Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of
Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two consecutive
Academy Awards for Best Actor from nine nominations. During his career, he appeared in 75 films and developed a reputation among his peers as one of the screen's greatest actors. In 1999, the
American Film Institute ranked Tracy as the 9th greatest
male star of
Classic Hollywood Cinema.
Tracy first discovered his talent for acting while attending
Ripon College, and he later received a scholarship for the
American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He spent seven years in the theatre, working in a succession of
stock companies and intermittently on
Broadway. His breakthrough came in 1930, when his lead performance in ''
The Last Mile'' caught the attention of
Hollywood. After a successful film debut in
John Ford
John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
's ''
Up the River'' (in which he starred with
Humphrey Bogart), he was signed to a contract with
Fox Film Corporation. Tracy's five years with Fox featured one acting ''tour de force'' after another that were usually ignored at the box office, and he remained largely unknown to movie audiences after 25 films, nearly all of them starring him as the leading man. None of them were hits, although his performance in ''
The Power and the Glory'' (1933) was highly praised at the time.
In 1935, he joined
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
(MGM), at the time Hollywood's most prestigious studio. His career flourished from his fifth MGM film ''
Fury'' (1936) onwards, and in 1937 and 1938 he won consecutive Oscars for ''
Captains Courageous
''Captains Courageous: A Story of the Grand Banks'' is an 1897 novel by Rudyard Kipling that follows the adventures of fifteen-year-old Harvey Cheyne Jr., the spoiled son of a railroad tycoon, after he is saved from drowning by a Portuguese f ...
'' and ''
Boys Town''. He teamed with
Clark Gable, the studio's most prominent leading man for three major box office successes, so that by the early 1940s Tracy was one of MGM's top stars. In 1942, he appeared with
Katharine Hepburn in ''
Woman of the Year'', beginning a professional and personal partnership, which led to nine films over 25 years. In 1955, Tracy won the
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the film ''
Bad Day at Black Rock''.
Tracy left MGM in 1955, and continued to work regularly as a freelance star, despite several health issues and an increasing weariness and irritability as he aged. His personal life was troubled, with a lifelong struggle against severe
alcoholism
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomi ...
and guilt over his son's
deafness. Tracy and his wife Louise became estranged in the 1930s, but the couple never divorced; his 25-year long relationship with Katharine Hepburn was an open secret. Towards the end of his life, Tracy worked almost exclusively for director
Stanley Kramer
Stanley Earl Kramer (September 29, 1913February 19, 2001) was an American film director and producer, responsible for making many of Hollywood's most famous "message picture, message films" (he would call his movies ''heavy dramas'') and a libera ...
. It was for Kramer that he made his last film, ''
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner'' (1967), completed just 17 days before he died.
Early life
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was born in
Milwaukee on April 5, 1900, the second son of Caroline (; 1874–1942) and truck salesman John Edward Tracy (1873–1928). His mother was from a wealthy,
Presbyterian, Midwestern family, while his father was of
Irish Catholic descent. He had a brother Carroll, who was four years older.
Tracy was a difficult and hyperactive child with poor school attendance.
[Curtis (2011) p. 36.] Raised
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, he was placed in the care of
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of ...
nuns at the age of nine in an attempt to transform his behavior. Later in life, he remarked that he "never would have gone back to school if there had been any other way of learning to read the subtitles in the movies".
He became fascinated with movies, watching the same ones repeatedly and later re-enacting scenes to his friends and neighbors.
[Curtis (2011) p. 40.] He attended several
Jesuit academies in his teenage years, which he claimed took the "badness" out of him and helped him improve his grades.
[Curtis (2011) p. 42.]
At
Marquette Academy, he began attending plays with lifelong friend and fellow actor
Pat O'Brien, awakening his interest in the theatre.
[Curtis (2011) p. 43.] With little care for their studies and "itching for a chance to go and see some excitement",
Tracy and O'Brien enlisted in the
Navy together when Tracy turned 18. They were sent to the
Naval Training Station in northern Illinois, where they were still students when
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
came to an end.
[Curtis (2011) p. 45. (The quote about joining the Navy comes from a 1937 interview with Tracy.)] Tracy achieved the rank of
seaman second class, but never went to sea and was discharged in February 1919.
[Curtis (2011) p. 46.] His father's desire to see one of his sons gain a college degree drove Tracy back to high school to finish his diploma.
Studies at two more institutions, plus the additional allowance of "
war credits
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
", won Tracy a place at
Ripon College. He entered in February 1921, declaring his intention to major in medicine.
Tracy was a popular student at Ripon, where he served as president of his hall and was involved in a number of college activities.
He made his stage debut in June 1921, playing the male lead in ''
The Truth''. He was very well received in the role and quickly developed a passion for the stage; he was reportedly "obsessive about acting to the degree that he talked about little else". He and some friends formed an acting company called the Campus Players, which they took on tour. As a member of the college
debate team, Tracy excelled in arguing and public speaking.
It was during a tour with the debate team that he auditioned for the
American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) in New York City. He was offered a scholarship to attend the school after performing a scene from one of his earlier roles.
Tracy left Ripon and began classes at AADA in April 1922. O'Brien was also enrolled there and the two shared a small studio apartment. Money was scarce, and the two often lived on meals of rice and pretzels and shared one decent suit between them. Tracy was deemed fit to progress to the senior class, allowing him to join the academy's
stock company. He made his New York debut in a play called ''The Wedding Guests'', which opened in October 1922. He made his debut
Broadway appearance three months later, playing a wordless robot in ''
R.U.R.'' He graduated from AADA in March 1923.
Career
Stock theatre and Broadway (1923–30)
Immediately following graduation, Tracy joined a new stock company based in
White Plains, New York where he was given peripheral roles. Unhappy there, he moved to a company in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...
, but failed to make an impact. In November 1923, he landed a small part on
Broadway in the comedy ''A Royal Fandango'', starring
Ethel Barrymore. Reviews for the show were poor and it closed after 25 performances; Tracy later said of the failure, "My ego took an awful beating." When he took a position with a struggling company in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...
, Tracy was living on an allowance of 35 cents a day.
[Curtis (2011) p. 17.] In January 1924, he played his first leading role with a company in
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...
, but the organization soon closed.
[Curtis (2011) p. 18.]
Tracy finally achieved some success by joining forces with the notable stock manager William H. Wright in the spring of 1924.
A stage partnership was formed with the young actress
Selena Royle, who had already made her name on Broadway. It proved a popular draw and their productions were favorably received. One of these performances brought Tracy to the attention of a Broadway producer, who offered him the lead in a new play. ''The Sheepman'' previewed in October 1925, but it received poor reviews and closed after its trial run in
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...
. Dejected, Tracy was forced back to Wright and the stock circuit.
In the fall of 1926, Tracy was offered his third shot at Broadway: a role in a new
George M. Cohan play called ''Yellow''. Tracy swore that if the play failed to be a hit he would leave stock and work in a "regular" business instead.
[Curtis (2011) p. 91.] Tracy was nervous about working with Cohan, one of the most important figures in American theatre,
but during rehearsals Cohan announced, "Tracy, you're the best goddamned actor I've ever seen!" ''Yellow'' opened on September 21; reviews were mixed but it ran for 135 performances. It was the beginning of an important collaboration for Tracy: "I'd have quit the stage completely," he later commented, "if it hadn't been for George M. Cohan." Cohan wrote a part specifically for Tracy in his next play, ''The Baby Cyclone''. It opened on Broadway in September 1927 and was a hit.
