Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Spencer Tracy in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) | |
| Born | Spencer Bonaventure Tracy April 5, 1900 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Died | June 10, 1967 (aged 67) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1922–1967 |
| Spouse | Louise Treadwell (1923-1967) |
| Partner(s) | Katharine Hepburn (1941-1967) |
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Tracy ninth among the Greatest Male Stars of All Time. He was nominated for nine Academy Awards for Best Actor in all, winning two.
While in college, Tracy decided on acting as a career. He studied acting in New York and appeared in a number of Broadway plays, finally achieving success in the 1930 hit The Last Mile. Director John Ford was impressed by his performance and cast him in Up the River with Humphrey Bogart. Fox Film Corporation signed him to a long term contract, but after five years of mostly undistinguished films, he joined the most prestigious movie studio of the time, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where his career flourished. He won back-to-back Academy Awards for Captains Courageous (1937) and Boys Town (1938).
In 1942, he co-starred with Katharine Hepburn in Woman of the Year. The teaming lasted for decades, both on-screen and off. They fell in love and maintained an affair that lasted for decades. (Tracy was already married and, as a Catholic, would not consider divorce despite affairs with actresses like Loretta Young, Joan Crawford, Myrna Loy, Ingrid Bergman and Gene Tierney.[1]) One of the greatest of cinematic couples, they made eight more films together, ending in 1967's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, which was completed shortly before his death.
Early life
Tracy was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,[2] the second son of John Edward Tracy, an Irish American Catholic truck salesman, and Caroline Brown, a Protestant turned Christian Scientist.[citation needed] He was raised a Roman Catholic.[3][4] Tracy's paternal grandparents, John Tracy and Mary Guhin, were born in Ireland.[5] His mother's ancestry dates back to Thomas Stebbins, who immigrated from England in the late 1630s.[citation needed] Tracy attended six high schools, starting with Wauwatosa East High School in 1915 and St. John's Cathedral School for boys in Milwaukee the following year. The Tracy family then moved to Kansas City, where Spencer was enrolled at St. Mary's College, Kansas, a boarding school in St. Marys, Kansas 30 miles west of Topeka, Kansas, then transferred to Rockhurst, a Jesuit academy in Kansas City, Missouri. John Tracy's job in Kansas City did not work out, and the family returned to Milwaukee six months after their departure. Spencer was enrolled at Marquette Academy, another Jesuit school, where he met fellow actor Pat O'Brien. The two young men left school in spring 1917 to enlist in the Navy after the American entry into World War I, but Tracy remained in Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, throughout the war. Afterwards, Tracy continued his high school education at Marquette Academy then transferred to Northwestern Military and Naval Academy near Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. He finished his last few credits needed to graduate at Milwaukee's West Division High School (now Milwaukee High School of the Arts) in February 1921.[5]
Tracy attended Ripon College from February 1921 to April 1922.[6] At Ripon he made his first stage appearance, in a 1921 Commencement play entitled The Truth, and decided on acting as a career.[7] While touring the Northeast with the Ripon debate team, he auditioned for and was accepted to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. His first Broadway role was as a robot in Karel Čapek's R.U.R. (1922), followed by five other Broadway plays in the 1920s. In 1923 he married actress Louise Treadwell. They had two children, John and Louise (Susie). John Tracy died at age 82 at his son's ranch in Acton, California, in 2007.[8]
Career
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Tracy performed in stock in Michigan, Canada, and Ohio for several years. Finally in 1930 he appeared in a hit play on Broadway, The Last Mile. Director John Ford saw Tracy in The Last Mile and signed Tracy for Up the River (1930) with Humphrey Bogart for Fox Film Corporation. Shortly after that Tracy and his family moved to Hollywood, and he made 25 films in the next five years.
In 1935, Tracy signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor two years in a row, for Captains Courageous (1937) and Boys Town (1938).
