refugium with a three‑tiered northern palace, bathhouses, storerooms, and gardens—both a last-ditch stronghold and a dramatic statement of royal power over the desert.​

– Herodium: A combined hilltop fortress-palace and lower palace complex near Bethlehem; the lower Herodium had a massive pool with an island and formal gardens, while the upper mound served as fortified residence and, likely, Herod’s burial place.​

– Caesarea and Sebaste: Coastal and inland cities featuring palaces, public buildings, and Roman-style amenities that served as additional royal residences and administrative hubs.​

TRAVEL Herod traveled extensively for a regional king. He made repeated journeys to Rome and across the eastern Mediterranean, beginning with his dramatic trip to Rome in 40 BCE to receive his appointment as king. After the Battle of Actium, he also met Octavian at Rhodes, evidence that he could move easily within the highest circles of Roman politics.

His travels were not limited to Rome. Herod visited and supported cities in Syria and beyond — including Tyre, Sidon, Berytus (Beirut), Antioch, Tripolis, and Byblos — where he funded public projects such as gymnasia and other civic works. These activities required direct travel or close supervision, and they show him acting as a hands-on diplomat and benefactor.

Within his own kingdom, Herod regularly moved between Jerusalem, Jericho, Masada, and Herodium. This constant mobility served both administrative and security purposes, ensuring he always had access to fortified strongholds if needed.

DEATH Herod died around 4 BC, most likely in Jericho, after a prolonged and excruciating illness.​Modern medical studies, as noted earlier, suggest he died from chronic kidney disease complicated by severe genital gangrene, making his end as physically miserable as his reputation suggests.​

In his final days he ordered the execution of his son Antipater and gave further instructions—including, according to Josephus, a grotesque plan to have prominent Jews killed at his death to guarantee public mourning, a command that was not carried out.​

His kingdom was then divided according to his last will, with Archelaus, Antipas, and Philip ruling different portions as ethnarchs and tetrarchs under continued Roman oversight.​

On May 7, 2007, Israeli archaeologists discovered what is believed to be Herod the Great’s tomb, located at Herodium.

Tomb of Herod by Deror avi 

APPEARANCES IN MEDIA Herod the Great has been a prominent figure in religious drama, literature, and modern media:

– Medieval drama: He appears as the raging tyrant in English mystery play cycles, notably the Towneley/Wakefield pageant Herod the Great, in which he storms, boasts, and orders the Massacre of the Innocents; this theatrical tradition was so exaggerated that Shakespeare later warned actors not to “out‑Herod Herod.”​

– Renaissance and early modern literature: Elizabeth Cary’s The Tragedy of Mariam (1613) dramatizes Herod’s marriage to Mariamne and his destructive jealousy, embedding him in early modern reflections on tyranny and marital politics.​

– Visual art: While many Western artworks titled “The Feast of Herod” focus on Herod Antipas and John the Baptist, the broader “Herod” tradition in Christian art commonly draws on the composite image of Herodian tyranny shaped by the Infancy narratives and Josephus.​

– Film and television: Herod the Great appears in numerous biblical epics, including the Italian–French film Herod the Great (1959), and as a character in major Jesus films such as King of Kings (1961) and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), as well as later Nativity-focused productions. and The Chosen.

– Modern fiction: Recent works, such as Zora Neale Hurston’s posthumously published The Life of Herod the Great: A Novel, explore more sympathetic or nuanced portrayals, reimagining him as a complex political actor rather than a one-dimensional villain.​

ACHIEVEMENTS Ruled Judea for 33 years

Secured Roman backing and political stability for decades

Oversaw massive building projects, including:

Temple Mount expansion

Antonia Fortress

Masada and Herodium

Theater, amphitheater, ports, and palaces

Created the largest architectural achievements Judea had ever seen

Sources: (1) Encyclopaedia of Trivia (2) National Library of Medicine

Katharine Hepburn

NAME Katharine Houghton Hepburn

WHAT FAMOUS FOR Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television, celebrated for her fierce independence, patrician demeanor, New England accent, and a film career that spanned over six decades. She won a record four Academy Awards for Best Actress and, in 1999, was named by the American Film Institute as Hollywood’s greatest female screen legend.

BIRTH Katharine Houghton Hepburn was born on May 12, 1907, in Hartford, Connecticut. For many years, she claimed her birthday was November 8, the same as her deceased brother, Tom. She revealed her actual birth date in her 1991 autobiography, Me: Stories of My Life.​

FAMILY BACKGROUND Hepburn was the second of six children born to Dr. Thomas Norval Hepburn, a urologist at Hartford Hospital, and Katharine Martha Houghton Hepburn, a feminist campaigner. 

Her parents were progressive thinkers who championed social change. Dr. Hepburn helped establish the New England Social Hygiene Association, which educated the public about venereal disease, while Mrs. Hepburn was a leader in the women's suffrage movement and later campaigned for birth control with Margaret Sanger. The Hepburns were criticized for their progressive views, which encouraged Katharine to challenge societal barriers. She wrote in her autobiography that she was the product of "two very remarkable parents" and credited her "enormously lucky" upbringing for her success.​

The picture below shows left to right: Katharine, Marion, Robert, Thomas, and Richard. Her mother is seated at center with daughter Margaret, 1921

CHILDHOOD Raised in a liberal household, Katharine and her siblings were encouraged to exercise freedom of speech, think independently, and debate any topic. As a child, she was a tomboy who kept her hair short and went by the name "Jimmy". Her father was an accomplished athlete and taught his children to swim, run, dive, ride, wrestle, and play golf and tennis.​

In 1921, at the age of 14, Hepburn tragically discovered her older brother, Tom, had died by hanging. The family denied it was a suicide, believing it was a misguided experiment. This event had a profound impact on Hepburn, who became nervous, moody, and withdrawn. She dropped out of school and was privately tutored.​

EDUCATION Hepburn attended the Oxford School in West Hartford. She later studied at Bryn Mawr College, her mother's alma mater, graduating in 1928 with a degree in history and philosophy. She initially found the experience unfulfilling and was self-conscious around her classmates. It was during her time at Bryn Mawr that she discovered her passion for acting and appeared in many of the college's productions.​

CAREER RECORD After graduating from college, Hepburn began her acting career in theatre, performing in plays on and off Broadway. 

1932 Her Broadway breakthrough in The Warrior's Husband and her Hollywood debut in A Bill of Divorcement (1932) . This led to a contract with RKO Radio Pictures.

1933 Won her first Best Actress Oscar for her third film, Morning Glory (

1940  After a short period labeled “box-office poison,” she revived her career with The Philadelphia Story 

1941 Signed her star contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, during production of Woman of the Year.

1994 Her final screen performance was in the television film Love Affair.

APPEARANCE Tall (about 5′7″), athletic, angular, with aristocratic features and sharply intelligent eyes. Katharine Hepburn had a slim build, high cheekbones, and a strong jawline. 