Tracy followed this success with another Cohan play, ''Whispering Friends'', and in 1929 took over from
Clark Gable in ''Conflict'', a Broadway drama. Other roles followed, but it was the lead in ''Dread'', written by
Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist
Owen Davis that gave Tracy high hopes for success. The story of a man's descent into madness, ''Dread'' previewed in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
to an excellent reception, but on the next day—October 29—the
New York stock market crashed. Unable to obtain funding, ''Dread'' did not open on Broadway. Following this disappointment, Tracy again considered leaving the theatre and returning to Milwaukee for a more stable life.
In January 1930, Tracy was approached about a new play called ''
The Last Mile''. Looking to cast the lead role of a murderer on
death row, producer
Herman Shumlin
Herman Shumlin (December 6, 1898, Atwood, Colorado – June 4, 1979, New York City) was a prolific Broadway theatrical director and theatrical producer beginning in 1927 with the play ''Celebrity'' and continuing through 1974 with a short run of '' ...
met with Tracy, and later recounted: "beneath the surface, here was a man of passion, violence, sensitivity and desperation: no ordinary man, and just the man for the part." ''The Last Mile'' opened on Broadway in February, where Tracy's performance was met by a standing ovation that lasted 14 curtain calls. The ''
Commonweal
Commonweal or common weal may refer to:
* Common good, what is shared and beneficial for members of a given community
* Common Weal, a Scottish think tank and advocacy group
* ''Commonweal'' (magazine), an American lay-Catholic-oriented magazin ...
'' described him as "one of our best and most versatile young actors".
[Curtis (2011) p. 132.] The play was a hit with critics, and ran for 289 performances.
Fox (1930–35)
In 1930, Broadway was being scouted to find actors to work in the new medium of
sound films.
Tracy was cast in two
Vitaphone shorts (''Taxi Talks'' and ''The Hard Guy''), but he had not considered becoming a film actor: "I had no ambition in that direction and I was perfectly happy on the stage", he later explained in an interview.
One person who saw Tracy in ''The Last Mile'' was director
John Ford
John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
.
Ford wanted Tracy for the lead role in his next picture, a prison movie. Production company
Fox Film Corporation was unsure about Tracy, saying that he did not photograph well, but Ford convinced them that he was right for the role. ''
Up the River'' (1930) marked the film debut of both Tracy and
Humphrey Bogart. After seeing the
rushes, Fox immediately offered Tracy a long-term contract. Knowing that he needed the money for his family, with his young son deaf and recovering from
polio
Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe sy ...
, Tracy signed with Fox and moved to California. He appeared on the stage only once more in his life.
Winfield Sheehan
Winfield R. Sheehan (September 24, 1883 – July 25, 1945) was a film company executive. He was responsible for much of Fox Film Corporation's output during the 1920s and 1930s.
As studio head, he won an Academy Award for Best Picture for the film ...
, the head of Fox, committed to making Tracy a bankable commodity. The studio promoted the actor, releasing ads for his second film ''
Quick Millions'' (1931) with the headline "A New Star Shines". Three films were made in quick succession, all of which were unsuccessful at the box office. Tracy found himself
typecast in
comedies
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term origin ...
, usually playing a crook or a con man. The mold was broken with his seventh picture, ''
Disorderly Conduct'' (1932), and it was the first of his films since ''Up the River'' to return a profit.
In mid-1932, after nine pictures, Tracy remained virtually unknown to the public. He considered leaving Fox once his contract was up for renewal, but a rise in his weekly rate to $1,500 convinced him to stay. He continued to appear in unpopular films, with ''
Me and My Gal'' (1932) setting an all-time low attendance record for the
Roxy Theatre in New York City. He was loaned to
Warner Bros. for ''
20,000 Years in Sing Sing
''20,000 Years in Sing Sing'' is a 1932 American Pre-Code drama film set in Sing Sing Penitentiary, the maximum security prison in Ossining, New York, starring Spencer Tracy as an inmate and Bette Davis as his girlfriend. It was directed by Mic ...
'' (1932), a prison drama co-starring
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her p ...
. Tracy was hopeful that it would be his break-out role, but despite good reviews, this failed to materialize.
Critics began to notice Tracy with ''
The Power and the Glory'' (1933). The story of a man's rise to prosperity had a screenplay by
Preston Sturges and Tracy's performance as railroad tycoon Tom Garner received uniformly strong reviews.
[Curtis (2011) p. 208.] William Wilkerson of ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...
'' wrote: "This sterling performer has finally been given an opportunity to show an ability that has been boxed in by gangster roles ...
he filmhas introduced Mr. Tracy as one of the screen's best performers".
[Curtis (2011) p. 200.] Mordaunt Hall of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' stated: "No more convincing performance has been given on the screen than Spencer Tracy's impersonation of Tom Garner." ''
Shanghai Madness'' (1933), meanwhile, revealed Tracy to have a previously unseen
sex appeal and served to advance his standing.
Despite this attention, Tracy's next two movies went largely unnoticed. ''
Man's Castle'' (1933) with
Loretta Young was anticipated to be a hit, but made only a small profit. ''
The Show-Off'' (1934), for which he was lent to
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
, proved popular, but his subsequent outings continued to be unsuccessful.
Tracy drank heavily during his years with Fox and gained a reputation as an alcoholic.
He failed to report for filming on ''
Marie Galante'' in June 1934, and was found in his hotel room, virtually unconscious after a two-week
binge. Tracy was removed from the Fox payroll while he recovered in a hospital, and then sued for $125,000 for delaying the production. He completed only two more pictures with the studio.
The details on how Tracy's relationship with Fox ended are unclear: later in life Tracy maintained that he was fired for his drunken behavior, but the Fox records do not support such an account. He was still under contract with the studio when MGM expressed their interest in the actor.
[Curtis (2011) p. 259.] They were in need of a new male star, and contacted Tracy on April 2, 1935, offering him a seven-year deal.
That afternoon, the contract between Tracy and Fox was terminated "by mutual consent".
Tracy made a total of 25 pictures in the five years he was with Fox Film Corporation, most of which lost money at the box office.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1935–55)
Growing reputation
In the 1930s,
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
was the most respected movie production studio in Hollywood. When Tracy arrived there, he was all but unknown. Biographer
James Curtis writes: "Tracy was scarcely a blip on the box office barometer in 1935, a critics' darling and little more". He was, however, well known for being a troublemaker.
[Curtis (2011) p. 258.] Producer
Irving Thalberg was nevertheless enthusiastic about working with the actor, telling journalist
Louella Parsons: "Spencer Tracy will become one of MGM's most valuable stars."
[Curtis (2011) p. 260.]
Curtis notes that the studio managed Tracy with care, a welcome change from the ineptitude and apathy he had known while at Fox, which was like "a shot of adrenaline" for the actor.
His first film under the new contract was the quickly produced ''
The Murder Man
''The Murder Man'' is a 1935 American crime-drama film starring Spencer Tracy, Virginia Bruce, and Lionel Atwill, and directed by Tim Whelan. The picture was Tracy's first film in what would be a twenty-year career with MGM. Tracy plays an inves ...
'' (1935), which included the feature film debut of
James Stewart. Thalberg then began a strategy of pairing Tracy with the studio's top actresses: ''
Whipsaw'' (1935) co-starred
Myrna Loy and was a commercial success.