He was also nominated for 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 posthumously for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). Tracy and Laurence Olivier share the record for the most nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Tracy's reputation for versatility and naturalness are based on the twenty years (1935–1955) he acted at Metro Goldwyn Mayer and for the subsequent dozen years when he was an independent actor. Yet the twenty-five films he made prior to his move to MGM are notable in that they demonstrate the range and diversity of characters he would continue to deliver through his post-Fox career (and which would earn him two Academy Awards and nine nominations).[9]
Tracy and Hepburn
In 1941, during the filming of Woman of the Year, Tracy began a relationship with Katharine Hepburn. Their relationship, which neither would discuss publicly, lasted until Tracy's death in 1967. Their relationship was complex and there were periods during which they were estranged. During one estrangement, Tracy had a brief romance with actress Gene Tierney while filming the Plymouth Adventure in 1952.[10][11][12]
Death and legacy
During his later years, Tracy's health worsened after he was diagnosed with diabetes, exacerbated by his alcoholism. On 21 July 1963, less than eight months after finishing the filming of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Tracy suffered a congested lung condition,[13] forcing him to pull out of Cheyenne Autumn and The Cincinnati Kid. Edward G. Robinson replaced him for both films. He spent most of the next four years inactive as his health further declined. On 10 June 1967, seventeen days after completing his last film, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, with Hepburn, Spencer Tracy died of a heart attack at age 67, having long suffered from emphysema since the early 1950s from his daily smoking habit. The film was released in December, six months after his death.[14]
In 1988, the University of California, Los Angeles' Campus Events Commission and Susie Tracy created the UCLA Spencer Tracy Award. The award has been given to actors in recognition for their achievement in film acting. Past recipients include William Hurt, James Stewart, Michael Douglas, Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster, Harrison Ford, Anjelica Huston, Nicolas Cage, Kirk Douglas, Jack Lemmon and Morgan Freeman.
The main character Carl from Pixar's film Up was primarily based on a combination of Spencer Tracy and Walter Matthau, because, according to director Pete Docter, there was "something sweet about these grumpy old guys".[15]
Filmography and awards
Tracy appeared in 75 feature films, and several short films. With Katharine Hepburn he starred in nine feature films, one of the most successful screen pairings in film history.
Nine of the films he starred in were nominated for Best Picture: San Francisco (Oscar Nomination), Libeled Lady, Captains Courageous (Oscar), Test Pilot, Boys Town (Oscar), Father of the Bride (Oscar Nomination), Judgment at Nuremberg (Oscar Nomination), How the West Was Won and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (Oscar Nomination).
He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor on nine occasions, and won the award in 1937, for Captains Courageous, and in 1938, for Boys Town. He won a Golden Globe Award for The Actress (1953) from a total of four nominations. He was awarded a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his posthumously released performance opposite Hepburn in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967).
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1930 | The Strong Arm | short subject | |
| Taxi Talks | Taxi Driver | short subject | |
| The Hard Guy | Guy | short subject | |
| Up the River | Saint Louis | ||
| 1931 | Quick Millions | Daniel J. 'Bugs' Raymond | |
| Six Cylinder Love | William Donroy | ||
| Goldie | Bill | ||
| 1932 | She Wanted a Millionaire | William Kelley | |
| Sky Devils | Wilkie | ||
| Disorderly Conduct | Dick Fay | ||
| Young America | Jack Doray | ||
| Society Girl | Briscoe | ||
| The Painted Woman | Tom Brian | ||
| Me and My Gal | Danny Dolan | ||
| 20,000 Years in Sing Sing | Tommy Connors | ||
| 1933 | Face in the Sky | Joe Buck | |
| Shanghai Madness | Pat Jackson | ||
