Bryn Mawr College graduate and four-time Academy Award winner Katharine Hepburn lived her life according to her own rules in honor of her brother, Tom, who took his own life when she was 13, reported Closer Weekly.

The star of The Philadelphia Story had five siblings, but she was closest to her older brother.

“They were both good at athletics, boating, sailing, and tree climbing,” said William J. Mann, author of Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn. “They both enjoyed theater and were interested in silent movies.”

While visiting her aunt’s home on an Easter week, Hepburn went to wake her brother and found him dead. The 15-year-old had hanged himself.

Tom’s death understandably hit Hepburn hard.

Other than graduating college and marrying Ludlow Ogden Smith, she stopped making concessions to what was expected of her.

She became an actress despite the opposition of her father, divorced her husband, and decided motherhood was not for her.

“Much of her rebellion might have come from Tom being denied a chance to live the way he wanted,” said Mann. “So, she did it for both of them.”

Read more about Katharine Hepburn in Closer Weekly.

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This 1979 60 Minutes interview with Hepburn was typical of her; she was forthright, honest, witty, and utterly captivating.