MGM studio publicity portrait, c. 1941

FASHION Hepburn was a fashion icon known for her androgynous and unconventional style. She was a pioneer of American sportswear and frequently wore wide-legged trousers, tailored suits, and comfortable, menswear-inspired outfits at a time when it was not socially acceptable for women to do so. Her signature look often included high-waisted trousers, crisp button-down shirts, and loafers or oxfords. She famously told the journalist Barbara Walters when she asked if she owned a dress, "I have one, which I'll wear to your funeral". (1)

In the 1930s, while filming for RKO, she wore dungarees on set. When the publicity department asked her to stop and then hid them, she walked around in her underwear until the pants were returned. This anecdote became Hollywood legend and symbolized her refusal to conform.

Despite her preference for casual wear, she could also be glamorous in elegant evening gowns. She worked closely with costume designers, like Edith Head, to create her on-screen looks.​

CHARACTER Hepburn was fiercely independent, strong-willed, outspoken, and deeply non-conformist Known for her tremendous personal discipline and energy, she held high standards for herself and others, stating, "Perfection is thrilling." 

She possessed a lifelong anti-Hollywood attitude, refusing many of the rituals of movie stardom. Hepburn valued privacy and fought fiercely for creative control of her career.

She had a reputation for being direct and at times difficult, but also fiercely loyal. Hepburn was known to be a realist who counted her blessings and had a generally happy nature.​

SPEAKING VOICE Katharine Hepburn possessed a distinctive and patrician speaking voice. Her speech was characterized by a crisp, upper-class Connecticut accent and a rapid, clipped delivery.​

SENSE OF HUMOUR Hepburn had a sharp and self-deprecating sense of humor. She was known for her witty remarks and her ability to laugh at herself. In her autobiography, she candidly and humorously recounted her early career struggles and her "absolute pig" behavior towards her first husband. 

Her comedic timing was also a key element of her success in screwball comedies like Bringing Up Baby.​

RELATIONSHIPS Katharine Hepburn’s only marriage was to Ludlow “Luddy” Ogden Smith. The wedding took place on December 12, 1928 in her parents’ living room at 201 Bloomfield Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut. They divorced in 1934  and she later admitted to having been an "absolute pig" to him.​

Her most famous relationship was a long-term affair with her co-star Spencer Tracy, with whom she did nine films. Their romance began in the 1940s and lasted until his death in 1967. Tracy was married and a devout Catholic, so their relationship was kept private and Hepburn put her career on hold to care for him during his periods of ill health and alcoholism. She described their bond as true love, where she put his interests and comfort ahead of her own.​​

Tracy and Hepburn in Adam's Rib (1949) 

She had a brief, impactful relationship with aviator and businessman Howard Hughes. 

MONEY AND FAME  Hepburn came from a wealthy family, which gave her a degree of financial independence that many of her contemporaries did not have. This allowed her to be selective about her film roles later in her career. 

While she was fiercely ambitious and desired to be "absolutely fascinating," she was also known for her disdain for the Hollywood "game," often refusing to give interviews or pose for pictures. She saw fame as a byproduct of her work and maintained a private life away from the public eye.​ (2)

FOOD AND DRINK Hepburn prized simple, healthy meals and remained physically active well into old age. She enjoyed cooking for guests, favoring New England–style dishes and was renowned for her intensely rich, chocolatey brownie recipe.

Later in life, she admitted to enjoying a modest evening shot of Jameson's whiskey, which she claimed helped with a head tremor she had inherited. She was quoted as saying, "I discovered that whisky helps stop the shaking. Problem is, if you’re not careful, it stops the rest of you, too".​ (3)

MOVIE CAREER After college, Katharine Hepburn did what all sensible young women from Connecticut with a fondness for trousers eventually do: she went to the theatre. She worked on and off Broadway, earning notice in Art and Mrs. Bottle (1931), a title that sounds like it should involve a polite tea set but actually introduced audiences to a tall whirlwind with impeccable diction. Stardom arrived with A Warrior’s Husband (1932), which impressed RKO Radio Pictures enough to hand her a contract—though one imagines they did so cautiously, like someone befriending a very confident cat.

Hepburn in The Warrior's Husband

Her third film, Morning Glory (1933), won her her first Academy Award, and Little Women (1933) became the commercial colossus of its day. Then came a worrying period in which audiences seemed to declare they’d had quite enough of Katharine Hepburn, thank you very much. After a string of box office disappointments, the trade papers branded her “box office poison,” a phrase that sounds like a Victorian patent medicine, only with worse side effects.

Being Hepburn, she solved this problem not by pouting, but by hatching a plan worthy of a Wall Street raider. She acquired the rights to The Philadelphia Story, then sold them to MGM on the condition she would star in the film version. The 1940 release resurrected both her career and her reputation, earning her a third Oscar nomination and proving that she was far better at managing her image than Hollywood ever was.

In the 1940s she moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and began a screen partnership with Spencer Tracy that lasted 26 years and nine films—possibly the only enduring Hollywood relationship built on rapid-fire banter, mutual admiration, and a shared dislike of fuss.

During the 1950s she took on roles that would frighten lesser mortals, including Shakespearean heroines, and went on location to Africa to film The African Queen (1951), where she survived mosquitoes, heat, and water of dubious origin and still delivered a performance that earned her another Oscar nomination. She followed this by winning three more Best Actress Oscars—for Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967), The Lion in Winter (1968), and On Golden Pond (1981)—as if she were collecting them the way other people collect souvenir spoons. By the 1970s she was conquering television too, appearing in made-for-TV films and proving, yet again, that she could thrive in any medium, provided she was allowed to speak crisply and wear comfortable clothing.

MUSIC AND ARTS She acted on stage throughout her career and loved theatre. Though not primarily known for singing or music, she appreciated classical music and artistic craftsmanship.

Hepburn was an avid and skilled painter, creating many watercolor landscapes, particularly of the scenery surrounding her Connecticut home 

LITERATURE She was well-read and drew many of her most famous roles from literary sources, including Shakespearean productions.

Hepburn wrote her autobiography, Me: Stories of My Life, without a ghostwriter, and her writing style is described as conversational and candid. The book contains her honest reflections on her life, career, and relationships. 

NATURE  She adored the natural world, particularly the seaside environment of her family home in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, where she enjoyed sailing, and swimming in the Long Island Sound.

She also found joy in gardening, with her New York City courtyard garden being described as charmingly untamed.​

One of her most famous lines, from The African Queen, is, "Nature, Mr. Allnut, is what we are put in this world to rise above". 

