Spencer Tracy
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- April 5, 1900
- Died
- June 10, 1967 (aged 67)
- Birthplace
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Biography
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor, noted for his natural style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy won two Academy Awards for Best Actor from nine nominations, sharing the record for nominations in that category with Laurence Olivier. 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. Tracy's 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's Up the River starring Tracy and Humphrey Bogart, he was signed to a contract with Fox Film Corporation. His 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 audiences after 25 films, almost all of them starring Tracy as the leading man. None of them were hits although The Power and the Glory (1933) features arguably his most acclaimed performance in retrospect. In 1935, Tracy joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, at the time Hollywood's most prestigious studio. His career flourished with a series of hit films, and in 1937 and 1938 he won consecutive Oscars for Captains Courageous and Boys Town. He made three smash hit films supporting Clark Gable, the studio's principal leading man, firmly fixing the notion of Gable and Tracy as a team in the public imagination. By the 1940s, Tracy was one of the studio's top stars. In 1942, he appeared with Katharine Hepburn in Woman of the Year, beginning another popular partnership that produced nine movies over 25 years. Tracy left MGM in 1955, and continued to work regularly as a freelance star, despite an increasing weariness as he aged. His personal life was troubled, with a lifelong struggle against severe alcoholism and guilt over his son's deafness. Tracy became estranged from his wife in the 1930s, but never divorced, conducting a long-term relationship with Katharine Hepburn in private. Towards the end of his life, Tracy worked almost exclusively for director Stanley Kramer. It was for Kramer that he made his last film, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner in 1967, completed just 17 days before his death. During his career, Tracy 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.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Gene Kelly: An American in Hollywood
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Heart of a Servant: The Father Flanagan Story
Movie · as Fr. Edward Flanagan (archive footage)
DEVO
Movie · as Henry Drummond (archive footage) (uncredited)
Rat Pack
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults
Movie · as (archive footage)
Bogart: The Untold Story
Movie · as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults
Movie · as Self (Archival Footage)
Ingrid Bergman Remembered
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Legends in Light: The Photography of George Hurrell
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
La Classe américaine
Movie · as The Professional Witness (archive footage)
Movie Tough Guys
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Something a Little Less Serious: A Tribute to 'It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World'
Movie · as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To
Movie · as (archive footage)
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey
Movie · as (archive footage)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Movie · as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
That's Entertainment, Part II
Movie · as (archive footage)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
That's Entertainment!
Movie · as (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Brasileiros em Hollywood
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
The Happy Ending
Movie · as Self - Stanley T. Banks (archive footage) (uncredited)
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Movie · as Matt Drayton
The Big Parade of Comedy
Movie · as Haggerty in 'Libeled Lady' (archive footage)
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Movie · as C. G. Culpepper
How the West Was Won
Movie · as Narrator (voice)
Judgment at Nuremberg
Movie · as Dan Haywood
The Devil at 4 O'Clock
Movie · as Father Matthew Doonan
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
Movie · as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Inherit the Wind
Movie · as Henry Drummond
The Old Man and the Sea
Movie · as The Old Man
The Last Hurrah
Movie · as Mayor Frank Skeffington
Desk Set
Movie · as Richard Sumner
The Mountain
Movie · as Zachary Teller
Bad Day at Black Rock
Movie · as John J. Macreedy
MGM Parade
TV · as Self, self · 1 ep
Broken Lance
Movie · as Matt Devereaux
The Actress
Movie · as Clinton Jones
Pat and Mike
Movie · as Mike Conovan
Plymouth Adventure
Movie · as Capt. Christopher Jones
Father's Little Dividend
Movie · as Stanley Banks
The People Against O'Hara
Movie · as James P. Curtayne
Father of the Bride
Movie · as Stanley T. Banks
Adam's Rib
Movie · as Adam Bonner
Malaya
Movie · as Carnaghan
Edward, My Son
Movie · as Arnold Boult
State of the Union
Movie · as Grant Matthews
The Sea of Grass
Movie · as Col. James B. Brewton
Cass Timberlane
Movie · as Cass Timberlane
Without Love
Movie · as Pat Jamieson
A Guy Named Joe
Movie · as Pete Sandidge
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
Movie · as Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle
The Seventh Cross
Movie · as George Heisler
Twenty Years After
Movie · as (archive footage)
Keeper of the Flame
Movie · as Stevie O'Malley
His New World
Movie · as Narrator (voice)
Woman of the Year
Movie · as Sam Craig
Tortilla Flat
Movie · as Pilon
Ring of Steel
Movie · as Narrator (voice)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Movie · as Dr. Harry Jekyll / Mr. Hyde
Men of Boys Town
Movie · as Edward Flanagan
Northwest Passage
Movie · as Major Robert Rogers
Edison, the Man
Movie · as Thomas A. Edison
Boom Town
Movie · as Square John Sand
I Take This Woman
Movie · as Karl Decker
Northward, Ho!
Movie · as Himself
Young Tom Edison
Movie · as Man Admiring Portrait of Thomas A. Edison
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
Movie · as Self
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Movie · as Self
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
Movie · as Self
Stanley and Livingstone
Movie · as Henry M. Stanley
Hollywood Hobbies
Movie · as Self (uncredited)
From the Ends of the Earth
Movie · as Self
Mannequin
Movie · as John Hennessey
Boys Town
Movie · as Father Flanagan
Test Pilot
Movie · as Gunner Morse
Hollywood Goes to Town
Movie · as Self
Another Romance of Celluloid
Movie · as Self (uncredited)
Captains Courageous
Movie · as Manuel Fidello
Big City
Movie · as Joe Benton
They Gave Him a Gun
Movie · as Fred P. Willis
The Romance of Celluloid
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Libeled Lady
Movie · as Haggerty
Fury
Movie · as Joe Wilson
San Francisco
Movie · as Father Tim Mullin
Riffraff
Movie · as Dutch
The Murder Man
Movie · as Steven 'Steve' Grey
Whipsaw
Movie · as Ross 'Mac' McBride aka Danny Ross Ackerman
Dante's Inferno
Movie · as Jim Carter
It's A Small World
Movie · as Bill Shevlin
Now I'll Tell
Movie · as Murray Golden
Bottoms Up
Movie · as 'Smoothie' King
Looking for Trouble
Movie · as Joe Graham
Marie Galante
Movie · as Dr. Crawbett
The Show-Off
Movie · as J. Aubrey Piper
The Power and the Glory
Movie · as Tom Garner
Man's Castle
Movie · as Bill
Face in the Sky
Movie · as Joe Buck
The Mad Game
Movie · as Edward Carson
Shanghai Madness
Movie · as Pat Jackson
20,000 Years in Sing Sing
Movie · as Tommy Connors
Me and My Gal
Movie · as Danny Dolan
Sky Devils
Movie · as Wilkie
Young America
Movie · as Jack Doray
The Painted Woman
Movie · as Tom Brian
Society Girl
Movie · as Briscoe
She Wanted a Millionaire
Movie · as William Kelley
Disorderly Conduct
Movie · as Dick Fay
Quick Millions
Movie · as Daniel J. 'Bugs' Raymond
Goldie
Movie · as Bill
Six Cylinder Love
Movie · as William Donroy
Taxi Talks
Movie · as Taxi Driver
Up the River
Movie · as Saint Louis
The Hard Guy
Movie · as Guy