[Curtis (2011) p. 272.] ''
Riffraff'' (1936) put Tracy opposite
Jean Harlow. Both films were, however, designed and promoted to showcase their
leading ladies
''Leading Ladies'' is a comedy play by Ken Ludwig. It involves two Shakespearean actors who find themselves in the Amish country of York, Pennsylvania, mounting Shakespeare plays. The play, a co-production of the Alley Theatre (Houston) and The ...
, thus continuing Tracy's reputation as a secondary star.
''
Fury'' (1936) was the first film to prove that Tracy could make a success on his own merit.
[Curtis (2011) p. 293.] Directed by
Fritz Lang, Tracy played an innocent man who swears revenge after narrowly escaping death by a
lynch mob. The film and performance received excellent reviews. It made a profit of $1.3 million worldwide. Curtis writes: "audiences who, just a year earlier, had no clear handle on him, were suddenly turning out to see him. It was a transition that was nothing short of miraculous ...
nd showeda willingness on the part of the public to embrace a leading man who was not textbook handsome nor bigger than life."
''Fury'' was followed one month later with the release of the big-budget disaster movie ''
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
'' (1936). Tracy played a
supporting role alongside
Clark Gable in the film, allowing audiences to see him with the top male star in Hollywood.
Taking on the role of a priest, Tracy reportedly felt a heavy responsibility in representing the church. Despite having only 17 minutes of screen time, Tracy was highly praised for his performance and received an
Oscar nomination for Best Actor. ''San Francisco'' became the highest-grossing picture of 1936. Donald Deschner, in his book on Tracy, credits ''Fury'' and ''San Francisco'' as the "two films that changed his career and gave him the status of a major star".
By this point, Tracy entered a period of self-imposed sobriety and MGM expressed pleasure with Tracy's professionalism. His public reputation continued to grow with ''
Libeled Lady'' (also 1936), a
screwball comedy that cast him with
William Powell, Loy and Harlow. According to Curtis, "Powell, Harlow and Loy were among the biggest draws in the industry, and equal billing in such a powerhouse company could only serve to advance Tracy's standing". ''Libeled Lady'' was his third hit picture in the space of six months.
Oscar wins
Tracy appeared in four films released in 1937. ''
They Gave Him a Gun
''They Gave Him a Gun'' is a 1937 American crime drama film directed by W. S. Van Dyke and starring Spencer Tracy, Gladys George, and Franchot Tone. The picture bears a resemblance to later films noir in its dark theme regarding the struggles and ...
'', a crime-drama, went largely unnoticed,
[Curtis (2011) p. 316.] but ''
Captains Courageous
''Captains Courageous: A Story of the Grand Banks'' is an 1897 novel by Rudyard Kipling that follows the adventures of fifteen-year-old Harvey Cheyne Jr., the spoiled son of a railroad tycoon, after he is saved from drowning by a Portuguese f ...
'' was one of the major film events of the year.
Tracy played a Portuguese fisherman in the adventure movie, based on the novel by
Rudyard Kipling. He was uncomfortable feigning a foreign accent, and resented having his hair curled, but the role was a hit with audiences and Tracy won the
Academy Award for Best Actor. ''Captains Courageous'' was followed by ''
Big City'' with
Luise Rainer and ''
Mannequin
A mannequin (also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off different fabrics and textiles. ...
'' with
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...
, the latter of which performed well at the box office. With two years of hit movies and industry recognition, Tracy became a star in the United States. A 1937 poll of 20 million people to find the "King and Queen of Hollywood" ranked Tracy sixth among males.
Tracy was reunited with Clark Gable and Myrna Loy for ''
Test Pilot'' (1938). The film was another enormous commercial and critical success, permanently cementing the notion of Gable and Tracy as a team in the public imagination.
Based on the positive response he had received in ''San Francisco'', MGM again cast Tracy as a priest in ''
Boys Town'' (also 1938). Portraying
Edward J. Flanagan, a Catholic priest and founder of
Boys Town in Nebraska, was a role Tracy took seriously: "I'm so anxious to do a good job as Father Flanagan that it worries me, keeps me awake at night." Tracy received strong reviews for his performance, and the movie grossed $4 million worldwide. For the second year running, Tracy received an Academy Award for Best Actor. He was humble about the recognition, saying in his acceptance speech: "I honestly do not feel that I can accept this award ... I can accept it only as it was meant to be for a great man—Father Flanagan". Although he did keep his Oscar, a second statuette was struck and immediately sent to Flanagan. Tracy was listed as the fifth biggest box office star of 1938.
Tracy was absent from screens for almost a year before returning to Fox on loan and appearing as
Henry M. Stanley
Sir Henry Morton Stanley (born John Rowlands; 28 January 1841 – 10 May 1904) was a Welsh-American explorer, journalist, soldier, colonial administrator, author and politician who was famous for his exploration of Central Africa and his sear ...
in ''
Stanley and Livingstone
''Stanley and Livingstone'' is a 1939 American adventure film directed by Henry King and Otto Brower. It is loosely based on the true story of Welsh reporter Sir Henry M. Stanley's quest to find Dr. David Livingstone, a Scottish missionary presum ...
'' (1939) with
Nancy Kelly. Curtis maintains that Tracy's non-visibility did little to affect his standing with the public or exhibitors. In October 1939, a ''
Fortune
Fortune may refer to:
General
* Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck
* Luck
* Wealth
* Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling
* Fortune, in a fortune cookie
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...
'' magazine survey of the nation's favorite movie actors listed Tracy in first place.
Established star
MGM capitalized on Tracy's popularity, casting him in four movies for 1940. ''
I Take This Woman'' with
Hedy Lamarr was a critical and commercial failure,
[Curtis (2011) p. 399.] but the historical drama ''
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the ...
''—Tracy's first film in
Technicolor—proved popular.
He then portrayed
Thomas Edison in ''
Edison, the Man''. Howard Barnes of the ''
New York Herald Tribune'' was not charmed by the story, but wrote that Tracy, "by sheer persuasion of his acting", made the film worthy. ''
Boom Town'' was the third and final Gable-Tracy picture, also starring
Claudette Colbert and
Hedy Lamarr, making it one of the most anticipated films of the year. The film opened to the biggest crowd since ''
Gone With the Wind''.
Tracy signed a new contract with MGM in April 1941, which paid $5,000 a week and limited him to three pictures a year (Tracy had previously expressed a need to reduce his workload). The contract also stated for the first time that his billing was to be "that of a star". Contrary to popular belief, the contract did not include a clause that he receive top billing, but from this point onward, every film Tracy appeared in featured his name in pole position.
Tracy returned to the role of Father Flanagan for the sequel ''
Men of Boys Town'' (1941). It was followed by Tracy's only venture into the horror genre, an adaptation of ''
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' (also 1941), co-starring
Ingrid Bergman and
Lana Turner. Tracy was unhappy with the film, disliking the heavy make-up he needed to portray Hyde. Critical response to the film was mixed. Theodore Strauss of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote that "Mr. Tracy's portrait of Hyde is not so much evil incarnate as it is the ham rampant." The film was financially successful, however, taking in more than $2 million at the box office.
Tracy was set to star in a film version of ''
The Yearling'' for 1942, but several on-set difficulties and bad weather on location forced MGM to shelve the production. With the end of that project, he became available for the new
Katharine Hepburn film, ''
Woman of the Year'' (1942). Hepburn greatly admired Tracy, calling him "the best movie actor there was". She had wanted him for her comeback vehicle, ''
The Philadelphia Story'' (1940). Hepburn was delighted that Tracy was available for ''Woman of the Year'', saying "I was just damned grateful he was willing to work with me."
