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and many in Hollywood considered her finished. But Hepburn refused to accept defeat. "I had a nice career," she later said. "But it didn't work out. That's life. I never thought about quitting. I just thought about what I was going to do next." In a masterstroke of independent thinking, she returned to Broadway in a play written specifically for her by Philip Barry. The Philadelphia Story was a comedy about a socialite whose ex-husband tries to win her back. It was a huge hit on Broadway, and Hepburn had the foresight to purchase the film rights. She then sold them to MGM on the condition that she would star in the film adaptation and have final approval over the director and co-stars. She demanded—and got—Cary Grant and James Stewart. The 1940 film version was a massive critical and commercial success. It jump-started her Hollywood career and earned her a third Academy Award nomination. Hepburn had saved herself, brilliantly and decisively. Chapter Seven: The Love of Her Life — Spencer Tracy In 1942, Hepburn was cast opposite Spencer Tracy in Woman of the Year. It was the beginning of one of the most legendary pairings in film history. The two were an on-screen match unlike any other—she the patrician, intelligent aristocrat; he the rugged, working-class everyman. Off-screen, they fell deeply in love. There was only one problem: Tracy was a devout Roman Catholic who refused to divorce his wife, Louise, with whom he had a deaf son named John. Tracy suffered from severe alcoholism, depression, and guilt, and his marriage was a source of profound anguish. Hepburn, who had been briefly married and divorced in 1934, accepted the situation completely. She never pressured him to leave his wife, never complained about the secrecy, and devoted herself to caring for him through his many crises. Their relationship was both passionate and stormy. Tracy could be difficult, moody, and belligerent, especially when drinking, and Hepburn was his equal in stubbornness and temper. They fought fiercely, but they also loved fiercely. She once said, "I didn't want to be married to him. I wanted to be with him. There's a difference." For nearly three decades, until Tracy's death, she was his anchor and his home. They made nine films together over twenty-five years, including Adam's Rib (1949), Pat and Mike (1952), and Desk Set (1957). Their chemistry was so palpable that it transcended the screen, creating a template for the battle-of-the-sexes comedy that influenced generations of filmmakers. Tracy once described their partnership simply: "She's the best actress I've ever worked with. And she takes no guff from me. That's why I like her." Hepburn suspended her own career for nearly five years to nurse Tracy through his final illness. When he died, on June 10, 1967, it was just days after they had completed work on their final film together, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Hepburn won her second Academy Award for her role in the film but always felt the award was more a tribute to Tracy. She later wrote, "I loved him. He was the greatest man I ever met. And I cannot imagine my life without him." Chapter Eight: The African Queen — Adventures in the Jungle In 1951, Hepburn traveled to the Belgian Congo to film John Huston's The African Queen alongside Humphrey Bogart. It was one of the most difficult shoots in cinema history. The location was remote, the heat was unbearable, and the conditions were primitive. Hepburn contracted dysentery, suffered from leeches, and endured constant insect bites, all while maintaining her professionalism and her trademark good humor.