Spirited Actress Dies at 96. An obituary and links to reviews of many of her films from the New York Times archives.

“She played sharp-witted, sophisticated women with an ease that suggested that there was a thin line between the movie role and the off-screen personality. The romantic comedy The Philadelphia Story and the screwball classic Bringing Up Baby were among her best, most typical roles. But through 43 films and dozens of stage and television appearances, she played comic and dramatic parts as varied as Jo in Little Women, the reborn spinster Rosie in The African Queen and Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter.”

Even though her on-screen romances with Spencer Tracy defined her and captivated American audiences, I actually prefer the gems she made with Cary Grant, to which I have introduced my children with success; we return to Bringing Up Baby over and over. And, oh, the chemistry with Bogart in The African Queen… Her screen presence was an icon of a generation of American womanhood, and her roles in old age made many wish she was everybody’s wise old aunt. We will truly miss you, Kate…