SPENCER TRACY ,
AMERICAN CELEBRATED ACTOR
BORN 1900 APRIL 5 - 1967,JUNE 10
Born April 5, 1900 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Died June 10, 1967 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA (heart attack following lung congestion)
Birth Name Spencer Bonaventure Tracy
Nicknames Spence
Pops
Height 5' 9½" (1.77 m)
Mini Bio (1)
Spencer Tracy was born four years after his brother Carroll to truck salesman John Edward and Caroline Brown Tracy. He attended Marquette Academy along with Pat O'Brien and the two left school to enlist in the Navy at the start of World War I. He was still at Norfolk Navy Yard in Virginia at the end of the war. At Ripon College he did well in the lead of "The Truth" and decided on acting as a career. In New York he roomed with O'Brien while they attended the Academy of Dramatic Arts. In 1923 they both got nonspeaking parts as robots in "R.U.R". In stock he supported himself with jobs as bellhop, janitor and salesman. John Ford saw his critically acclaimed performance in the lead role in the play "The Last Mile" and signed him to Up the River (1930) for Fox. Despite appearing in 16 films there over the next 5 years, Tracy never achieved star status there (during his stint the studio had floundered and was absorbed into Darryl F. Zanuck's 20th Century Pictures). In 1935 he signed with MGM under the aegis of Irving Thalberg and his career flourished. He became the first actor to win back-to-back Oscars for Captains Courageous (1937) and in a project he initially didn't want to star in, Boys Town (1938). He was nominated for San Francisco (1936),
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>
Spouse (1)
Louise Ten Broeck Treadwell (12 September 1923 - 10 June 1967) ( his death) ( 2 children)
Trade Mark (5)
Often wore a lopsided fedora hat in his films
Blocky shoulders
Plain, everyman looks
Raspy but strong voice
Relatable characters who must change their way of thinking
Trivia (63)
Sometimes people confuse Spencer Tracy and James Whitmore. The two sometimes look as if they could have been brothers.
In October 1997 he was ranked #64 in "Empire" (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.
Born at 1:57am-CST
Interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, CA, in the Garden of Everlasting Peace, on the right just after entering.
His Best Actor Oscar for Boys Town (1938) is inscribed with the name "Dick Tracy."
Attended Ripon College in Ripon, WI, but did not graduate.
Attended no fewer than six high schools: Wauwatosa (WI) High School; St. John's Cathedral School (Milwaukee, WI); St. Mary's (near Topeka, KS); Rockhurst High School (Kansas City, MO) ; Marquette Academy (Milwaukee); WWI service; Northwestern Military and Naval Academy (Lake Geneva, WI); and West Division High School (Milwaukee), from which he graduated in 1921.
In 1956/57 when his longtime friend Humphrey Bogart was dying of cancer, Tracy and Katharine Hepburn were two of the few people who visited Bogie (and wife Lauren Bacall) at their home on an almost daily basis. They would sit together at Bogie's bedside for half an hour or so every evening in the months and weeks leading up to his death. After Bogie's death, Bacall requested that Tracy deliver the eulogy at the funeral. He apologetically declined, saying it would simply be too difficult for him. He felt he would be too emotional and wouldn't be able to do it. Bacall understood and director John Huston delivered the eulogy instead.
Tracy was offered the role of The Penguin in the TV series Batman (1966) before Burgess Meredith. He said he would only accept the role if he was allowed to kill Batman.
Died only 17 days after filming of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) had been completed.
Made nine films with Katharine Hepburn, the first of which was Woman of the Year (1942). The last was Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967).
He was voted the 15th Greatest Movie Star of all time by "Entertainment Weekly".
Had two children from his marriage to Louise Treadwell: Son, John Ten Broeck Tracy (born 26 June 1924, died 15 June 2007) and daughter, Louise Treadwell 'Susie' Tracy (born July 1 1932).
Son John was born deaf; as a result, his wife, Louise, became an activist for deaf education, establishing the John Tracy Clinic at USC.
He is often mentioned alongside Laurence Olivier and Marlon Brando as the greatest movie actor of all time. Unlike the other two, however, Tracy was not already successful and well-known as a stage actor before getting into films.