PETS Hepburn was a dog lover and had several canine companions throughout her life. One of her beloved dogs was a Cocker Spaniel named Mica, who sometimes accompanied her on film sets in the late 1930s. She also shared a dog named Lobo with Spencer Tracy.​ 

Bob Dylan’s bull mastiff Brutus had a habit of using Katharine Hepburn’s garden—specifically her flowerbeds—as his regular “bathroom” when they were neighbors in New York’s Turtle Bay. (4)

Hepburn with her Cairn Terrier 1946

HOBBIES AND SPORTS An avid and lifelong athlete, Hepburn was skilled in a variety of sports.  Her long list included golf (reaching the semi-finals of the Connecticut Young Women’s Golf Championship), tennis, swimming (she was known to swim in very cold water well into her 80s.), and canoeing

She also enjoyed cycling and was known to ride her bicycle around Manhattan. Her active lifestyle was well-suited to the comfortable, practical clothing she favored.​

SCIENCE AND MATHS Hepburn was raised in a home steeped in scientific thinking — her father was a physician and medical researcher. She learned data-driven thinking and public health activism from him.

In the 1957 film Desk Set, her character confronts the rise of automation and artificial intelligence, a theme that remains relevant today.​

PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Hepburn was raised in a progressive, non-religious household and identified as an atheist. Her mother was an atheist, and her father, the son of a minister, was not religious. She believed in doing good in the present rather than preparing for an afterlife, stating, "I think it's a nice long rest".  (5)

Hepburn’s core philosophy, derived from her strict New England upbringing, centered on self-reliance, personal discipline, and a freedom from fear. She famously lived by the mantra, "If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased" 

POLITICS Hepburn was a lifelong Democrat and a vocal supporter of progressive causes. Her political activism was influenced by her mother, a prominent suffragist. She actively campaigned for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and spoke out against the anti-Communist "witch hunts" of the McCarthy era.

In the 1980s, she campaigned for Planned Parenthood, continuing her mother's legacy of advocating for women's reproductive rights.​

SCANDAL Katharine Hepburn was not involved in major scandals in the way many of her contemporaries were. However, her unconventional lifestyle and independent spirit were often seen as "scandalous" by the standards of her time. Her preference for wearing trousers, her outspoken nature, her affair with the married Spencer Tracy, and her general refusal to conform to Hollywood's expectations all contributed to a rebellious public image.​​

Spencer Tracy and Hepburn in a publicity photo for Desk Set (1957)

MILITARY RECORD She starred in films depicting wartime resilience, such as Dragon Seed (1944) and Stage Door Canteen appearances supporting troops.

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS  Health and fitness were lifelong priorities, a value instilled by her physician father. She maintained a rigorous routine of exercise, including swimming and riding her bicycle well into her nineties. In her later years, she suffered from a progressive neurological disease (thought to be Parkinson's) but remained active 

HOMES Hepburn had several homes throughout her life. She was born and raised in Hartford, Connecticut. She also had a family home in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, located on the Long Island Sound, which she loved and where she eventually died. In New York City, she lived in a townhouse in the Turtle Bay neighborhood, known for its charming courtyard garden.​

TRAVEL Hepburn's career took her to various locations around the world. One of her most notable travel experiences was the difficult filming of The African Queen in Africa, an experience she later documented in a memoir.​

She famously despised the Hollywood lifestyle and would often drive back to her Connecticut home, even when filming in California

DEATH Katharine Hepburn died on June 29, 2003, at her home in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, at the age of 96. Her death was attributed to natural causes.​ Hepburn is buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford, Connecticut, in the Hepburn family plot 

APPEARANCES IN MEDIA Since her death, Katharine Hepburn's life and career have been the subject of numerous books, documentaries, and biographical films. 

Cate Blanchett won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Hepburn in the 2004 film The Aviator.  The performance made Blanchett the first performer to win an Oscar for playing a real-life Oscar winner.

Her distinctive style and personality continue to be referenced and celebrated in popular culture.

ACHIEVEMENTS Four Academy Awards for Best Actress (a record)

Over 50 films across six decades

AFI’s #1 Greatest Female Star of Classic Hollywood Cinema (1999)

Only Oscar winner to win an Academy Award for portraying an ancestor (she was a direct descendant of Eleanor of Aquitaine, whom she played in The Lion in Winter (1968).

Sources: (1) Parisian Gentleman (2) Vanity Fair (3) Mental Floss (4) Encyclopaedia of Trivia (5) YouTube video

Audrey Hepburn

NAME Audrey Kathleen Ruston, later known as Audrey Hepburn. She began calling herself Audrey Hepburn in 1948, adopting the surname her father had added to his own.

WHAT FAMOUS FOR Internationally celebrated actress, fashion icon, humanitarian, and one of only fourteen EGOT winners (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony).

BIRTH She was born on May 4, 1929, at 48 Rue Keyenveld in Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium.

FAMILY BACKGROUND Hepburn was the only child of Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston, an English banker of Irish descent, and Baroness Ella van Heemstra, a Dutch aristocrat.  

A former honorary British consul in the Dutch East Indies, her father had previously been married to Dutch heiress Cornelia Bisschop. Her mother was the daughter of Baron Aarnoud van Heemstra, mayor of Arnhem (1910–1920) and Governor of Dutch Suriname (1921–1928). (1)

She had two half-brothers, Jonkheer Arnoud Robert Alexander "Alex" and Jonkheer Ian Edgar Bruce Quarles van Ufford, from her mother’s first marriage. 

Her parents were members of the British Union of Fascists in the mid-1930s, a fact that later caused Hepburn significant shame and was kept hidden from the press. Her mother wrote admiring articles about Hitler before later rejecting such views during wartime.

Her father abandoned the family in 1935 when Audrey was six, an event she described as the most traumatic of her life.

CHILDHOOD Her childhood was spent moving between Belgium, England, and the Netherlands.

 During World War II, she lived in Arnhem, Netherlands, where she endured the "Hunger Winter" of 1944. During this time, she suffered from severe malnutrition, anemia, and edema, surviving on tulip bulbs and grass to stave off starvation. She witnessed the horrors of war, including the deportation of Jewish neighbors, which deeply influenced her later humanitarian work.

EDUCATION From 1935 to 1938, Hepburn attended Miss Rigden's School, an independent girls' school in Elham, Kent, England. 

During the war, she studied at the Arnhem Conservatory in the Netherlands, where she trained in ballet alongside her standard curriculum. After the war, she continued her ballet training in Amsterdam under Sonia Gaskell and later in London with the renowned Marie Rambert, though she was eventually told her height (5'7") and the effects of wartime malnutrition would prevent her from becoming a prima ballerina.

CAREER RECORD Her career began in the late 1940s as a chorus girl in West End musicals like High Button Shoes and Sauce Tartare and minor roles in British films. 