[Berg (2004) p. 171.] The romantic comedy performed well at the box office and received strong reviews.
[Curtis (2011) p. 457.] William Boehnel wrote in the ''
New York World-Telegram'', "To begin with, it has Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy in the leading roles. This in itself would be enough to make any film memorable. But when you get Tracy and Hepburn turning in brilliant performances to boot, you've got something to cheer about."
''Woman of the Year'' was followed by an adaptation of
John Steinbeck's ''
Tortilla Flat
''Tortilla Flat'' (1935) is an early John Steinbeck novel set in Monterey, California. The novel was the author's first clear critical and commercial success.
The book portrays a group of 'paisanos'—literally, countrymen—a small band of er ...
'' (also 1942) which met with a tepid response. MGM did not hesitate to repeat the teaming of Tracy and Hepburn and cast them in the dark mystery ''
Keeper of the Flame'' (1942). Despite a weak critical reception the film out-grossed ''Woman of the Year'' confirming the strength of their partnership.
Tracy's next three appearances were all war-based. ''
A Guy Named Joe'' (1943) with
Irene Dunne surpassed ''San Francisco'' to become his highest-grossing film to date. ''
The Seventh Cross
''The Seventh Cross'' (german: Das siebte Kreuz) is a novel by Anna Seghers, one of the better-known examples of German literature circa World War II. It was first published in Mexico by ''El Libro Libre'' In 1942. The English translation came ...
'' (1944), a suspense film about an escape from a Nazi concentration camp, met with critical acclaim. It was followed by the aviation film ''
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'' (1944). On the strength of these three releases, the annual
Quigley poll revealed Tracy was MGM's biggest money-making star of 1944, His only film the following year was his third with Hepburn, ''
Without Love'' (1945), a light romantic comedy that performed well at the box office despite muted enthusiasm from critics.
[Curtis (2011) p. 515.]
Stage and screen
In 1945, Tracy returned to the stage for the first time in 15 years. He had been through a dark patch personally—culminating with a hospital stay—and Hepburn felt that a play would help restore his focus. Tracy told a journalist in April, "I'm coming back to Broadway to see if I can still act."
The play was ''The Rugged Path'' by
Robert E. Sherwood. It first previewed in
Providence
Providence often refers to:
* Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion
* Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity
* Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...
on September 28, to a sold-out crowd and tepid response. It was a difficult production; director
Garson Kanin later wrote: "In the ten days prior to the New York opening all the important relationships had deteriorated. Spencer was tense and unbending, could not, or would not, take direction". Tracy considered leaving the show before it even opened on Broadway, and lasted there just six weeks before announcing his intention to close the show. It closed on January 19, 1946, after 81 performances.
[Deschner (1972) p. 51.] Tracy later explained to a friend: "I couldn't say those goddamn lines over and over and over again every night ... At least every day is a new day for me in films ... But this thing—every day, every day, over and over again."
Tracy was absent from screens in 1946, the first year since his motion picture debut that there was no Spencer Tracy release.
[ His next film was '' The Sea of Grass'' (1947), a melodrama set in the American Old West with Hepburn. Similar to ''Keeper of the Flame'' and ''Without Love'', a lukewarm response from critics did not stop it from being a financial success both at home and abroad. He followed it later that year with '']Cass Timberlane
''Cass Timberlane'' is a 1947 romantic drama film starring Spencer Tracy, Lana Turner and Zachary Scott and directed by George Sidney. It was based on the 1945 novel ''Cass Timberlane: A Novel of Husbands and Wives'' by Sinclair Lewis, which was ...
'', in which he played a judge. It was a commercial success, but Curtis notes that co-star Lana Turner overshadowed Tracy in most of the reviews.
A fifth film with Hepburn, Frank Capra's political drama '' State of the Union'', was released in 1948. Tracy played a presidential candidate in the movie, which was warmly received.[Curtis (2011) p. 546.] He then appeared in '' Edward, My Son'' (1949) with Deborah Kerr. Tracy disliked the role, and told director George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor (; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head ...
, "It's rather disconcerting to me to find how easily I play a heel."[Curtis (2011) p. 567.] Upon its release, ''The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' wrote of the "hopeless miscasting of Mr. Tracy". The film became Tracy's biggest money-loser at MGM.
Tracy finished off the 1940s with '' Malaya'' (1949), an adventure film with James Stewart, and '' Adam's Rib'' (also 1949), a comedy with Tracy and Hepburn playing married lawyers who oppose each other in court. Tracy and Hepburn's friends, Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon, wrote the parts specifically for the two leads. The film received strong reviews and became the highest-grossing Tracy-Hepburn picture to date. Film critic Bosley Crowther wrote, "Mr. Tracy and Miss Hepburn are the stellar performers in this show and their perfect compatibility in comic capers is delightful to see."
Final MGM years
Tracy received his first Academy Award nomination in 12 years for playing the role of Stanley Banks in '' Father of the Bride'' (1950). In the comedy film, Banks attempts to handle preparations for the upcoming wedding of his daughter ( Elizabeth Taylor). "It's the second strong comedy in a row for Spencer Tracy, doing the title role, and he socks it", ''Variety'' commented.[Curtis (2011) p. 599.] The film was the biggest commercial success of Tracy's career to date, earning $6 million worldwide. MGM wanted a sequel, and while Tracy was unsure, he accepted.[Curtis (2011) p. 600.] '' Father's Little Dividend'' (1951) was released ten months later and performed well at the box office.[Curtis (2011) p. 609.] On the strength of the two movies, Tracy polled as one of the nation's top stars once more.
Tracy portrayed a lawyer in ''The People Against O'Hara
''The People Against O'Hara'' is a 1951 American crime film noir directed by John Sturges and based on Eleazar Lipsky's novel. The film features Spencer Tracy, Pat O'Brien, John Hodiak, and James Arness.
Plot
James Curtayne ( Tracy) was once a ...
'' (1951) and re-teamed with Hepburn for the sports comedy '' Pat and Mike'' (1952), the second feature written expressly for them by Kanin and Gordon. ''Pat and Mike'' became one of the duo's most popular and critically acclaimed films. Tracy followed it with ''Plymouth Adventure
''Plymouth Adventure'' is a 1952 Technicolor drama film with an ensemble cast starring Spencer Tracy, Gene Tierney, Van Johnson and Leo Genn, made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Clarence Brown, and produced by Dore Schary. The screenplay wa ...
'' (also 1952), an historical drama set aboard the ''Mayflower
''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, ...
'', co-starring Gene Tierney. It met with poor critical and box office response and posted a loss of $1.8 million for MGM. Tracy returned to the role of a concerned father in ''The Actress
''The Actress'' is a 1953 American comedy-drama film based on Ruth Gordon's autobiographical play ''Years Ago''. Gordon herself wrote the screenplay. The film was directed by George Cukor and stars Jean Simmons, Spencer Tracy, and Teresa Wright, ...
'' (1953). Producer Lawrence Weingarten recalled: "That film ... got more cclaimfrom the critics than any film I ever made in all the years, and we didn't make enough to pay for the ushers in the theatre." For his performance in ''The Actress'', Tracy won a Golden Globe Award and received a nomination for the British Academy Film Award.