His father was of Irish descent and his mother was descended from the earliest English settlers in America.
Katharine Hepburn, his frequent screen partner and longtime flame, never watched Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) because it was his last film and watching it with him gone was too painful for her.
He was voted the 19th Greatest Movie Star of all time by "Premiere Magazine".
Named the #9 Greatest Actor on The 50 Greatest Screen Legends List by The American Film Institute
When he needed a break he would often go back to Milwaukee and frequent the local watering holes. However, finding him proved to be an almost impossible challenge for Katharine Hepburn, because there are so many bars in Milwaukee.
In 2006 his performance as Henry Drummond in Inherit the Wind (1960) is ranked #67 on "Premiere Magazine''s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time.
Has three films on the American Film Institute's 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time. They are: Captains Courageous (1937) at #94, Boys Town (1938) at #81 and _Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)_ at #35.
In 1935 MGM bought Tracy's contact from 20th Century-Fox, as Louis B. Mayer respected his talent and thought he would be a good second lead, particularly in support of the studio's #1 male star, Clark Gable. Tracy had never developed into a star in his five years at Fox (which was merged with Darryl F. Zanuck's 20th Century Pictures) and the studio had cooled on him. After four years of playing second-fiddle to Gable (and inevitably losing the girl to the man they called "The King" of Hollywood), Tracy came into his own as a star in MGM vehicles such as Captains Courageous (1937) and Boys Town (1938), for both of which he won back-to-back Best Actor Oscars. Though he remained friends with Gable, the two never co-starred together after 1940.
Didn't like to rehearse and would read through a scene only once, five days before shooting. He also never liked to shoot a scene more than once, and in most cases he didn't have to.
His political views are disputed. Some sources state that he was an arch-conservative during the 1930s, but his views moderated after he met Katharine Hepburn. Others say that he was always a moderate Democrat. He often said he believed actors had no place in politics.
Was supposed to star in Ten North Frederick (1958), but had to withdraw due to poor health and was replaced by Gary Cooper.
His father, John Tracy, worked as a clerk at a railroad office.
Longtime companion Katharine Hepburn did not attend his funeral out of respect to his family.
He won an Oscar for playing Father Edward Flanagan in Boys Town (1938), making him one of 18 actors to win the Award for playing a real person who was still alive at the evening of the Award ceremony (as of 2015). The other 17 and their respective performances are: Gary Cooper for playing Alvin C. York in Sergeant York (1941), Patty Duke for playing Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker (1962), Jason Robards for playing Ben Bradlee in All the President's Men (1976), Sissy Spacek for playing Loretta Lynn in "Coal Miner's Daughter" (1980), Robert De Niro for playing Jake La Motta in Raging Bull (1980), Jeremy Irons for playing Claus Von Bullow in Reversal of Fortune (1990), Susan Sarandon for playing Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking (1995), Geoffrey Rush for playing David Helfgott in Shine (1996), Julia Roberts for playing Erin Brockovich in Erin Brockovich (2000), Jim Broadbent for playing John Bayley in Iris (2001), Jennifer Connelly for playing Alicia Nash in A Beautiful Mind (2001), Helen Mirren for playing Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen (2006), Sandra Bullock for playing Leigh Anne Tuohy in The Blind Side (2009), Melissa Leo for playing Alice Eklund-Ward in The Fighter (2010), Christian Bale for playing Dickie Eklund in The Fighter (2010), Meryl Streep for playing Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady (2011) and Eddie Redmayne for playing Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything (2014).
His son, John Tracy, died June 15, 2007, at his son's home in Acton, Calif. He was 82. Cause of death, following a long illness, was unknown. His sister, Louise Treadwell "Susie" Tracy, announced his death.
Turned down Cary Grant's role in The Philadelphia Story (1940) because he was eager to make Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941).
He was sought for Fredric March's role in The Desperate Hours (1955) opposite Humphrey Bogart, but would not take second billing.
He is featured as a character in the mystery novel, "Dead at the Box Office" by John Dandola, which is set during the World Premiere of Edison, the Man (1940).
Attended the Democratic National Convention in 1944.