1951 Hepburn was discovered by the French novelist Colette, who cast her in the title role of the Broadway play Gigi

1953 Her film breakthrough came with Roman Holiday, which won her an Academy Award

1957 She retired from full-time acting in the late 1960s to focus on her family, returning only occasionally for films. 

1989 Hepburn was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador of UNICEF. 

APPEARANCE Hepburn stood 5 feet 7 inches tall and maintained a weight of approximately 110 pounds throughout her adult life. She was known for her large, dark doe eyes, thick eyebrows, and pixie haircut, which accentuated her high cheekbones.

Despite being a beauty icon, she was critical of her own appearance, describing herself as a "skinny broad" with a "big nose," "big feet" (size 10), and a flat chest. (2)

Audrey Hepburn as Princess Ann in Roman Holiday by Bud Fraker, 1953.

FASHION Hepburn is synonymous with timeless elegance. Her collaboration with French designer Hubert de Givenchy created a style characterized by clean lines and sophisticated simplicity. Key elements of her look included the Little Black Dress (most notably in Breakfast at Tiffany's), Capri pants, ballet flats, trench coats, and oversized sunglasses. She was inducted into the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1961.

She favored clothes that were comfortable and practical, often opting for simple lines that highlighted her silhouette rather than revealing it. .

Despite her delicate frame, she wore size 10 shoes and often bought ballet flats half a size larger.

CHARACTER Hepburn was known for her humility, kindness, and discipline. Colleagues described her as punctual and professional, lacking the "diva" behavior common among stars of her magnitude. She was described as introverted and deeply private, preferring a quiet family life over the Hollywood social scene. 

She often battled nerves and anxiety during filming, smoking to keep them at bay.

In her later years, she demonstrated tireless dedication to humanitarian causes.

SPEAKING VOICE Hepburn possessed a unique, soft, and breathy voice with a distinct "Mid-Atlantic" accent—a blend of upper-class British Received Pronunciation with Dutch and American influences. She was a polyglot, fluent in English, Dutch, French, Italian, Spanish, and German. 

SENSE OF HUMOUR Hepburn valued humor highly in her personal life. She  famously said, "I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner."

RELATIONSHIPS Hepburn was engaged to industrialist James Hanson in 1952 but called it off, realizing their careers would keep them apart.

She had a passionate affair with her Sabrina co-star William Holden but ended it upon learning he had a vasectomy and could not give her children.

Hepburn married American actor Mel Ferrer on September 25, 1954 in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, in a small, private ceremony at a local chapel on the Bürgenstock mountain overlooking Lake Lucerne. They had one son, Sean Hepburn Ferrer (b. 1960), and divorced in 1968.

She married Italian psychiatrist-neurologist Andrea Dotti on January 18, 1969, also in Switzerland; some biographies specify that they wed in Morges, near Lake Geneva, before settling in Rome and later at her Swiss home La Paisible. They had one son, Luca Dotti (b. 1970), and divorced in 1982 due to his infidelity.

Audrey Hepburn and Andrea Dotti By photo ©ErlingMandelmann

From 1980 until her death, her partner was Dutch actor Robert Wolders, describing these years as the happiest of her life. 

MONEY AND FAME As one of the most successful actresses of her time, she achieved immense fame and was one of the few entertainers to win the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards).

Hepburn viewed fame as a byproduct of her work rather than a goal. She often retreated from the spotlight to raise her children, living a quiet life in Switzerland and Rome away from the Hollywood party scene. She used her fame in later life as a tool to draw global attention to the suffering of children through UNICEF. 

FOOD AND DRINK Hepburn loved Italian food, specifically pasta. Her son Luca stated she had a "serious pasta addiction," and her signature dish was spaghetti al pomodoro with fresh basil. (3)

She was also known for her love of chocolate and would occasionally enjoy a scotch in the evening. Due to her wartime experiences, she never dieted but ate small portions of healthy food.

ENTERTAINMENT CAREER Audrey Hepburn’s career, viewed from a comfortable armchair and preferably with a cup of tea the size of Belgium, resembles one of those long continental train journeys that begin in a small, quiet station and end somewhere glamorous, windy, and improbably important. She started in the late 1940s, when Europe was still knitting itself back together after the war, dancing in modest ballet ensembles in Amsterdam and London. She had, by all accounts, the sort of presence on stage that causes perfectly sensible producers to lean forward in their seats and make small, involuntary noises of interest. Before long she was appearing in West End revues with jaunty names like Sauce Tartare and Sauce Piquante, and soon after that, she was swept up into the busy ecosystem of minor British film roles—the cinematic equivalent of graduate school. Then came Broadway’s Gigi in 1951, which rather abruptly relocated her from hardworking European ingénue to someone American theatre people whispered about at dinner parties.

Everything changed in 1953 with Roman Holiday. One minute she was a promising actress with good posture; the next she was winning an Academy Award and becoming so famous that one suspects she could have walked into a room and negotiated peace between sworn enemies simply by casting those enormous, implausibly luminous eyes at them. 

Hepburn in a screen test for Roman Holiday (1953) 

The 1950s were a cascade of triumphs: Sabrina, War and Peace, Funny Face, The Nun’s Story. These films cemented what would become known as the Hepburn “gamine” persona—elegant but never icy, modern but never aloof, and always giving the sense that she knew slightly more about the human heart than you did.

The 1960s were her imperial phase—Audrey at full wattage. As Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) she created a character so enduring that people still buy oversized sunglasses in the faint hope of achieving even five percent of her effect. She chased this with the romantic-thriller Charade (1963) opposite Cary Grant, who seemed genetically engineered to stand next to Audrey Hepburn on a movie screen. Then came My Fair Lady (1964), in which she made Eliza Doolittle both regal and heartbreakingly fragile. By the time she did Two for the Road and Wait Until Dark (both 1967), she seemed keen to remind the world that she could do tense, psychologically thorny roles as well as anyone, preferably without breaking a sweat. Wait Until Dark, in which she played a blind woman under siege, earned her another armful of award nominations and showed that underneath that famous poise was a spine made of something decidedly steely.

And then, in one of cinema’s more refreshing plot twists, she stepped back. Rather than working herself into oblivion, she chose to have children, live her life, and pick projects like a tired tourist choosing pastries—slowly, carefully, and only the ones that looked truly worth it. There were a few films in the 1970s and 1980s—Robin and Marian (1976), Bloodline (1979), Love Among Thieves (1987)—and then a brief, heavenly farewell as a literal angel in Steven Spielberg’s Always (1989). It is possibly the only time in film history that an actor’s final performance could be accurately summarized as “glowing.”