MGM lent Tracy to Fox for the well-received Western film '' Broken Lance'', his only film released in 1954. In 1955, Tracy turned down William Wyler
William Wyler (; born Willi Wyler (); July 1, 1902 – July 27, 1981) was a Swiss-German-American film director and producer who won the Academy Award for Best Director three times, those being for '' Mrs. Miniver'' (1942), '' The Best Years o ...
's '' The Desperate Hours'' because he refused to take second-billing to Humphrey Bogart. Instead, Tracy appeared as a one-armed protagonist who faces the hostility of a small desert town in '' Bad Day at Black Rock'' (1955), a film directed by John Sturges. For his work, Tracy received a fifth Oscar nomination and was awarded the Best Actor
Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play.
The term most often refers to the ...
prize at the Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
.
Tracy had personally been unhappy with the picture and threatened to leave during production. This behavior became a regular occurrence for Tracy, who was increasingly lethargic and cynical. He began production on '' Tribute to a Bad Man'' in the summer of 1955, but pulled out when he claimed that the shooting location in the Colorado mountains gave him altitude sickness. The problems caused by the picture fractured Tracy's relationship with MGM. In June 1955, he was one of the two remaining stars of the studio's peak years (the other being Robert Taylor), but with his contract up for renewal, Tracy opted to freelance for the first time in his movie career.
Independent player (1956–67)
Tracy's first post-MGM appearance was in '' The Mountain'' (1956) with Robert Wagner, who played his much younger brother (Wagner had earlier played his son in ''Broken Lance''). The location filming in the French Alps proved a difficult experience, and he threatened to leave the project. His performance earned a BAFTA nomination for Best Foreign Actor. Tracy and Hepburn then paired together for the eighth time in the office-based comedy '' Desk Set'' (1957). He again had to be convinced to stay with the film, one which met with a weak response.
Tracy appeared in '' The Old Man and the Sea'' (1958), a project that had been in development for five years. An adaptation of Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...
's novella of the same title, Hemingway's agent, Leland Hayward, had previously written to the author: "Of all Hollywood people, the one that comes the closest to me in quality, in personality and voice, in personal dignity and ability, is Spencer Tracy."[Curtis (2011) p. 644.] Tracy was delighted to be offered the role. He was told to lose some of his 210 pounds before filming began but failed to do so. Hemingway thus reported that Tracy was a "terrible liability to the picture", and had to be reassured that the star was being carefully photographed to disguise his weight problem. Appearing alone on screen for most of the film, Tracy considered ''The Old Man and the Sea'' the toughest part he ever played. In reviewing the performance, Jack Moffitt of ''The Hollywood Reporter'' said it was "so intimate and revealing of universal human experience that, to me, it almost transcended acting and became reality". Tracy received Oscar and BAFTA Award nominations for the work.
After abandoning two projects, including a proposed remake of '' The Blue Angel'' with Marilyn Monroe, Tracy's next feature was '' The Last Hurrah'' (1958). It reunited him with his debut director, John Ford, after 28 years and his childhood friend Pat O'Brien. Tracy took a year to commit to the project, in which he played an Irish-American mayor seeking re-election.[Curtis (2011) p. 741. John Ford comment: "When I say Spencer Tracy is the best actor we ever had, I'm giving you something of my philosophy on acting. The best is most natural."] The movie was favorably reviewed, but not commercially successful. At the end of 1958, the National Board of Review named Tracy the year's Best Actor
Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play.
The term most often refers to the ...
. He nevertheless began to ponder retirement, with Curtis writing that he was "chronically tired, unhappy, ill, and uninterested in work".
Stanley Kramer partnership
Tracy did not appear on the screen again until the release of '' Inherit the Wind'' (1960), a film based on the 1925 Scopes "Monkey Trial" which debated the right to teach evolution in schools. Director Stanley Kramer
Stanley Earl Kramer (September 29, 1913February 19, 2001) was an American film director and producer, responsible for making many of Hollywood's most famous "message picture, message films" (he would call his movies ''heavy dramas'') and a libera ...
sought Tracy for the role of lawyer Henry Drummond (based on Clarence Darrow), from the outset. Starring opposite Tracy was Fredric March, a pairing ''Variety'' described as "a stroke of casting genius ... Both men are spellbinders in the most laudatory sense of the word."[Curtis (2011) p. 768.] The film garnered Tracy some of the strongest reviews of his career—he was nominated for an Academy Award, BAFTA Award and Golden Globe Award for the performance—but it was not a commercial hit.[Curtis (2011) p. 769.]
In the volcano disaster movie '' The Devil at 4 O'Clock'' (1961), Tracy played a priest for the fourth time in his career. His co-star, Frank Sinatra, ceded top-billing to guarantee Tracy for the picture. Continuing his pattern of indecisiveness, Tracy briefly pulled out of the production before recommitting. Critics were unenthusiastic about the film, which was nevertheless Tracy's most successful box-office outing since ''Father of the Bride''.
''Inherit the Wind'' began an enduring collaboration between Stanley Kramer and Tracy—Kramer directed Tracy's three final films. '' Judgment at Nuremberg'', released at the end of 1961, was their second feature together. The film depicts the " Judges' Trial", the trial of Nazi judges for their role in the Holocaust. Abby Mann
Abby Mann (December 1, 1927 – March 25, 2008) was an American film writer and producer.
Life and career
The son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Mann was born as Abraham Goodman in Philadelphia. He grew up in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
D ...
wrote the role of Judge Haywood with Tracy in mind; Tracy called it the best script he had ever read. At the end of the film, Tracy delivered a 13-minute speech. He recorded it in one take and received a round of applause from the cast and crew. Upon seeing the film, Mann wrote to Tracy: "Every writer ought to have the experience of having Spencer Tracy do his lines. There is nothing in the world quite like it." The film met with positive reviews and a large audience; Tracy received an eighth Oscar nomination for his performance.
Tracy turned down roles in '' Long Day's Journey into Night'' (1962) and '' The Leopard'' (1963), and had to pull out of MGM's all-star '' How the West Was Won'' (1962) when it clashed with ''Judgment at Nuremberg''. He was, however, able to record the film's narration track. Tracy was in very poor health by this time, and working became a challenge. In 1962, he took the role of Captain T. G. Culpeper in Kramer's comedy '' It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'' (1963), a small but key part that he was able to complete in nine non-consecutive days. The film was released in November 1963. Tracy's name topped the list of performers, and the comedy became one of the highest-grossing American films of the year. As his health worsened, he had to cancel commitments to ''Cheyenne Autumn
''Cheyenne Autumn'' is a 1964 American epic Western film starring Richard Widmark, Carroll Baker, James Stewart, and Edward G. Robinson. It tells the story of a factual event, the Northern Cheyenne Exodus of 1878–79, told in "Hollywood style" ...
'' (1964) and '' The Cincinnati Kid'' (1965). Film offers continued to come, but Tracy did not work again until 1967 when he took the starring role in Kramer's '' Guess Who's Coming to Dinner'' (1967), Tracy's ninth and final film with Hepburn.
''Guess Who's Coming to Dinner'' explored the topic of interracial marriage, with Tracy playing a liberal-minded newspaper publisher whose values are challenged when his daughter wishes to marry a black man, played by Sidney Poitier. Tracy appeared happy to be working again, but he told journalists visiting the set that the movie would be his last for he would permanently retire after filming due to his health problems. To commence filming, Tracy had to be insured for the high premium of $71,000 if he died during filming; Hepburn and Kramer both put their salaries in escrow until Tracy completed his scenes. In poor health, Tracy could work for only two or three hours each day. He completed his last scene on May 24, 1967. Tracy died 17 days later from a heart attack on June 10.