Warner Bros. bought the rights to the book "Mute Witness", about a Boston detective who ate a lot of ice cream and never solved a case, with Tracy in mind to star. Upon his death, a chase scene was added to the script, the location changed to San Francisco, and the character--Detective Frank Bullitt--changed to be played by Steve McQueen.
Received a posthumous Best Actor Academy Award nomination for his film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). His widow Louise attended the ceremony in the event that he would win. However, the award went instead to Rod Steiger for In the Heat of the Night (1967).
As of 2009 he is only one of six performers who won a Golden Globe Award as Best Lead Actor/Actress in a Motion Picture Drama without being nominated for an Oscar for that same role (for The Actress (1953)). The others are Anthony Franciosa in Career (1959), Omar Sharif in Doctor Zhivago (1965), Shirley MacLaine in Madame Sousatzka (1988), Jim Carrey in The Truman Show (1998) and Kate Winslet in Revolutionary Road (2008).
He was supposed to appear in Cheyenne Autumn (1964) and The Cincinnati Kid (1965), but suffered a severe heart attack in 1963. Edward G. Robinson replaced him in both movies.
Has a street named after him in Iowa City, IA.
Was seriously ill with emphysema as well as diabetes when he made his final film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967).
He was making a cup of coffee on the morning of 10 June 1967 when he suffered a sudden heart attack. Katharine Hepburn found him dead on the kitchen floor.
He has a grandson, Joseph Spencer Tracy.
Turned down the role of the judge in Anatomy of a Murder (1959), Edward Arnold's role in Come and Get It (1936), Michael Rennie's role in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), Desi Arnaz's role in Forever, Darling (1956), William Powell's role in Mister Roberts (1955), Donald Crisp's role in National Velvet (1944), Melvyn Douglas's role in Ninotchka (1939), and Gregory Peck's role in The Yearling (1946).
Cousin of Gabrielle Christian.
He appears in four of the American Film Institute's 100 Funniest Movies: Adam's Rib (1949) at #22, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) at #40, Father of the Bride (1950) at #83 and Woman of the Year (1942) at #90.
Was announced as co-star with Paul Newman and Robert Mitchum in the Jerry Wald production of The Enemy Within, based on the book by Attorney General Robert Kennedy, which in 1962/63 was in preparation for 20th Century-Fox.
Twice earned Best Actor Oscar nominations for playing "foreign" fishermen: as Manuel in Captains Courageous (1937) for which he did win his first Oscar, and then as The Old Man in The Old Man and the Sea (1958), almost 20 years later.
Is one of eight actors who have received an Oscar nomination for their performance as a priest. The others, in chronological order, are: Charles Bickford for The Song of Bernadette (1943); Bing Crosby for Going My Way (1944) and The Bells of St. Mary's (1945); Barry Fitzgerald for Going My Way (1944); Gregory Peck for The Keys of the Kingdom (1944); Karl Malden for On the Waterfront (1954); Jason Miller for The Exorcist (1973); and Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt (2008). Tracy, Crosby and Fitzgerald all won Oscars for their performances.
Director Vincente Minelli quoted the actor as saying, "It was a badge of honor for an actor to be a drunk".
Katharine Hepburn on Tracy: "He's like an old oak tree, or the summer, or the wind. He belongs to an era when men were men".
Harold Clurman on Tracy: "He was the universal American: honest, calm, considerate, free of all phoniness. There was in him no petty motive or concealed malice. He was a man".
He came to Hollywood's attention after eight years on stage with his performance as Killer Mears in "The Last Mile." His subsequent screen tests were not a big success, but after John Ford saw him twice in the role, Fox allowed him to hire the actor for his debut feature film, "Up the River.".
One of the few truly famous actors who lived well into the age of television, but never made an appearance acting on a television program.
Along with Laurence Olivier, he is one of only two actors to receive nine nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He was nominated for San Francisco (1936), Captains Courageous (1937), Boys Town (1938), Father of the Bride (1950), Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), The Old Man and the Sea (1958), _Inherit the Wind (1960), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). He won the award for both Captains Courageous (1937) and Boys Town (1938).
His mother was a client of Maria Altmann, who ran a clothing business in Los Angeles.
Shared his birthday with Bette Davis.
He suffered from severe insomnia for his entire life.
William Holden (I) was quoted as saying that Fredric March and Tracy were his acting idols.
