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CNN Live Today
Interview With Mundy Hepburn
Aired June 30, 2003 - 10:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: A newspaper headline this morning called her "Katherine the Great." American lost an entertainment icon this weekend when legendary actress Katherine Hepburn died at the age of 96.
Our Deborah Feyerick is in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, that Hepburn's hometown, with reaction. Deborah, hello.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Daryn.
Well everyone called her "Katherine the Great." Here she's known as Kate, a very simple name for a remarkable woman. She grew up in this town, she spent much of her life here, this is where she died. She was surrounded by family.
I am joined by her nephew, Mundy Hepburn. You came here to honor her memory today.
MUNDY HEPBURN, KATHERINE'S NEPHEW: That's why I'm here.
FEYERICK: Tell me about her, her final days.
HEPBURN: She got old and then she died.
FEYERICK: But when we were talking earlier, you said something a bit more eloquent. That it wasn't traumatic, it was more as if...
HEPBURN: It was a gentle fade to gray, yeah.
FEYERICK: OK. What is your most fun memory of her as an aunt, as a person?
HEPBURN: Just her crazy way of being, having fun, just being a regular person. And just thinking about her work and the unique position that it brought her in the world. She was fascinated and mystified that what happened happened. She didn't expect to be famous.
FEYERICK: Her movies very much reflected the kind of person she was. Many of her friends who wrote the movies had her in mind when they were doing it. But there was something perhaps that she didn't show in her movies. What was that, would you say?
HEPBURN: I'd say her vulnerability, her humanity. She was shy. She was actually -- she really had to make an effort to go on stage.
FEYERICK: And yet you wouldn't read that in the roles. Her roles were confident and witty and she was elegant, the picture of grace.
HEPBURN: Well, once she got over her shyness her natural qualities came out. I don't think she ever really acted so much as interpreted herself or presented herself in her best light.
FEYERICK: Many people see her as a role model, yet she did not consider herself so much as a role model. But for many women she was the kind of woman they wanted to be.
HEPBURN: Yes, she just said, You've got to be yourself. And herself ended up being a person that many people admired. And she used to sort of be mystified and at other times joke about it. Oh, yes, I'm adorable.
But I think there is definitely a natural adorableness to her. I mean, same as everybody. We all have good qualities. But as she said, I was lucky. And she was lucky. She got to show her good qualities to the whole world through the medium of her movies.
FEYERICK: She spoke to you about death. What was her -- what was her take on it?
HEPBURN: Well, she always said, You've got to be practical. So, you die. And where do you go? Well, I expect I'll be looking at you. What'd she say? She goes, I'll be looking down at you from a cloud, laughing.
FEYERICK: And basically, you're going to have to deal with the rest of us, the media.
HEPBURN: Yes, the world is your problem from there on. So here I am.
FEYERICK: And the family, what are the plans for the funeral service? What will be happening?
HEPBURN: As she would say, none of your business.
FEYERICK: Good note to end on. Mundy Hepburn, thank you very much for joining us.
Many people in this town, you speak to them and they all have stories about Katharine Hepburn. Small acts of kindness that she performed. At one point she anonymously gave money so that they could buy a fire truck. In another instance, she helped purchase some land really where we are standing to keep this whole area by the water a park so that many people could come and enjoy it.
Again, she did this anonymously. Word always seemed to leak out but she did it because she was very generous. Considered a very good neighbor.
One man we spoke to said, or told us a story where she kind of popped into a general store and said, I need an outfit. I'm being photographed. And so they sold her something and a couple weeks later she and the dress showed up on the cover of "The Saturday Evening Post."
Very low key, very demur, but certainly very much loved here. People respected her privacy. They guarded her right to privacy. And even some people we spoke to said they'll tell us stories but we can't tell them to you. So it's a warm atmosphere. She was very much loved in this community of Old Saybrook which is where she passed on Sunday -- Daryn.