The film was released in December 1967, and although reviews were mixed, Curtis notes that "Tracy's performance was singled out for praise in nearly every instance."[Curtis (2011) p. 873.] Brendan Gill of ''The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' wrote that Tracy gave "a faultless and, under the circumstances, heartbreaking performance". The movie became Tracy's highest grossing picture. He received a posthumous nomination for Best Actor—his ninth—at the 40th Academy Awards, along with a Golden Globe Award nomination and a BAFTA win for Best Actor.
Personal life
Marriage and family
Tracy met actress Louise Treadwell while they were both members of the Wood Players in White Plains, New York—the first stock company Tracy joined after graduating. The couple was engaged in May 1923, and married on September 10 of that year between the matinee and evening performances of his show.
Their son, John Ten Broeck Tracy, was born in June 1924. When John was 10 months old, Louise discovered that the boy was deaf. She resisted telling Tracy for three months. Tracy was devastated by the news and felt lifelong guilt over his son's deafness. He was convinced that John's hearing impairment was a punishment for his own sins. As a result, Tracy had trouble connecting with his son and distanced himself from his family. Joseph L. Mankiewicz, a friend of Tracy's, later theorized: "racy
Racy may refer to:
* Racy, West Virginia
* An unincorporated community in Chapin Township, Michigan
* ''Racy'' (album)
* Mridula Ahmed Racy
Mridula Ahmed Racy, who is known by her stage name Racy, is a Bangladeshi actress, business person ...
didn't leave Louise. He left the scene of his guilt." A second child, Louise "Susie" Treadwell Tracy, was born in July 1932. The children were raised in their mother's Episcopal faith.
Tracy left the family home in 1933, and he and Louise openly discussed the separation with the media, maintaining that they were still friends and had not taken divorce action. From September 1933 to June 1934, Tracy had a public affair with Loretta Young, his co-star in ''Man's Castle''. He reconciled with Louise in 1935. There was never again an official separation between Tracy and his wife, but the marriage continued to be troubled. Tracy increasingly lived in hotels and by the 1940s, the two were effectively living separate lives. Tracy frequently engaged in extramarital affairs, including with co-stars Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...
in 1937 and Ingrid Bergman in 1941. He had an affair with Myrna Loy in 1935 and 1936. In 1990, during a phone interview with educator Alan Greenberg, Loy revealed she was in love with Tracy. "I loved Spence, he was adorable...I loved him and I really did love him. I loved him. I mean I was in love with him and she atharine Hepburngot in the way."
Katharine Hepburn
While making ''Woman of the Year'' in September 1941, Tracy began what was to become a lifelong relationship with Katharine Hepburn. The actress became devoted to him, and their relationship lasted until his death 26 years later.[ Tracy never returned to live in the family home, although he visited regularly.
The MGM moguls were careful to protect their stars from controversy, and Tracy wished to conceal his relationship with Hepburn from his wife, so it was hidden from the public. The couple did not live together until the final years of Tracy's life,][Curtis (2011) p. 814.] when they shared a cottage on George Cukor's estate in Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...
.[ In Hollywood, however, the intimate nature of the Tracy-Hepburn partnership was an open secret. Angela Lansbury, who worked with the pair on ''State of the Union'', later said: "We all knew, but nobody ever said anything. In those days it wasn't discussed."][ Tracy was not someone to express his emotions, but friend Betsy Drake believed he "was ''utterly'' dependent upon Hepburn". Tracy's infidelity apparently continued, however, and he is reported to have had an affair with Gene Tierney during the making of ''Plymouth Adventure'' in 1952.
Neither Tracy nor his wife ever pursued a divorce, despite their estrangement. He told Joan Fontaine, "I can get a divorce whenever I want to, but my wife and Kate like things just as they are." Louise, meanwhile, reportedly commented, "I will be Mrs. Spencer Tracy until the day I die."] Hepburn did not interfere and never fought for marriage.
Character
Tracy was an avowed Catholic, but his cousin, Jane Feely, said that he did not devoutly follow the religion: "he was often not a practical Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
either. I would call him a spiritual Catholic." Garson Kanin, a friend of Tracy's for 25 years, described him as "a true believer" who respected his religion. At periods in his life, Tracy attended Mass regularly. Tracy did not believe actors should publicize their political views, but in 1940 lent his name to the "Hollywood for Roosevelt" committee and personally identified as a Democrat.
Tracy struggled with alcoholism
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomi ...
throughout his adult life, an ailment that ran in his father's side of the family. Rather than being a steady drinker, as commonly thought, he was prone to periods of binging on alcohol. Loretta Young remarked that Tracy was "awful" when he was drunk, and he was twice arrested for his behavior while intoxicated. Because of this bad reaction to alcohol, Tracy regularly embarked on prolonged periods of sobriety and developed an all-or-nothing routine. Hepburn commented that he would stop drinking for "months, even years at a time" before falling off the wagon without warning.["Katharine Hepburn: All About Me", Directed by David Healy, Top Hat Productions, Turner Network Television, January 18, 1993. (Stated by Hepburn in this documentary.)]
Tracy was prone to bouts of depression and anxiety: he was described by Mrs. Tracy as having "the most volatile disposition I've ever seen—up in the clouds one minute and down in the depths the next. And when he's low, he's very, very low." He was plagued by insomnia throughout his life. As a result, Tracy became dependent on barbiturates to sleep, followed by dexedrine to function. Hepburn, who adopted a nursing role towards Tracy, was unable to understand her partner's unhappiness. She wrote in her autobiography: "What was it? ... Never at peace ... Tortured by some sort of guilt. Some terrible misery."
Illness and death
Tracy's adult life of alcoholism, smoking cigarettes, taking pills and being overweight left him in poor health by the time he reached his 60s. On July 21, 1963, Tracy was hospitalized after a severe attack of breathlessness.[Curtis (2011) p. 814] Doctors found that he was suffering from pulmonary edema, where fluid accumulates in the lungs due to an inability of the heart to pump properly.[Curtis (2011) p. 815.] They also declared his blood pressure dangerously high.[Curtis (2011) p. 816.] From this point on Tracy remained very weak, and Hepburn moved into his home to provide constant care. In January 1965, he was diagnosed with hypertensive heart disease and also began treatment for a previously ignored diagnosis of Type II diabetes. Tracy almost died in September 1965: a stay in the hospital following a prostatectomy resulted in his kidneys failing, and he spent the night in a coma. His recovery the next day was described by his attending doctor as "a kind of miracle".
Tracy spent most of the next two years at home with Hepburn, living what she described as a quiet life: reading, painting, and listening to music. On June 10, 1967, 17 days after completing what was his last film role in '' Guess Who's Coming to Dinner'', Tracy awakened at 3:00 am to make himself a cup of tea in his apartment in Beverly Hills, California. Hepburn described in her autobiography how she followed him to the kitchen: "Just as I was about to give he doora push, there was a sound of a cup smashing to the floor—then clump—a loud clump." She entered the room to find Tracy lying dead from a heart attack. He was 67. Hepburn recalled, "He looked so happy to be done with living, which for all his accomplishments had been a frightful burden for him." MGM publicist Howard Strickling told the media that Tracy had been alone when he died and was found by his housekeeper.
A Requiem Mass was held for Tracy on June 12 at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in East Hollywood
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
. Active pallbearers included George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor (; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head ...
