Katharine Hepburn

After The Philadelphia Story succeeded on stage, Hepburn controlled the film rights, which Howard Hughes had acquired and transferred to her. She used that leverage to negotiate her return to Hollywood on unusually favorable terms after being publicly labeled 'box office poison' in 1938, including approval over key production choices.

Won her fourth competitive Academy Award at age 74, for On Golden Pond, capping a screen and stage career spanning roughly 60 years.

Sustained a 26-year personal and professional partnership with the married, non-divorcing Spencer Tracy, appearing together in nine films -- a relationship both parties maintained despite the real risk it posed to her public image under the studio system.

Repeatedly and publicly defied studio conventions -- refusing standard interviews, wearing trousers when studios objected, and walking away from RKO when dissatisfied with the roles she was offered.

After being labeled 'box office poison,' she didn't wait for a studio to offer her a way back -- she secured the stage rights to The Philadelphia Story herself and controlled the film rights Howard Hughes had transferred to her, rebuilding her career on terms she controlled.

Self-initiating the acquisition of specific rights to engineer a career rescue, rather than waiting to be offered one, is the basis for the profile's proactive_agency score. Proactive Agency