Got to sit in on a fabulous dress run this evening! All this talk of Spencer Tracy got us thinking of KH's letter to Tracy after his death. It's mesmerizing, just like she is!
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A colleague of mine recommended this great podcast to provide a bit more info on Spencer Tracy and how he met Katharine Hepburn!
Yesterday we had a wonderful first rehearsal--awesome first read and table work!! As we jump into Kate's world, we thought we'd share some of her personal artwork!
The 3 prong (grounded) electrical prongs did not become standard (or legally required) in the US until the 1960s, so it's highly unlikely that either pre or post 1938 hurricane iterations of the Fenwick house would have had them. They would most likely have both used the older two prong version. What about the light switches?The Hepburns started going out to the original Fenwick cottage as early as 1913 and many of the original houses on Fenwick dated back to the 1800s so "push button switches" would be the most likely bet for the pre-hurricane Fenwick house. (The toggle switch wasn't invented until 1917 and didn't immediately gain widespread popularity). Both toggle and push button switches would have been available when the house was rebuilt in 1939 so either would work. I've attached an image of what toggle switches often looked like in the 1930s. I read that styles similar to this were used in houses from the late 1920s to the early 1950s.
Many believe Katherine Hepburn suffered from Parkinson’s disease, but her niece later said in an interview that she had a commonly confused condition called an “essential tremor” (formerly called palsy or "benign essential tremor"). It should be noted that many people dealing with neurologically caused shaking choose not to seek a formal diagnosis because they fear a Parkinson’s diagnosis or believe that the shaking is a natural part of aging.
However, essential tremors are much more common than Parkinson’s disease, and there is some evidence that essential tremors ran in the Hepburn family. According to the Oxford English Dictionary the first use of the phrase "essential tremor" in print was in 1986 in the Journal of neurology, neurosurgery and psychiatry. Hepburn herself often referred to her condition as a "familial tremor," which has come to be understood as the hereditary form of essential tremor. Similarities: These two conditions are often confused for each other because both are characterized by a shaking or tremor in the hand or hands that tends to begin in middle to old age. There is no specific “test” for either: a neurologist diagnoses a person’s condition by looking at the body of symptoms and ruling out other conditions for which there are tests. While neither are fatal, both are incurable and tend to worsen over time. While both conditions can be genetically triggered, an essential tremor seems to have a stronger genetic correlation (a person’s likelihood of developing an essential tremor is 50% if one of their parents had it). While Parkinson’s can run in families, only 15% of patients appear to have direct hereditary links or have a known family history of the disease. Differences: Parkinson’s is characterized by a shaking of the hand, particularly when the hand is at rest while essential tremors are more pronounced when trying to use one’s hands. Both conditions may making handwriting challenging. Someone with a severe essential tremor will find it most affects the hands, head and voice—sometimes causing the head to nod or shake involuntarily or the voice to waver. This can be exacerbated by fatigue, stress etc. They may also appear a bit unsteady when they walk. Someone with Parkinson’s is likely to display additional symptoms beyond the hand tremors including a stooped posture, slower movement, softened speaking voice, reduced facial expression, shaking in the legs, knees, and a decreased ability to perform unconscious moments like blinking. A Parkinson’s sufferer's walk may become slower and more shuffling as the disease progresses. Over time, a person with Parkinson’s is likely to experience dementia, depression, and sudden emotional shifts. |
Katie's rehearsal
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