, Stanley Kramer
Stanley Earl Kramer (September 29, 1913February 19, 2001) was an American film director and producer, responsible for making many of Hollywood's most famous "message picture, message films" (he would call his movies ''heavy dramas'') and a libera ...
, Frank Sinatra, James Stewart, and John Ford
John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
. Out of consideration for Tracy's family, Hepburn did not attend the funeral. Tracy is interred at Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park, near his wife Louise, son John and daughter Susie.
Reputation and acting style
Tracy had a solid reputation among his peers and received considerable praise from the film industry. After his death, MGM head Dore Schary
Isadore "Dore" Schary (August 31, 1905 – July 7, 1980) was an American playwright, director, and producer for the stage and a prolific screenwriter and producer of motion pictures. He directed just one feature film, '' Act One'', the film bi ...
said that there "can be no question that racy
Racy may refer to:
* Racy, West Virginia
* An unincorporated community in Chapin Township, Michigan
* ''Racy'' (album)
* Mridula Ahmed Racy
Mridula Ahmed Racy, who is known by her stage name Racy, is a Bangladeshi actress, business person ...
was the best and most protean actor of our screen". He was referred to as the greatest actor of his generation by Clark Gable, James Cagney,[Kanin (1971) p. 239. "Spence? He's the most difficult son-of-a-bitch I've ever known. And the best. Certainly the best actor."] Humphrey Bogart, John Ford
John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
, Garson Kanin, and Katharine Hepburn. Actor Richard Widmark, who idolized Tracy, called him "the greatest movie actor there ever was" and said that he had "learned more about acting from watching Tracy than in any other way".
Tracy was particularly respected for his naturalism onscreen. Hume Cronyn
Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. OC (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a Canadian-American actor and writer.
Early life
Cronyn, one of five children, was born in London, Ontario, Canada. His father, Hume Blake Cronyn, Sr., was a businessman an ...
, who worked with Tracy on ''The Seventh Cross'', admired his screen presence: "His method appeared to be as simple as it is difficult to achieve. He appeared to do nothing. He listened, he felt, he said the words without forcing anything." Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...
likewise expressed her admiration for Tracy's seemingly effortless performances, stating that it was "inspiring" to co-star with him and that "his is such simplicity of performance, such naturalness and humor ..he walks through a scene ndmakes it seem so easy".[Deschner (1972) p. 13; Crawford's comment: "It was inspiring to play opposite Tracy," she said. "His is such simplicity of performance, such naturalness and humor. He walks through a scene.... He makes it seem so easy."] His four-time co-star Joan Bennett
Joan Geraldine Bennett (February 27, 1910 – December 7, 1990) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She came from a show-business family, one of three acting sisters. Beginning her career on the stage, Bennett appeared in more t ...
said that she "never had the feeling he was 'acting' in a scene, but the truth of the situation was actually happening, spontaneously, at the moment he spoke his lines". Cagney noted that Tracy was rarely the target of impressionists because "you can't mimic reserve and control very well ..there's nothing to imitate except his genius and that can't be mimicked".
Tracy was praised for his listening and reacting skills; Barry Nelson
Barry Nelson (born Robert Haakon Nielsen; April 16, 1917 – April 7, 2007) was an American actor, noted as the first actor to portray Ian Fleming's secret agent James Bond.
Early life
Nelson was born in San Francisco, the son of Norwegian immi ...
said that he "brought the art of reacting to a new height", while Stanley Kramer
Stanley Earl Kramer (September 29, 1913February 19, 2001) was an American film director and producer, responsible for making many of Hollywood's most famous "message picture, message films" (he would call his movies ''heavy dramas'') and a libera ...
declared that he "thought and listened better than anyone in the history of motion pictures". Millard Kaufman noted that Tracy "listened with every fiber of his entire body". In his memoir, Burt Reynolds noted Tracy's emphasis on naturalism when, as a rookie actor, he observed Tracy on the set of ''Inherit the Wind''. Reynolds later introduced himself to Tracy as an actor and Tracy replied, "An actor, huh? Just remember not to ever let anyone catch you at it."
Despite the perception that he was able to turn up to a shoot and perform effortlessly, Tracy's acquaintances said that he would carefully prepare for each role in private. Joseph L. Mankiewicz lived with him during the production of ''Test Pilot'', and recounted that Tracy would lock himself in his bedroom "working extremely hard" each night. Many co-workers commented on his strong work ethic and professionalism. However, he did not like to rehearse and would quickly lose his "effectiveness" after shooting two or three takes of the same scene. Kanin described him as "an instinctive player, who trusted the moment of creation". Tracy's close friend Chester Erskine pinpointed his acting style as one of "selection", stating that he strove to give as little as was needed to be effective and reached "a minimum to make the maximum".
Tracy disliked being asked about his technique or what advice he would give to others. He often belittled the profession of acting, once saying to Kanin, "Why do actors think they're so goddamn important? They're not. Acting is not an important job in the scheme of things. Plumbing is." He was also humble about his abilities, telling a journalist, "It's just that I try no tricks. No profile. No 'great lover' act ... I just project myself as I am—plain, trying to be honest." He was known to have enjoyed the quip once made by Alfred Lunt
Alfred David Lunt (August 12, 1892 – August 3, 1977) was an American actor and director, best known for his long stage partnership with his wife, Lynn Fontanne, from the 1920s to 1960, co-starring in Broadway and West End productions. After th ...
, "The art of acting is: learn your lines and don't bump into the furniture!" Hepburn, in an interview six years after Tracy's death, suggested that Tracy wished he had held a different profession.
Assessment and legacy
In the 21st century, Tracy is best known to general audiences for his association with Katharine Hepburn. He continues to receive praise from film scholars: critic Leonard Maltin calls Tracy "one of the 20th century's finest actors", while film historian Jeanine Basinger Jeanine Basinger (born 3 February 1936, in Ravenden, AR), a film historian, retired in 2020 as the Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies and Founder and Curator of The Cinema Archives at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut.
Education
B ...
describes his career as a "golden record of movie achievement". Charles Matthews, writing for ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'', argues that "Tracy deserves to be remembered for himself, as a master of acting technique".
An award for excellence in film acting is bestowed in Tracy's name at the University of California, Los Angeles. Past recipients of the UCLA Spencer Tracy Award include James Stewart, Michael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the AF ...
, Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks, Anthony Hopkins, Kirk Douglas and Morgan Freeman.
A 1986 PBS documentary titled ''The Spencer Tracy Legacy'' was hosted by Hepburn. It includes clips from Tracy's films, and behind-the-scenes archival footage and home movies of Tracy's private life and career, as well as newly filmed interviews with many of his former co-stars,[ and with his daughter Susie Tracy.][Kramer and Heeley (2015).] In 2009, Tracy provided inspiration for the character Carl in Pixar's Oscar-winning film '' Up''. Director Pete Docter explained that there is "something sweet about these grumpy old guys". In 2014, a film about Tracy's relationship with Katharine Hepburn was announced to be in development.
Several of Tracy's films, particularly his comedies, are regarded as classics of American cinema. He starred in four of the titles on the American Film Institute's list of " 100 Years ... 100 Laughs": '' Adam's Rib'', '' It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'', '' Father of the Bride'' and '' Woman of the Year''. '' Guess Who's Coming to Dinner'' was included on AFI's list of the 100 greatest American movies, while ''Captains Courageous
''Captains Courageous: A Story of the Grand Banks'' is an 1897 novel by Rudyard Kipling that follows the adventures of fifteen-year-old Harvey Cheyne Jr., the spoiled son of a railroad tycoon, after he is saved from drowning by a Portuguese f ...
