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Katharine Hepburn was a movie star to the world - but to Peter Bulkeley, she was just a childhood pal.
“Kate was a distant cousin of mine, and our families were good friends,” he recently told Closer Weekly. “When I met her in 1931, I was 2 weeks old. She changed my diaper.”
Hepburn, who was born and raised in Hartford, Conn., spent her summers at the family’s house in the close-knit Fenwick section of Old Saybrook. While Hepburn made her movie debut in 1932, she would often return to Connecticut and lived there full-time in her later years.
Bulkeley said the actress enjoyed her seclusion far away from Hollywood.
“People of Fenwick wouldn’t ever bother her,” he recalled. “We were in awe of what she accomplished but not in awe of her personally. She was just one of us.”
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Actress Katharine Hepburn next to a homemade sign saying Go Away in her driveway. (Photo by John Bryson/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images)
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“She was a very feisty person,” he continued. “If things didn’t go her way, look out! She was a very good golfer. I caddied for her occasionally when I was a youngster, but she preferred to carry her own bag.”
Bulkeley noted Hepburn fiercely protected her private life. But every once in awhile, he got a glimpse of her romances.
“One afternoon down at our little community beach, this seaplane came right into the harbor, and it turned out the pilot was Howard Hughes. They were pretty hot and heavy.”
The eccentric billionaire and Hepburn dated from 1935 until 1938.
And then there was Spencer Tracy.
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Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. (Photo By Getty Images)
According to Bulkeley, he was delivering a newspaper to Hepburn’s house when he decided to sit down in her kitchen and cool off with a glass of orange juice. It was then when found himself sitting across the table from the actor.
The outlet noted that the couple had a 27-year affair. Although the avowed Roman Catholic actor never divorced his wife, Hepburn remained devoted to Tracy. The leading man passed away in 1967 at age 67 from a heart attack. In his lifetime, Tracy and Hepburn made nine films together.
“She obviously adored him,” said Bulkeley. “You could see it in the way she looked at him and patted his arm.”
The outlet noted that Hepburn was devastated by Tracy’s passing. While she continued to work, Hepburn found herself spending more time in her Connecticut home. She remained there until her death in 2003 at age 96.
Throughout her career, Hepburn maintained her reputation for being private. While she frequently gave interviews, Hepburn rarely discussed her personal life. In 1991, she published an autobiography titled “Me: Stories of My Life.” Then in 1993, she appeared in an autobiographical documentary for TV titled “Katharine Hepburn: All About Me.”
Katharine Hepburn in the 1937 film 'Stage Door' directed by Gregory La Cava. (Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Getty Images)
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Still, she remained devoted to her friendships and kept active in her final years.
"When she was in her mid-80s, she was still riding her bicycle,” said Bulkeley.
He remembered one time when he saw Hepburn pedaling away while he was painting a fire hydrant green.
“She stopped and said, ‘Peter, what are you doing? All fire hydrants should be red!’” he recalled. “Then she rode off. That was Kate!”
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