Her legacy is, rather spectacularly, everywhere. She is one of the very few human beings to claim an Oscar, Tony, Emmy, and Grammy without appearing to break into a sweat over any of them. Her screen presence was a study in understatement—a sort of quiet emotional radiance that directors adored and audiences never quite recovered from. The list of collaborators reads like a syllabus for a graduate seminar in postwar cinema: Wyler, Wilder, Donen, Edwards, and, in sartorial matters, the devotional partnership with Hubert de Givenchy. You could argue that she single-handedly invented mid-century chic simply by standing still in a little black dress.

In the end, Audrey Hepburn became not just a star, but a kind of shared cultural memory—proof that grace, intelligence, and humanity can, occasionally, conquer absolutely everything.

MUSIC AND ARTS Her primary artistic passion was ballet, which she pursued from a young age.  She was a talented dancer and performed illegally for the Dutch Resistance during the war. Her professional career later moved to musical theatre on the West End, and she sang her own vocals in films like Funny Face.

She famously wanted to sing her own songs in My Fair Lady and was devastated when her vocals were dubbed by Marnie Nixon.

LITERATURE Hepburn was an avid reader. Her favorite book was The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. She also loved Rudyard Kipling (specifically The Jungle Book).

She declined the role of Anne Frank in the film adaptation of The Diary of a Young Girl because she felt the book was too emotionally close to her own wartime experiences.

She adored poetry. Her favorite poem was “Unending Love” by Rabindranath Tagore, which Gregory Peck movingly recited on camera after her death. (1)

NATURE She found deep solace in nature and gardening, famously saying, "To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow" Hepburn personally tended the gardens at her Swiss home, La Paisible.

She hosted a documentary series titled Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn.

In 1990, a hybrid breed of tulip was named in her honor.

PETS  Hepburn was a devoted animal lover. Her pets included a Yorkshire Terrier named Mr. Famous, who appeared with her in scenes, and another Yorkie named Assam of Assam. Later in life, she owned Jack Russell Terriers named Penny and Jackie.

Her most famous pet was Pippin, a baby deer (nicknamed “Ip”). The animal trainer encouraged her to live with the fawn so it would bond with her for the film Green Mansions. Pippin followed her everywhere—even into grocery stores. (1)

HOBBIES AND SPORTS Her main hobbies included gardening, walking her dogs, and reading. She was not known for playing organized sports but maintained her fitness through walking and her background in dance. 

SCIENCE AND MATHS Hepburn was fascinated by the biological and emotional needs of children through her UNICEF work.

The asteroid 4238 Audrey is named after her. (1)

PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Hepburn was raised in a Christian environment (her mother was a Christian Scientist) but was not dogmatic in her adult years. She described herself as having "enormous faith" but it was a personal spirituality connected to nature and love rather than strict organized religion.

Her philosophy of life was deeply affected by the suffering she witnessed and endured during the war, leading to her famous humanitarian efforts,

POLITICS She generally avoided political partisanship but was fiercely committed to humanitarian causes. Her childhood experience under fascism made her deeply anti-totalitarian. In her later work with UNICEF, she met with world leaders to advocate for children's rights, transcending typical political divides. She also addressed the US Congress and the UN on issues of global poverty and child welfare.

In speeches for UNICEF, Hepburn humbly admitted she was "not an expert" in economics or politics, relying instead on her authority as a mother and witness to suffering. 

SCANDAL The most significant potential scandal in her life involved her parents' support of the British Union of Fascists and her father's imprisonment as a Nazi sympathizer, facts she successfully kept out of the press during her career. Her affair with the married William Holden during the filming of Sabrina was also a closely guarded secret at the time

The major potential scandals of her life were managed discreetly. These included her parents' membership in the British Union of Fascists and her father's imprisonment as a Nazi sympathizer, which she kept hidden to protect her career[web: 1][web: 15]. Her affair with the married William Holden during the filming of Sabrina was also a significant secret of her time[web: 5][web: 15].

MILITARY RECORD While not a soldier, Hepburn served the Dutch Resistance during World War II as a teenager. She carried secret messages in her ballet shoes, distributed underground newspapers, and performed "blackout performances" (silent dance recitals behind closed windows) to raise money for the resistance.

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS Hepburn suffered from lifelong health issues stemming from wartime starvation, including anemia and a permanently low metabolism. She remained thin not through dieting, but due to these underlying conditions.

During the Battle of Arnhem, she served as a volunteer nurse, even helping a wounded British paratrooper—Terence Young, who would later direct her in Wait Until Dark. (1)

She was diagnosed with appendiceal cancer after returning from a UNICEF trip to Somalia in 1992.

HOMES During her marriage to Andrea Dotti, she lived in a penthouse in Rome

For the last 30 years of her life, her primary residence was "La Paisible" (The Peaceful), an 18th-century stone farmhouse in Tolochenaz, Switzerland. 

TRAVEL Her film career took her to locations including Rome (Roman Holiday), Paris (Funny Face, Charade), and The Belgian Congo (The Nun's Story).

In her final years (1988–1992), she undertook grueling field missions for UNICEF to war-torn and famine-stricken countries including Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Vietnam.

DEATH Audrey Hepburn died in her sleep from appendiceal cancer at her home in Tolochenaz, Switzerland, on January 20, 1993, at the age of 63. She is buried in the Tolochenaz Cemetery.

APPEARANCES IN MEDIA She is the subject of countless biographies, documentaries, artworks, and tributes. Her image—often in black Givenchy and pearls—remains one of the most reproduced in 20th-century culture.

ACHIEVEMENTS Academy Award for Roman Holiday

Tony Award for Ondine

Grammy Award for Enchanted Tales

Emmy Award for Gardens of the World

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador

Enduring global status as a humanitarian and fashion icon

Sources: (1) Encyclopaedia of Trivia (2) 50 Megs (3) People magazine

Henry VIII of England

NAME Henry VIII (Henry Tudor)

WHAT FAMOUS FOR  Henry VIII was King of England from 1509 to 1547 and is remembered above all for his six marriages and his dramatic break with the Roman Catholic Church. His decision to establish the Church of England with himself as its supreme head permanently reshaped the nation’s religious landscape. He is also known for dissolving the monasteries and redistributing their immense wealth, transforming English society in the process.

BIRTH Henry Tudor was born on June 28, 1491, at Greenwich Palace, the third child and second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. 

FAMILY BACKGROUND Henry came from the Welsh Tudor dynasty, established by his father Henry VII after his victory at the Battle of Bosworth.  He was the second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. His elder brother was Arthur, Prince of Wales, who died of tuberculosis aged 15 in 1502, making Henry the heir. His siblings included two sisters, Margaret (who married James IV of Scotland) and Mary (who married Louis XII of France).

His mother died in 1503 at the age of 38, leaving Henry bereft at just 11 years old. 

CHILDHOOD As the "spare" rather than the heir, Henry spent his early years in a predominantly female household at Eltham Palace in southeast London with his mother and sisters, while Arthur was raised separately to rule.

