Her classic films include The African Queen and The Philadelphia Story and she still holds an Oscar record for four wins and 12 nominations, but Katharine Hepburn was haunted by a fear of performing. Despite her success as one of the industry’s foremost actresses, she saw the audience as her “natural enemy” and would repeatedly seek reassurance of her talent from those closest to her.
Her nephew, Mundy Hepburn, recalled that her anxiety was extreme when she came backstage after live performances: “Now and again she’d puke in the wastebasket, because she was so wired and scared and ‘Oh my God, what’ll they think? I’ve got to do a good job’ … Then she’d go on stage and be absolutely brilliant … She’d grab me by the shoulders. ‘Was I any good? Was I any good?’”