| The Power and the Glory | Tom Garner | ||
| Man's Castle | Bill | ||
| The Mad Game | Edward Carson | ||
| 1934 | The Show-Off | J. Aubrey Piper | |
| Looking for Trouble | Joe Graham | ||
| Bottoms Up | 'Smoothie' King | ||
| Now I'll Tell | Murray Golden | ||
| Marie Galante | Dr. Crawbett | ||
| 1935 | It's a Small World | Bill Shevlin | |
| The Murder Man | Steven 'Steve' Grey | first credited screen role of James Stewart | |
| Dante's Inferno | Jim Carter | ||
| Whipsaw | Ross 'Mac' McBride | with Myrna Loy | |
| 1936 | Riffraff | Dutch | with Mickey Rooney |
| Fury | Joe Wilson | ||
| San Francisco | Father Mullin | with Clark Gable Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated — New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor[citation needed] | |
| Libeled Lady | Warren Haggerty | The film was nominated for Best Picture, but lost out to The Great Ziegfeld | |
| 1937 | They Gave Him a Gun | Fred P. Willis | |
| Captains Courageous | Manuel Fidello | with Lionel Barrymore, John Carradine, Melvyn Douglas, Mickey Rooney and Freddie Bartholomew Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated — New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor[citation needed] | |
| Big City | Joe Benton | ||
| Mannequin | John L. Hennessey | ||
| 1938 | Test Pilot | Gunner Morris | with Clark Gable |
| Boys Town | Father Flanagan | with Mickey Rooney Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated — New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor[citation needed] | |
| Another Romance of Celluloid | himself | behind-the-scenes short film, includes filming of Test Pilot, and shows Tracy accepting his Academy Award for Boys Town | |
| Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 9 | himself | short subject showing Tracy accepting his Academy Award for Boys Town | |
| Hollywood Goes to Town | himself | short subject, showing notable Hollywood performers preparing for the world premiere of Marie Antoinette | |
| 1939 | Stanley and Livingstone | Henry M. Stanley | |
| For Auld Lang Syne | himself | fundraising short film in which several actors, including Tracy, appeal for funds for the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital | |
| Hollywood Hobbies | himself | behind-the-scenes short film | |
| 1940 | I Take This Woman | Dr. Karl Decker | |
| Young Tom Edison | uncredited role | with Mickey Rooney Tracy appears as a man admiring a portrait of Edison; he plays the older Edison in Edison, the Man in the same year | |
| Northwest Passage | Major Rogers | ||
| Edison, the Man | Thomas Edison | ||
| Boom Town | Jonathan Sand | with Clark Gable | |
| Northward, Ho! | himself | behind-the-scenes short film about the filming of Northwest Passage | |
| 1941 | Men of Boys Town | Father Flanagan | with Mickey Rooney |
| Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde | Dr. Henry Jekyll/Mr. Hyde | ||
| 1942 | Woman of the Year | Sam Craig | first film with Katharine Hepburn |
| Tortilla Flat | Pilon | ||
| Keeper of the Flame | Steven 'Stevie' O'Malley | with Katharine Hepburn | |
| Ring of Steel | Narrator | Military documentary | |
| 1943 | His New World | Narrator | documentary |
| A Guy Named Joe | Pete Sandidge | ||
| His New World | Narrator | War documentary | |
| 1944 | The Seventh Cross | George Heisler | |
| Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo | Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle | ||
| 1945 | Without Love | Pat Jamieson | with Katharine Hepburn |
| 1947 | The Sea of Grass | Col. James B. 'Jim' Brewton | with Katharine Hepburn |
| Cass Timberlane | Cass Timberlane | ||
| 1948 | State of the Union | Grant Matthews | with Katharine Hepburn |
| 1949 | Edward, My Son | Arnold Boult | |
| Adam's Rib | Adam Bonner | with Katharine Hepburn | |
| Malaya | Canaghan | ||
| Some of the Best | himself | retrospective of MGM's history | |
| 1950 | Father of the Bride | Stanley Banks | Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor |
| 1951 | Father's Little Dividend | Stanley Banks | |
| The People Against O'Hara | James P. Curtayne | ||
| For Defense for Freedom for Humanity | himself | short film in which Tracy urges support for Red Cross fundraising | |
| 1952 | Pat and Mike | Mike Conovan | with Katharine Hepburn |