Henry was known as a charming and loveable child. Raised in privilege, he learned to ride a horse from Greenwich to Westminster by the age of three. His household included personal servants, minstrels, and a court fool named John Goose. Like many royal children, he even had a whipping boy, punished on his behalf when he disobeyed—a vivid symbol of the royal distance from consequence.

After Arthur died, Henry's life changed drastically; his father, Henry VII, became notoriously protective, keeping the new heir under strict supervision and limiting his public appearances to ensure his safety. 

Portrait by Meynnart Wewyck, 1509

EDUCATION Henry received an exceptional humanist education from the finest tutors of the age. He became fluent in Latin and French and acquired some knowledge of Italian. His studies included theology, music, astronomy, mathematics, grammar, and poetry, giving him the intellectual grounding that later fuelled both his confidence and his combative personality. His scholarly training shaped the cultivated, forceful king he would become.

Unlike many monarchs of his time, Henry was a true intellectual who enjoyed theological debate and corresponded with leading scholars like Erasmus.

CAREER RECORD 1493 The young Henry was appointed Constable of Dover Castle and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. 

1494 He was created Duke of York. He was subsequently appointed Earl Marshal of England and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, though still a child.

1509 King of England, succeeding his father.

1521: Granted the title Fidei Defensor (Defender of the Faith) by the Pope.

1533-1534: Broke with Rome; passed the Act of Supremacy.

1536 and 1539: Oversaw the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

1544: Captured Boulogne in Franc

APPEARANCE In his youth, Henry was an imposing figure—6 feet 2 inches tall, strikingly handsome, athletic, and energetic, with bright auburn-red hair and a well-kept beard.  He had a broad chest, muscular frame (42-inch chest, 32-35 inch waist), and fair skin that was described as glowing.

Following a jousting accident in 1536 that permanently injured his leg, Henry became unable to exercise but continued his lavish diet. He became morbidly obese, with a waist measurement expanding to 54 inches. He was bald, had a "moon-like" face, and required a wheelchair (called a "tramme") to move. He suffered from painful, ulcerated legs that would not heal.

Portrait of Henry VIII after Hans Holbein the Younger, c. 1540–1547

FASHION Henry dressed with deliberate magnificence. His wardrobe favoured stuffed, slashed doublets that revealed fine white shirts beneath, embellished with jewels, gold embroidery, and meticulous needlework. His tight-fitting hose were laced to the doublet, creating a silhouette both striking and theatrical. His flamboyance was unmistakable—and often drew the ridicule of European courts less enamoured of his lavish tastes. (1)

CHARACTER Henry’s personality was complex and often contradictory. He could be magnetic—charming, witty, generous, and affable to those who pleased him. But he also possessed a ruthless streak and reacted with fury when opposed. His bluntness earned him the nickname “Bluff King Hal.” Later generations judged him harshly; Charles Dickens famously called him “a most intolerable ruffian, and a blot of blood and grease on the history of England,” and “plainly one of the most detestable villains that ever drew breath.”

SPEAKING VOICE Historical accounts of Henry's voice are contradictory. While his imposing physique might suggest a deep voice, some contemporary reports and modern historians suggest he had a "thin" or "high-pitched" voice, which he may have tried to modulate to sound more authoritative. Others describe it as a "soft, measured voice" that could become loud and commanding when he was angry. (2)

SENSE OF HUMOUR He was known for a boisterous sense of humour and enjoyed pageantry and practical jokes. However, his humour could be dangerous; courtiers had to be careful, as "fun with him... is like having fun with tamed lions—often it is harmless, but just as often there is fear of harm". (3)

His court bustled with jesters and musicians, and he himself composed songs and took delight in performance. 

RELATIONSHIPS Henry married six wives, remembered by the famous rhyme:

“Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived.”

1. Catherine of Aragon – Henry VIII was not originally intended to be king. His father, Henry VII, planned for young Henry to become Archbishop of Canterbury, leaving the path to the throne to his elder brother, Arthur. Everything changed when Arthur died in 1502. Henry VII then arranged for Henry to marry Arthur’s widow, Catherine of Aragon, making her his first queen.

Henry and Catherine were married privately at Greenwich Palace on June 11, 1509, just before his coronation. 

Catherine of Aragon. Portrait by Lucas Horenbout, c. 1525

Catherine, devoted to her Franciscan Order duties, balanced piety with queenship. She gave Henry one surviving child, Princess Mary, and a baby boy who died at seven and a half weeks. Henry increasingly viewed the lack of a male heir as God’s punishment for marrying his brother’s widow. He separated from Catherine, sending her to Ampthill Castle and later Kimbolton Castle, where she lived austerely in a single room, fasting and wearing a hair shirt. She died on January 7, 1536, buried as Dowager Princess of Wales. Henry forbade both himself and Mary from attending her funeral.

2. Anne Boleyn- Henry secretly married Anne Boleyn before Archbishop Thomas Cranmer annulled his marriage to Catherine. In response, Pope Clement VII excommunicated Henry. Anne gave birth to one daughter, Elizabeth, but no sons. Accused of treason, she was beheaded by a French swordsman in 1536.

3. Jane Seymour – Henry became engaged to Jane Seymour the day after Anne’s execution. They married on May 30, 1536. She gave birth to Prince Edward (later Edward VI) in 1537 but died shortly afterward from infection. She alone received a queen’s funeral and is the only wife buried beside Henry at Windsor.

4. Anne of Cleves – Recommended by Thomas Cromwell for diplomatic reasons, Anne disappointed Henry at their first meeting—he infamously called her a “Flanders Mare.” They married on January 6, 1540, but Henry claimed the marriage was not consummated and quickly annulled it. Anne received houses, including one in Sussex, and remained friendly with Henry. She outlived all of Henry’s wives, dying in 1557.

5. Catherine Howard – Young, lively, and a cousin of Anne Boleyn, Catherine married Henry on July 28, 1540, the same day Cromwell was executed. Her flirtations and a passionate letter to Thomas Culpeper sealed her fate. Imprisoned at Syon House, she was executed for adultery on February 13, 1542.

6. Catherine Parr – Well-educated and twice widowed, Catherine Parr married Henry on July 12, 1543. She helped reconcile Henry with daughters Mary and Elizabeth, restoring them to the line of succession. Her book Prayers or Meditations was the first published by an English queen under her own name. After Henry’s death, she married Thomas Seymour and died in 1548.

The "Jersey" portrait of Queen Catherine

Henry fathered three legitimate children who survived infancy—Mary, Elizabeth, and Edward—each of whom later reigned.

