How Katharine Hepburn Almost Turned Me Into a Paparazzi
Wedding reception hostess Katharine Hepburn graciously laughs after being hit in the face with wedding cake by the bride, Cynthia McFadden. Photo © Mark Petty 1989
Text © Mark Petty 2024
Nobody at the wedding reception expects it to happen. Suddenly a loud, collective gasp ripples through the crowd, but then dissipates as rapidly as it arises. Oddly the guests quickly continue their quiet and proper conversations as though nothing unusual has happened.
Did the bride really just mash a piece of wedding cake into the face of reception hostess, movie icon Katharine Houghton Hepburn, winner of four Academy Awards? (For those who have not heard of Hepburn, she is the Meryl Streep of her generation. Streep “only” has three Academy Awards.)
The reception is under a massive white tent on Hepburn’s private Connecticut estate at Fenwick, on the shore of Long Island Sound. It’s September 9, 1989. The bride is Cynthia McFadden. At the time she is an anchor/producer for a fledgling cable network. Today she is a senior legal and investigative correspondent for NBC News. The groom, Michael Davies, is the publisher and CEO of The Hartford Courant at the time. He’s my wife’s boss, which explains our invitation.
Hepburn is a very private person who normally has a sign in her yard that reads “PLEASE GO AWAY.” It is not visible today. My attempts to photograph Hepburn are in vain all afternoon. She is wary of photographers and retreats inside her house every time she sees me approach. I’m trying to socialize, but I’m watching Hepburn’s every move.
It’s time for the newly weds to ceremoniously cut the wedding cake. Afterward, McFadden, holding a freshly cut piece in her right hand, starts walking toward Hepburn. Distracted by Cynthia, Hepburn does not see me following several steps behind, and way to her right. Soon Cynthia stands with her left arm around the shoulders of the woman she fondly calls “Aunt Kate.” They talk for a brief moment. And then it happens - the cake is smooshed in the film idol’s face and I capture several frames of the event. Though Hepburn is initially stunned, they share a moment of levity together in the midst of their guests.
Later in the afternoon I ask what prompted such an unlikely event? McFadden says she asked Aunt Kate if she wanted a piece of cake. Her response was “I’d as soon have it in my face, as eat it,” and McFadden obliged her.
McFadden’s marriage to Davies does not last past 1996. In contrast, her friendship with Hepburn appears to have flourished. Almost 50 years of age separate the two women, yet many similarities exist. Both are pioneers in their chosen fields. Both women are fiercely independent Yankees - Hepburn from Connecticut, McFadden from Maine. Hepburn never married and much is written about her love affair with Spencer Tracy. McFadden’s son, Spencer, is named in honor of Spencer Tracy, and she has not married her son’s father, James Hoge, another newspaper executive.
Casual observers at the wedding reception might assume McFadden is Hepburn’s niece. They are not related, yet they share a special bond. They exchange knowing glances with each other. McFadden even coaxes her onto the dance floor, providing me with my second opportunity to photograph Hepburn while she is distracted.
After the event, I feel somewhat like a paparazzi, given the way I had to watch Hepburn like a hawk all afternoon and “pounce” whenever she was distracted enough to quit worrying about the stalking gueast/photographer taking her picture. I’m pretty sure I can sell the photo sequence to the tabloids, but I never reach out to the National Enquirer, for that would be wrong, very, very, very wrong.
McFadden is with her when Hepburn dies June 29, 1992, in her Fenwick home. McFadden is one of three co-executors of Hepburn’s estate, and she inherits many personal effects, including 18th century furniture from Hepburn’s New York apartment and an original Hepburn painting of a lighthouse that hung in Hepburn’s bedroom.
Below, top two photos, while dancing with Davies, McFadden coaxes Hepburn onto the floor to take her place. Bottom photo, Hepburn’s initial response to cake being smooshed in her face. Photos © Mark Petty 1989