KAGAN: A class act to the very end. Deb, thanks for that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 30, 2003 - 10:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: A newspaper headline this morning called her "Katherine the Great." American lost an entertainment icon this weekend when legendary actress Katherine Hepburn died at the age of 96.
Our Deborah Feyerick is in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, that Hepburn's hometown, with reaction. Deborah, hello.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Daryn.
Well everyone called her "Katherine the Great." Here she's known as Kate, a very simple name for a remarkable woman. She grew up in this town, she spent much of her life here, this is where she died. She was surrounded by family.
I am joined by her nephew, Mundy Hepburn. You came here to honor her memory today.
MUNDY HEPBURN, KATHERINE'S NEPHEW: That's why I'm here.
FEYERICK: Tell me about her, her final days.
HEPBURN: She got old and then she died.
FEYERICK: But when we were talking earlier, you said something a bit more eloquent. That it wasn't traumatic, it was more as if...
HEPBURN: It was a gentle fade to gray, yeah.
FEYERICK: OK. What is your most fun memory of her as an aunt, as a person?
HEPBURN: Just her crazy way of being, having fun, just being a regular person. And just thinking about her work and the unique position that it brought her in the world. She was fascinated and mystified that what happened happened. She didn't expect to be famous.
FEYERICK: Her movies very much reflected the kind of person she was. Many of her friends who wrote the movies had her in mind when they were doing it. But there was something perhaps that she didn't show in her movies. What was that, would you say?
HEPBURN: I'd say her vulnerability, her humanity. She was shy. She was actually -- she really had to make an effort to go on stage.
FEYERICK: And yet you wouldn't read that in the roles. Her roles were confident and witty and she was elegant, the picture of grace.
HEPBURN: Well, once she got over her shyness her natural qualities came out. I don't think she ever really acted so much as interpreted herself or presented herself in her best light.
FEYERICK: Many people see her as a role model, yet she did not consider herself so much as a role model. But for many women she was the kind of woman they wanted to be.
HEPBURN: Yes, she just said, You've got to be yourself. And herself ended up being a person that many people admired. And she used to sort of be mystified and at other times joke about it. Oh, yes, I'm adorable.
But I think there is definitely a natural adorableness to her. I mean, same as everybody. We all have good qualities. But as she said, I was lucky. And she was lucky. She got to show her good qualities to the whole world through the medium of her movies.
FEYERICK: She spoke to you about death. What was her -- what was her take on it?
HEPBURN: Well, she always said, You've got to be practical. So, you die. And where do you go? Well, I expect I'll be looking at you. What'd she say? She goes, I'll be looking down at you from a cloud, laughing.
FEYERICK: And basically, you're going to have to deal with the rest of us, the media.
HEPBURN: Yes, the world is your problem from there on. So here I am.
FEYERICK: And the family, what are the plans for the funeral service? What will be happening?
HEPBURN: As she would say, none of your business.
FEYERICK: Good note to end on. Mundy Hepburn, thank you very much for joining us.
Many people in this town, you speak to them and they all have stories about Katharine Hepburn. Small acts of kindness that she performed. At one point she anonymously gave money so that they could buy a fire truck. In another instance, she helped purchase some land really where we are standing to keep this whole area by the water a park so that many people could come and enjoy it.
Again, she did this anonymously. Word always seemed to leak out but she did it because she was very generous. Considered a very good neighbor.
One man we spoke to said, or told us a story where she kind of popped into a general store and said, I need an outfit. I'm being photographed. And so they sold her something and a couple weeks later she and the dress showed up on the cover of "The Saturday Evening Post."
Very low key, very demur, but certainly very much loved here. People respected her privacy. They guarded her right to privacy. And even some people we spoke to said they'll tell us stories but we can't tell them to you. So it's a warm atmosphere. She was very much loved in this community of Old Saybrook which is where she passed on Sunday -- Daryn.
KAGAN: A class act to the very end. Deb, thanks for that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