MONEY AND FAME Henry inherited a vast fortune from his father but spent it rapidly on wars, palaces, and lifestyle. He was one of the wealthiest monarchs in English history due to the seizure of monastic lands, yet he frequently faced financial difficulties due to his extravagance. In modern terms, his annual alcohol bill alone would be in the millions

FOOD AND DRINK Henry VIII’s court was famous for lavish and unusual meals. His ladies-in-waiting received two loaves and a joint of beef every morning. Peacocks were roasted and then re-dressed in their feathers to impress diners.

Henry himself ate two enormous meals a day, dining at 10:00 a.m. with up to 600 courtiers, and again at 4:00 p.m. He preferred strong English hop-less ale, and attempted unsuccessfully to ban continental hopped beer. Despite enjoying ale, he sometimes drank imported Belgian water, even sending his physician to Flanders to fetch it.

As he aged and grew heavier, his appetite only increased, while his physical condition declined drastically.

MUSIC AND ARTS  Henry VIII was exceptionally musical from childhood. At age ten, he could play the fife, harp, viola, and drums, and as an adult he played the virginals, lute, and organ. He collected 77 recorders and kept a personal ensemble of 58 musicians.

He composed love songs, masses, motets, and anthems in Latin. Among his works were the famous "Pastime with Good Company," the instrumental piece "Tander naken," “O My Hart,” and possibly “Greensleeves.” 

Music accompanied nearly all courtly activities except one—gambling, which required complete concentration.

He was a major patron of the arts, employing the painter Hans Holbein the Younger, whose portraits defined the visual image of the Tudors.

LITERATURE Henry was an author in his own right. His most famous work is the Assertio Septem Sacramentorum (Defence of the Seven Sacraments), written in 1521 to refute Martin Luther's attacks on the Catholic Church. This book earned him the title "Defender of the Faith" from the Pope. He also wrote poetry and many letters.

The title page of a printed edition of Henry VIII’s Assertio septem sacramentum

NATURE Henry created Hyde Park in 1536 by annexing land from Westminster Abbey to form a royal deer park. He prized outdoor recreation, hunting, and hawking, often spending long hours on horseback or roaming woodland estates.

One mishap occurred while hawking: Henry attempted to pole-vault a ditch, fell face-first into the mud, and nearly drowned. His passion for nature reduced only when age and obesity limited his ability to move.

PETS Henry VIII kept a variety of hunting animals and coursing dogs and believed that mastering the sport of coursing was essential training for a gentleman. His reign saw the crown appoint a “Keeper Chaste of the King’s Greyhounds.”

He also kept hawks, with elaborate aviaries and dedicated falconers. His love of these animals tied closely to his outdoor sportsmanship.

HOBBIES AND SPORTS Henry VIII was one of the most athletic monarchs in European history in his youth. He jousted, hunted, practised archery, wrestled, and played real tennis. At the Field of the Cloth of Gold, he challenged King Francis I of France to a wrestling match but was swiftly thrown to the ground.

He excelled at archery; witnessing him shoot with his yeomen, observers said, “His Grace shotte as stronge and as greate a length as anie of his garde.” (4)

Henry kept racing stables at Greenwich and Windsor, employing four jockeys and introducing foreign horses into England. He adored cockfighting, adding a cockpit to Westminster Palace.

Henry gambled constantly—cards, dice, and wagers on sport. He even gambled away the bells of St Paul’s Cathedral.

SCIENCE AND MATHS Henry VIII’s interest in science was intertwined with statecraft and war. He studied fortification design, shipbuilding, and military logistics, commissioning innovations for the English navy, including heavily gunned warships like the Mary Rose.

Henry demonstrated a practical interest in medical science in his later years. Between 1540 and 1545, he had a handwritten Book of Medicines created for him containing nearly 200 recipes, some of which he devised himself, such as a poultice for his leg sores.

Mathematical precision appealed to him in sports as well—particularly in archery, horsemanship, and jousting, where exact measurement of distance, strength, and timing shaped elite performance. His court became a center for early Renaissance scientific exchange through imported books, instruments, and foreign craftsmen.

REIGN Henry became king on April 21, 1509, at the tender age of eighteen—an age when most young men are still trying to work out how to shave without causing structural damage to their chin. He had scarcely warmed the throne before he married Catherine of Aragon and, in a sort of medieval double-bill, the two were crowned together on June 24. From that moment he insisted on being called “Your Majesty,” a splendid upgrade from the slightly underwhelming “Your Highness,” which sounds faintly like something one might call a reasonably well-built cat.

In foreign affairs, Henry devoted himself to the noble art of trying to thump France, which had been something of a national hobby for centuries. His most flamboyant adventure came in June 1520, when he met Francis I at the Field of the Cloth of Gold—a diplomatic summit so extravagantly over the top that even the Tudors, not known for restraint, must have wondered whether they’d gone too far. Francis I, unimpressed by Henry’s enthusiastic overuse of precious metals, is said to have sniffed, “His idea is to put a lot of gold in everything,” which, given the surroundings, was both accurate and hilariously understated.

The Field of the Cloth of Gold, circa 1545. Henry VIII on horseback approaches at bottom left.

Back home, Henry embarked on his most earth-shaking project: the English Reformation. Between 1536 and 1540, having severed ties with the Pope, he and his industrious chief minister Thomas Cromwell set about dissolving the monasteries. This was less a spiritual exercise and more a spectacularly efficient liquidation sale—800 religious houses stripped of land, treasure, and anything that wasn’t nailed down (and quite a few things that were). The proceeds helpfully plugged the yawning financial hole Henry had dug in pursuit of French glory.

In domestic matters, Henry also left his mark—sometimes quite literally. The Laws in Wales Acts of 1535 and 1542 incorporated Wales into England’s legal and administrative system, a development that must have pleased the Welsh-born Tudor dynasty no end. Then, in 1541, he promoted himself to King of Ireland, a title he adopted with characteristic gusto, along with leadership of the newly created Church of Ireland. It was all part of Henry’s lifelong ambition to be in charge of absolutely everything, everywhere, at all times.

PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Henry VIII’s religious outlook was a complex mixture of traditional Catholic devotion and personal conviction. He was deeply interested in theology, convinced that he enjoyed a private line to God—what he believed was a “hotline to his heavenly Father.” Although he rejected certain aspects of medieval Catholic doctrine, such as purgatory, he remained personally a Catholic to the end of his life and could never accept the Protestant doctrine of justification by faith alone.

His most famous theological work was the 1521 treatise An Assertion of the Seven Sacraments, written against Martin Luther. In it, Henry defended the Catholic Church’s sacramental system—describing Luther as a “poisonous serpent” and a “wolf of hell.” Impressed by his argumentation, Pope Leo X awarded him the title “Defender of the Faith.”

Henry’s break with Rome was therefore political rather than doctrinal. In 1534, the Act of Supremacy declared that the king, not the pope, was head of the Church in England. This act transferred ecclesiastical authority and revenues directly to the crown, giving birth to what would become the Church of England.

