BACKSTORY

A Delicate Balance marked the one and only time Lee worked with Katharine Hepburn, though Kate did offer Lee a part in her 1957 film, Desk Set. The following is an excerpt that appeared in the 1988 edition of Films in Review. The article is entitled Lee Remick, by Michael Buckley.

"A phone call from Katharine Hepburn resulted in [Lee] meeting her idol. 'She was sitting with her feet up on a desk, her hair piled on top of her head — a group of Fox executives sitting around her. She told me about the movie (Desk Set) that she was about to do with Spencer Tracy and said, 'I think it would be a good idea if you came over to my house tonight and met Spence.'"

"The meeting was 'like a fabulous tennis match. These two glorious people
sat on opposite sides of the room and discussed my career. She thought
that I should be in Desk Set and he didn't. He said the part wasn't good
enough. She insisted that didn't matter, that what was important was to be
seen in one film after another. He said, 'Wrong. She should wait for a more
significant part.'

'I thanked them, said I'd think about it, and went home. It was a very
difficult decision, but the part was of no significance -- so, I declined.
It was a very special meeting, though--and a wonderful memory!'"

(Dina Merrill, another East Coast actress, got the part.)