'' was featured on their list of America's most inspiring movies.
Awards and nominations
Tracy was nominated for nine Academy Awards for Best Actor
Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play.
The term most often refers to the ...
, a category record he holds with Laurence Olivier. He was the first of nine actors to win the award twice, and is one of two actors to receive it consecutively, the other being Tom Hanks. Tracy was also nominated for five British Academy Film Awards, of which he won two, and four Golden Globe Awards, winning once. In addition, he received the Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
award for Best Actor
Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play.
The term most often refers to the ...
and was once named Best Actor
Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play.
The term most often refers to the ...
by the National Board of Review.
Tracy was recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:
* 1937: Nomination for ''San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
''
* 1938: Win for ''Captains Courageous
''Captains Courageous: A Story of the Grand Banks'' is an 1897 novel by Rudyard Kipling that follows the adventures of fifteen-year-old Harvey Cheyne Jr., the spoiled son of a railroad tycoon, after he is saved from drowning by a Portuguese f ...
''
* 1939: Win for '' Boys Town''
* 1951: Nomination for '' Father of the Bride''
* 1956: Nomination for '' Bad Day at Black Rock''
* 1959: Nomination for '' The Old Man and the Sea''
* 1961: Nomination for '' Inherit the Wind''
* 1962: Nomination for '' Judgment at Nuremberg''
* 1968: Nomination for '' Guess Who's Coming to Dinner'' (posthumous nomination)
Filmography
Selected filmography:
* '' Up the River'' (1930) with Humphrey Bogart
* ''20,000 Years in Sing Sing
''20,000 Years in Sing Sing'' is a 1932 American Pre-Code drama film set in Sing Sing Penitentiary, the maximum security prison in Ossining, New York, starring Spencer Tracy as an inmate and Bette Davis as his girlfriend. It was directed by Mic ...
'' (1932) with Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her p ...
* '' The Power and the Glory'' (1933) with Colleen Moore
* '' Man's Castle'' (1933) with Loretta Young
* '' Whipsaw'' (1935) with Myrna Loy
* '' Fury'' (1936) with Sylvia Sidney
* ''San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
'' (1936) with Clark Gable
* '' Libeled Lady'' (1936) with Jean Harlow
* ''Captains Courageous
''Captains Courageous: A Story of the Grand Banks'' is an 1897 novel by Rudyard Kipling that follows the adventures of fifteen-year-old Harvey Cheyne Jr., the spoiled son of a railroad tycoon, after he is saved from drowning by a Portuguese f ...
'' (1937) with Freddie Bartholomew and Lionel Barrymore
* ''They Gave Him a Gun
''They Gave Him a Gun'' is a 1937 American crime drama film directed by W. S. Van Dyke and starring Spencer Tracy, Gladys George, and Franchot Tone. The picture bears a resemblance to later films noir in its dark theme regarding the struggles and ...
'' (1937)
* ''Mannequin
A mannequin (also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off different fabrics and textiles. ...
'' (1937) with Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...
and Alan Curtis
* '' Test Pilot'' (1938) with Clark Gable
* '' Boys Town'' (1938) with Mickey Rooney
* '' Boom Town'' (1940) with Clark Gable
* '' Edison, the Man '' (1940) with Gene Lockhart
* ''Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the ...
'' (1940) with Robert Young and Walter Brennan
* '' Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' (1941) with Ingrid Bergman
* '' Woman of the Year'' (1942) with Katharine Hepburn
* '' Ring of Steel'' (1942) as narrator
* '' Keeper of the Flame'' (1942) with Katharine Hepburn
* '' A Guy Named Joe'' (1943) with Irene Dunne
* ''The Seventh Cross
''The Seventh Cross'' (german: Das siebte Kreuz) is a novel by Anna Seghers, one of the better-known examples of German literature circa World War II. It was first published in Mexico by ''El Libro Libre'' In 1942. The English translation came ...
'' (1944) with Hume Cronyn
Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. OC (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a Canadian-American actor and writer.
Early life
Cronyn, one of five children, was born in London, Ontario, Canada. His father, Hume Blake Cronyn, Sr., was a businessman an ...
* '' Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'' (1944) with Van Johnson
Charles Van Dell Johnson (August 25, 1916 – December 12, 2008) was an American film, television, theatre and radio actor. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II.
Johnson was described as the embodiment ...
* '' Without Love'' (1945) with Katharine Hepburn
* '' Sea of Grass'' (1947) with Katharine Hepburn
* '' State of the Union'' (1948) with Katharine Hepburn
* '' Adam's Rib'' (1949) with Katharine Hepburn
* '' Malaya'' (1949) with James Stewart
* '' Father of the Bride'' (1950) with Elizabeth Taylor
* '' Father's Little Dividend'' (1951) with Joan Bennett
Joan Geraldine Bennett (February 27, 1910 – December 7, 1990) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She came from a show-business family, one of three acting sisters. Beginning her career on the stage, Bennett appeared in more t ...
* ''Plymouth Adventure
''Plymouth Adventure'' is a 1952 Technicolor drama film with an ensemble cast starring Spencer Tracy, Gene Tierney, Van Johnson and Leo Genn, made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Clarence Brown, and produced by Dore Schary. The screenplay wa ...
'' (1952) with Gene Tierney
* '' Pat and Mike'' (1952) with Katharine Hepburn
* ''The Actress
''The Actress'' is a 1953 American comedy-drama film based on Ruth Gordon's autobiographical play ''Years Ago''. Gordon herself wrote the screenplay. The film was directed by George Cukor and stars Jean Simmons, Spencer Tracy, and Teresa Wright, ...
'' (1953) with Jean Simmons
* '' Broken Lance'' (1954) with Richard Widmark
* '' Bad Day at Black Rock'' (1955) with Robert Ryan
* '' The Mountain'' (1956) with Robert Wagner
* '' Desk Set'' (1957) with Katharine Hepburn
* '' The Old Man and the Sea'' (1958)
* '' The Last Hurrah'' (1958) with Jeffrey Hunter
* '' Inherit the Wind'' (1960) with Fredric March
* '' The Devil at 4 O'Clock'' (1961) with Frank Sinatra, Kerwin Mathews
* '' Judgment at Nuremberg'' (1961) with Burt Lancaster
* '' It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'' (1963) with Jonathan Winters
* '' Guess Who's Coming to Dinner'' (1967) with Katharine Hepburn
References
Sources
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Further reading
* Wise, James (1997). ''Stars in Blue: Movie Actors in America's Sea Services''. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.
External links
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Profile
at Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of ...
Genealogical Profile
a
TraceyClann
* Chang, David A
"Spencer Tracy's Boyhood: Truth, Fiction, and Hollywood Dreams,"
''Wisconsin Magazine of History'', vol. 84, no. 1 (Autumn 2000)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tracy, Spencer
1900 births
1967 deaths
20th-century American male actors
Male actors from Milwaukee
American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni
American male film actors
United States Navy personnel of World War I
Military personnel from Wisconsin
American people of Irish descent
American male stage actors
American male radio actors
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor winners
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
David di Donatello winners
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players
Ripon College (Wisconsin) alumni
United States Navy sailors
Wisconsin Democrats
20th Century Studios contract players
Catholics from New York (state)
Marquette University High School alumni
Members of The Lambs Club