Son of John (1874-1928) and Carrie (née Brown) Tracy (1875-1942). Both were born in the state of Illinois.
Although he and Katherine Hepburn lived together for more than twenty five years, they never talked about marriage. He was already married with his wife, and Hepburn was not interested herself.
Mentioned in the 1946 Warner Bros. Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fudd cartoon "Hare Remover".
Starred in eight Oscar Best Picture nominees: San Francisco (1936), Libeled Lady (1936), Captains Courageous (1937), Test Pilot (1938), Boys Town (1938), Father of the Bride (1950), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), and was the narrator in a ninth, How the West Was Won (1962). Of the eight in which he starred in, he was nominated for Best Actor in all of them, except for Libeled Lady and Test Pilot, both which co-starred Myrna Loy.
Never appeared in a Best Picture Oscar winner.
Personal Quotes (22)
[on acting] Come to work on time, know your lines and don't bump into the other actors.
[on drinking] Hell, I used to take two-week lunch hours!
I couldn't be a director because I couldn't put up with the actors. I don't have the patience. Why, I'd probably kill the actors. Not to mention some of the beautiful actresses.
[on being asked why he was always billed above long-time companion Katharine Hepburn in their films together] Because this is a movie, you chowderhead, not a lifeboat!
The kids keep telling me I should try this new "Method Acting" but I'm too old, I'm too tired and I'm too talented to care.
[on why he never left his wife for Katharine Hepburn] I can get a divorce whenever I want to. But my wife and Kate like things just as they are.
This mug of mine is as plain as a barn door. Why should people pay 35 cents to look at it?
I'm disappointed in acting as a craft. I want everything to go back to Orson Welles and fake noses and changing your voice. It's become so much about personality.
It is up to us to give ourselves recognition. If we wait for it to come from others, we feel resentful when it doesn't, and when it does, we may well reject it.
Even when my throat is completely tired out from acting, Luckies [Lucky Strike cigarettes] still get along with it fine.
There were times when my pants were so thin, I could sit on a dime and know if it was heads or tails.
The physical labor actors have to do wouldn't tax an embryo.
Write anything you want about me. Make up something. Hell, I don't care.
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.
Actors have no damn place in politics, period.
[on Jean Harlow] A square shooter if ever there was one.
[on why actors should avoid political activism] Remember who shot [Abraham Lincoln].
[To Ernest Hemingway at dinner in the Stork Club] Sometimes I think life is a terminal illness.
[1962 interview] The only thing an actor has to offer a director and finally an audience is his instinct. That's all.
[on acting] It's never been very demanding. It doesn't require much brainwork. Acting is not the noblest profession in the world, but there are things lower than acting. Not many, mind you--but politicians give you something to look down on from time to time.
[in a 1962 interview] I'm Spencer Tracy with some deference to the character. When a person says he's an actor--he's a personality. The whole idea is to show your personality. There are people who are much better technically, but who cares? Nobody cares.
[asked what he looked for in a potential script] Days off.
Salary (3)
Up the River (1930) $1,000 /week
Broken Lance (1954) $165,000 + percentage of profits
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) $300,000
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 were engaged in May 1923,[187] and married on September 10 of that year between the matinee and evening performances of his show.[188]
Their son, John Ten Broeck Tracy, was born in June 1924.[189] When John was 10 months old, Louise discovered that the boy was deaf.[190] She resisted telling Tracy for three months. Tracy was devastated by the news[191] and felt a lifelong guilt over his son's deafness. He was convinced that John's hearing impairment was a punishment for his own sins.[192] As a result, Tracy had trouble connecting with his son[193] and distanced himself from his family. Joseph L. Mankiewicz, a friend of Tracy's, later theorized: "[Tracy] didn't leave Louise. He left the scene of his guilt."[194] A second child, Louise "Susie" Treadwell Tracy, was born in July 1932.[195] The children were raised in their mother's Episcopalian faith.[196]
Tracy left the family home in 1933,[197] and he and Louise openly discussed the separation with the media, maintaining that they were still friends and had not taken divorce action.[198] From September 1933 to June 1934, Tracy had a public affair with Loretta Young, his co-star in Man's Castle.[199] He reconciled with Louise in 1935.[200] There was never again an official separation between Tracy and his wife, but the marriage continued to be troubled.[201] Tracy increasingly lived in hotels and by the 1940s, the two were effectively living separate lives.[202] Tracy frequently engaged in extramarital affairs,[203] including with co-stars Joan Crawford in 1937[204] and Ingrid Bergman in 1941.[205] Tracy is also said to have been involved in a sexual relationship with Judy Garland from 1936, when she was just 14.[206]
Hepburn
Tracy's relationship with his frequent co-star Katharine Hepburn lasted from 1941 until his death. He never divorced his wife, Louise Tracy. Promotional image for Without Love (1945).