His religious policy swung violently between conservatism and reform. In 1539, he issued the Six Articles, restoring several traditional Catholic positions and defining heresy. While Henry claimed the Articles were grounded in Scripture, they were in reality an uneasy mix of old Catholic theology and selective Protestant ideas.

Henry was also concerned with the effects of Scripture on ordinary people. Though he was an assiduous reader of the Bible, he believed his subjects were misusing it. In a speech to the House of Commons he lamented that the Word of God was being “disputed, rhymed, sung and jangled in every ale-house and tavern.” To curtail this, a 1543 law forbade the reading of the English Bible by women (other than noblewomen), servants, craftsmen, or labourers.

Henry’s religious conservatism hardened with age. Although he executed Catholics who denied his supremacy, he also burned Protestants who believed he had not reformed enough. Leading reformers fled abroad, and Henry died a Roman Catholic in belief—if not in obedience.

Despite his rigidity, Henry permitted his son Edward to be taught by committed Protestant tutors, influenced by his sixth wife, Catherine Parr. Edward would go on to rule as a staunch Protestant.

POLITICS  Henry VIII was one of the most consequential political rulers in English history. His assertion of royal supremacy permanently altered the balance of power between monarch, Church, and Parliament. The Act of Supremacy (1534) centralized unprecedented authority in the hands of the crown, while the subsequent Dissolution of the Monasteries enriched the crown and reshaped England’s social landscape.

Rome retaliated. Pope Paul III decreed slavery for Englishmen who supported the king, and finally excommunicated Henry on December 17, 1538—but Henry nevertheless retained overwhelming support from his subjects.

Henry presided over an authoritarian regime that used terror as an instrument of statecraft. Over his reign he ordered more than 17,000 executions, sweeping away opponents ranging from rebellious peasants to close confidants.

SCANDAL Henry VIII’s reign is inseparable from scandal. His break from the Catholic Church to marry Anne Boleyn was a massive, unprecedented scandal that created deep religious divisions in the kingdom. 

His marital affairs—six wives, two beheaded—were the pivot on which English history turned. His personal life was marred by accusations of adultery, annulments, brutal executions, and political purges masquerading as moral judgements.

His court was rife with gossip, factional warfare, and thinly veiled fear. Henry’s personal temper, once jovial, darkened considerably after his jousting accident in 1536, contributing to the increasingly paranoid and despotic atmosphere of his later reign.

MILITARY RECORD Henry VIII fancied himself a great warrior-king and aspired to the legacy of his hero, Henry V.  He led armies into France, winning the Battle of the Spurs in 1513 and capturing Boulogne in 1544. However, these campaigns were incredibly expensive and achieved few long-term strategic gains. Henry also oversaw the victory against the Scots at the Battle of Flodden (though he was in France at the time). 

After his rupture with Rome, Henry feared invasion from Catholic Europe. He ordered 20 forts to be built along the southern coast—massive artillery fortresses that revolutionised English coastal defence.

His greatest military achievement was establishing the Royal Navy, increasing the fleet size tenfold to over 40 ships, founding key dockyards (Deptford and Woolwich), and developing new ship designs capable of firing a full cannon broadside (e.g., the Mary Rose)

On July 19, 1545, Henry watched in horror as his prized flagship, the Mary Rose, suddenly heeled over and sank with roughly 500 men aboard. The wreck was salvaged in 1982 in one of the most ambitious maritime archaeological efforts ever undertaken.

The Mary Rose as depicted in the Anthony Roll

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS Henry VIII began life as a tall, athletic, charismatic prince—excelled in jousting, hunting, tennis, and dancing. But his health catastrophically declined after a severe jousting accident on January 24, 1536, where he was unhorsed and struck by a lance. The fall reopened an earlier leg injury, leaving him with a permanent ulcerated wound that festered until his death. The chronic infection caused immense pain and limited mobility, contributing to his notorious obesity and volatile temper.

In his final years he suffered from bone sinuses, reeking ulcers, and swollen, infected legs that had to be dressed repeatedly each day. His weight soared to an estimated 28–30 stone (175–190 kg).

HOMES  Henry maintained numerous royal residences. He was born at Greenwich Palace and died at Whitehall Palace in London. His most famous residence, Hampton Court Palace, was rebuilt by Henry into the most modern and magnificent palace in the kingdom, featuring vast state apartments and the still-surviving Chapel Royal ceiling. Five of his queens lived there.

Henry’s household also featured some of the strangest royal traditions. He employed a “Groom of the Stool”, whose job—astonishingly—was to wipe the royal backside. The royal commode was upholstered in velvet and adorned with 2,000 gold pins.

TRAVEL Henry VIII travelled frequently between his palaces, hunting lodges, and political centres. His progresses through the countryside were immense undertakings, involving hundreds of carts and thousands of attendants. Abroad, he journeyed to Calais and met Francis I during the lavish Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520, a spectacle designed to display Anglo-French splendour.

DEATH Henry VIII died at Whitehall Palace on January 28, 1547, aged 55. His declining health, gross obesity, and chronic leg ulcers hastened his end. His last recorded words were: “All is lost! Monks! Monks! Monks!”—perhaps recalling those he had dispossessed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

On the journey to Windsor, his coffin rested overnight at Syon Monastery, where it burst open due to gases from his decaying body. A bloody fluid spilled onto the floor, fulfilling a prophecy given twelve years earlier by the Franciscan friar William Peyto, who warned that dogs would lick Henry’s blood as they had King Ahab’s.

Henry was buried in St George’s Chapel, Windsor, beside his beloved third wife, Jane Seymour. His sometimes-friend, sometimes-rival Francis I of France ordered a Requiem Mass at Notre Dame but died only two months later.

APPEARANCES IN MEDIA Henry has been portrayed countless times in film and TV, including:

Charles Laughton in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)

Robert Shaw in A Man for All Seasons (1966)

Keith Michell in The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970)

Jonathan Rhys Meyers in The Tudors (2007-2010)

Damian Lewis in Wolf Hall 

His marriages, ruthlessness, and larger-than-life persona make him a perennial figure in historical fiction.

ACHIEVEMENTS Creation of a permanent English navy

Construction of major coastal fortifications

Establishment of the Church of England

Dissolution of the monasteries, transforming England’s economy and landownership

Promotion of Renaissance culture, music, architecture, and education

Authored Assertion of the Seven Sacraments, earning the title Defender of the Faith (still used by British monarchs)

Despite his brutality, Henry VIII’s reign indelibly shaped the religious, political, and cultural identity of England, laying foundations that would influence the nation for centuries.

Main Source Encyclopaedia of Trivia. Other Sources: (1) A History Of Fashion by J. Anderson Black and Madge Garland (2) Murray and Blue (3) Historic Royal Sources  (4) The Observer 02/01/2000