Katharine Hepburn, the actress

Katharine Hepburn, the actress whose independent life and strong-willed movie characters made her a role model for generations of women and a beloved heroine to filmgoers for more than 60 years, died on Sunday at her home in Old Saybrook, Conn. She was 96.

She played sharp-witted, sophisticated women with an ease that suggested that there was a thin line between the movie role and the off-screen personality. Her life and career were dominated by her love affair with Spencer Tracy, which created one of the great romantic legends and brilliant movie pairings of their day. Tracy was unhappily married and the father of two when they met, and he remained married until the end of his life. He and Hepburn lived together for 27 years, until his death in 1967, and made nine films together.

In Me, Hepburn finally revealed her age. "I was born May 12, 1907," she wrote, "despite everything I may have said to the contrary." For years she had said she was two years younger and had given her birthday as Nov. 8. That was the birthday of her older brother, Tom, who died at 16. Hepburn, then 14, found his body hanging from the rafters of a house the family was visiting in New York City. The Hepburns said they never knew whether he had committed suicide and left open the possibility that he had been practicing a magic trick.

"In some ways I've lived my life as a man, made my own decisions. I've been as terrified as the next person, but you've got to keep a-going; you've got to dream. I have no fear of death. Must be wonderful, like a long sleep. But let's face it: It's how you live that really counts."

That pretty much says it all.

Her Films...............................
"A Bill of Divorcement," 1932
"Christopher Strong," 1933
"Morning Glory," 1933
"Little Women," 1933
"Spitfire," 1934
"The Little Minister," 1934
"Break of Hearts," 1935
"Alice Adams," 1935
"Sylvia Scarlett," 1936
"Mary of Scotland," 1936
"A Woman Rebels," 1936
"Quality Street," 1937
"Stage Door," 1937
"Bringing Up Baby," 1938
"Holiday," 1938
"The Philadelphia Story," 1940
"Woman of the Year," 1942
"Keeper of the Flame," 1942
"Stage Door Canteen," 1943
"Dragon Seed," 1944
"Without Love," 1945
"Undercurrent," 1946
"The Sea of Grass," 1947
"Song of Love," 1947
"State of the Union," 1948
"Adam's Rib," 1949
"The African Queen," 1951
"Pat and Mike," 1952
"Summertime," 1955
"The Iron Petticoat," 1956
"The Rainmaker," 1956
"The Desk Set," 1957
"Suddenly Last Summer," 1959
"Long Day's Journey Into Night," 1962
"Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?," 1967
"The Lion in Winter," 1968
"The Madwoman of Chaillot," 1969
"The Trojan Women," 1971
"A Delicate Balance," 1972
"Rooster Cogburn," 1975
"Olly Olly Oxen Free," 1976
"On Golden Pond," 1981
"Grace Quigley," 1984
"Love Affair," 1994