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,[207] and their relationship lasted until his death 26 years later.[208] Tracy never returned to live in the family home, although he visited regularly.[209][210]
The MGM moguls were careful to protect their contract big stars from controversy,[211] and Tracy wished to conceal his relationship with Hepburn from his wife,[212] so it was hidden from the public. The couple did not live together until the final years of Tracy's life,[213] when they shared a cottage on George Cukor's estate in Beverly Hills.[208] In Hollywood, however, the intimate nature of the Tracy-Hepburn partnership was an open secret.[214] 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."[208][215] Tracy was not someone to express his emotions,[216] but friend Betsy Drake believed he "was utterly dependent upon Hepburn."[217] Tracy's infidelity apparently continued, however,[218] and he is reported to have had an affair with Gene Tierney during the making of Plymouth Adventure in 1952.[219]
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."[220] Louise, meanwhile, reportedly commented: "I will be Mrs. Spencer Tracy until the day I die."[135] Hepburn did not interfere and never fought for marriage.[221]
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 either. I would call him a spiritual Catholic."[222] Garson Kanin, a friend of Tracy's for 25 years, described him as "a true believer"[223] who respected his religion.[224] At periods in his life, Tracy attended Mass regularly.[225] Tracy did not believe actors should publicize their political views, but in 1940 lent his name to the "Hollywood for Roosevelt" committee[226] and personally identified as a Democrat.[227]
Tracy struggled with alcoholism throughout his adult life,[228] an ailment that ran in his father's side of the family.[229] Rather than being a steady drinker, as commonly thought, he was prone to periods of binging on alcohol.[230] Loretta Young remarked that Tracy was "awful" when he was drunk,[231] and he was twice arrested for his behavior while intoxicated.[232] Because of this bad reaction to alcohol, Tracy regularly embarked on prolonged periods of sobriety, and developed an all-or-nothing routine.[233] Hepburn commented that he could stop drinking for "months, even years at a time".[234]
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."[235] He was plagued by insomnia throughout his life.[236] As a result, Tracy became dependent on barbiturates to sleep, followed by dexedrine to function.[237] Hepburn, who adopted a nursing role towards Tracy,[238] 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."[234][239]
Illness and death
Tracy's memorial at Forest Lawn
As he entered his sixties, years of drinking, smoking, taking pills, and being overweight left Tracy in poor health. On July 21, 1963, he was hospitalized after a severe attack of breathlessness.[213] 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.[240] They also declared his blood pressure as dangerously high.[241] From this point on Tracy remained very weak, and Hepburn moved into his home to provide constant care.[242] In January 1965, he was diagnosed with hypertensive heart disease and also began treatment for a previously ignored diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.[243] 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.[244] His recovery was described by his doctor as "a kind of miracle".[245]
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.[246] 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 [the door] a push, there was a sound of a cup smashing to the floor—then clump—a loud clump."[247] She entered the room to find Tracy lying dead from a heart attack. He was 67.[248] Hepburn recalled, "He looked so happy to be done with living, which for all his accomplishments had been a frightful burden for him."[249] MGM publicist Howard Strickling told the media that Tracy had been alone when he died and was found by his housekeeper.[250]
A Requiem Mass was held for Tracy on June 12 at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in East Hollywood.[251] Active pallbearers included George Cukor, Stanley Kramer, Frank Sinatra, James Stewart, and John Ford.[252] Out of consideration for Tracy's family, Hepburn did not attend the funeral.[253] Tracy is interred at Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park, near his wife, Louise and son, John.[254][2
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