Biography

Spencer Tracy was the second son born on April 5, 1900, to truck salesman John Edward and Caroline Brown Tracy in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. While attending Marquette Academy, he and classmate Pat O'Brien quit school to enlist in the Navy at the start of World War I. Tracy was still at Norfolk Navy Yard in Virginia at the end of the war. After playing the lead in the play "The Truth" at Ripon College he decided that acting might be his career.

Moving to New York, Tracy and O'Brien, who'd also settled on a career on the stage, roomed together while attending the Academy of Dramatic Arts. In 1923 both got nonspeaking parts as robots in "R.U.R.", a dramatization of the groundbreaking science fiction novel by Czech author Karel Capek. Making very little money in stock, Tracy supported himself with jobs as bellhop, janitor and salesman until John Ford saw his critically acclaimed performance in the lead role in the play "The Last Mile" (later played on film by Clark Gable) and signed him for The William Fox Film Company's production of Up the River (1930). Despite appearing in sixteen films at that studio over the next five years, Tracy was never able to rise to full film star status there, in large part because the studio was unable to match his talents to suitable story material.

During that period the studio itself floundered, eventually merging with Darryl F. Zanuck, Joseph Schenck and William Goetz's William 20th Century Pictures to become 20th Century-Fox). In 1935 Tracy signed with MGM under the aegis of Irving Thalberg and his career flourished. He became the first actor to win back-to-back Best Actor Oscars for Captains Courageous (1937) and, in a project he initially didn't want to star in, Boys Town (1938).

During Tracy's nearly forty-year film career, he was nominated for his performances in San Francisco (1936), 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).

Tracy had a brief romantic relationship with Loretta Young in the mid-1930s, and a lifelong one with Katharine Hepburn beginning in 1942 after they were first paired in Woman of the Year by director George Stevens. Tracy's strong Roman Catholic beliefs precluded his divorcing wife Louise, though they mostly lived apart. Tracy suffered from severe alcoholism and diabetes (from the late 1940s), which led to his declining several tailor-made roles in films that would become big hits with other actors in those roles. Although his drinking problems were well known, he was considered peerless among his colleagues (Tracy had a well-deserved reputation for keeping co-stars on their toes for his oddly endearing scene-stealing tricks), and remained in demand as a senior statesman who nevertheless retained box office clout. Two weeks after completion of Stanley Kramer's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), during which he suffered from lung congestion, Spencer Tracy died of a heart attack.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>

Often wore a lopsided fedora hat in his films

Plain, everyman looks

Relatable characters who must change their way of thinking

Sometimes confused with James Whitmore. The two strongly resembled each other.

Born at 1:57am-CST

His Best Actor Oscar for Boys Town (1938) is inscribed with the name "Dick Tracy."

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.

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.

Made nine films with Katharine Hepburn: Woman of the Year (1942), Keeper of the Flame (1942), Without Love (1945), The Sea of Grass (1947), State of the Union (1948), Adam's Rib (1949), Pat and Mike (1952), Desk Set (1957) and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967).

Had two children from his marriage to Louise Treadwell: Son, John Ten Broeck Tracy (b. 6/26/24, d. 6/15/2007) and daughter, Louise Treadwell 'Susie' Tracy (b. 7/1/32).

Often mentioned alongside Laurence Olivier and Marlon Brando as the greatest movie actor of all time. Unlike the other two, however, he was not already successful and well-known as a stage actor before getting into films.

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.

Named the #9 Greatest Actor on The 50 Greatest Screen Legends List by The American Film Institute.

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.

In 1935 MGM bought his 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.

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.

His father, John Tracy, worked as a clerk at a railroad office.

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 LaMotta in Raging Bull (1980), Jeremy Irons for playing Claus von Bülow 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-Ellis 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 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).

Turned down Cary Grant's role in The Philadelphia Story (1940) because he was eager to make Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941).

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).

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.

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).

Has a street named after him in Iowa City, IA.

Was making a cup of coffee on the morning of 6/10/67 when he suffered a sudden heart attack. Katharine Hepburn found him dead on the kitchen floor.

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).

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.

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.

Director Vincente Minnelli quoted the actor as saying, "It was a badge of honor for an actor to be a drunk".

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".

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.

His mother was a client of Maria Altmann, who ran a clothing business in Los Angeles.

William Holden was quoted as saying that Fredric March and Tracy were his acting idols.

Although he and Katharine Hepburn lived together for more than 25 years, they never talked about marriage. He was already married, and Hepburn was not interested in being married anyway.

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.

He has appeared in eight films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: The Power and the Glory (1933), Fury (1936), Woman of the Year (1942), Adam's Rib (1949), Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), How the West Was Won (1962) and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967).

Usually regarded as one of the finest naturalistic actors of all time.

Mentioned in Green Acres: The Rains Came (1966).

He was Oscar nominated 9 times, compared to Katherine Hepburns 12.

He along with Marlon Brando Gary Cooper, Bette Davis, Olivia de Haviland, Vivien Leigh ,Glenda Jackson Frederick March, Luise Rainer, and Elizabeth Taylor all won 2 Oscars each.

[on acting] Come to work on time, know your lines and don't bump into the other actors.

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.

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.

This mug of mine is as plain as a barn door. Why should people pay 35 cents to look at it?

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.

There were times when my pants were so thin, I could sit on a dime and know if it was heads or tails.

Write anything you want about me. Make up something. Hell, I don't care.

Actors have no damn place in politics, period.

[on why actors should avoid political activism] Remember who shot [Abraham Lincoln].

[1962 interview] The only thing an actor has to offer a director and finally an audience is his instinct. That's all.

[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.