| Plymouth Adventure | Captain Christopher Jones | with Gene Tierney | |
| 1953 | The Actress | Clinton Jones | Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor Nominated — New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor[citation needed] |
| 1954 | Broken Lance | Matt Devereaux | |
| 1955 | Bad Day at Black Rock | John J. Macreedy | Best Actor Award (Cannes Film Festival) Prix d'interprétation masculine Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated — New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor[citation needed] |
| 1956 | The Mountain | Zachary Teller | Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor |
| 1957 | Desk Set | Richard Sumner | with Katharine Hepburn |
| 1958 | The Old Man and the Sea | The Old Man/Narrator | NBR Award for Best Actor (award was also for The Last Hurrah) Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama Nominated — New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor[citation needed] |
| The Last Hurrah | Mayor Frank Skeffington | NBR Award for Best Actor (award was also for The Old Man and the Sea) Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor Nominated — New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor[citation needed] | |
| 1960 | Inherit the Wind | Henry Drummond | Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama |
| 1961 | The Devil at 4 O'Clock | Father Matthew Doonan | |
| Judgment at Nuremberg | Chief Judge Dan Haywood | Fotogramas de Plata Award for Best Foreign Performer Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor | |
| 1962 | How the West Was Won | Narrator | |
| 1963 | It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World | Captain C. G. Culpepper | with Mickey Rooney |
| 1967 | Guess Who's Coming to Dinner | Matt Drayton | with Katharine Hepburn BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (posthumous) Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor (posthumous) Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama (posthumous) Nominated — New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor (posthumous)[citation needed] |
See also
References
- ^ Wayne, Jane Ellen. The Leading Men of MGM. New York: Carrol and Graf, 2005. page 206. ISBN 978-0-78671-768-2
- ^ "Birth Record Details". Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
- ^ Boeder, Laurie. "Three Great Screen Couples". About.com. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
The rumpled Midwestern Catholic who wouldn't get a divorce...
- ^ George & Joanna Rush, Rush Molloy, Jo Piazza, Patrick Huguenin (2006-09-22). "Guess who came to dinner". Daily News. Retrieved 2010-09-13.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Chang, David A.Y.O. (2000). "Spencer Tracy's Boyhood: Truth, Fiction, and Hollywood Dreams" (.PDF). Wisconsin Magazine of History. 81 (1): 30–35. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ "Spencer Tracy". Retrieved 2010-08-13. Tracy received an honorary degree from Ripon College in 1940.
- ^ Spencer Tracy at Ripon College; retrieved March 11, 2011
- ^ Nelson, Valerie J., "John Tracy, 82; deaf son of actor Spencer Tracy, clinic namesake"; Los Angeles Times, June 17, 2007
- ^ New England Vintage Film Society, Inc. (2008). Spencer Tracy: The Pre-Code Legacy of a Hollywood Legend. Newton, MA: New England Vintage Film Society. ISBN 978-1-4363-4138-7?.
- ^ Miller, Frank (2006). Leading Men: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actors of the Studio Era. Chronicle Books. p. 197. ISBN 0811854671.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Wayne, Jane Ellen (2006). The Leading Men of MGM. Carroll & Graf Publishers. p. 219. ISBN 0786717688.
- ^ Berg, Andrew Scott (2003). Kate Remembered. Putnam. ISBN 0399151648.
- ^ Donald Deschner. The complete films of Spencer Tracy. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
- ^ imdb.com
- ^ James Keast (2009-02-06). "Pixar Reveals Early Look At Up". Exclaim!. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
Bibliography
- Dandola, John (2001). Dead at the Box Office. Glen Ridge, NJ: Quincannon. ISBN 1878452258. Tracy is a character in this murder-mystery set against the 1940 World Premiere of Edison, the Man.
- Kanin, Garson (1971). Tracy and Hepburn; an intimate memoir. New York: Viking. ISBN 0670722936.
- Fisher, James (1994). Spencer Tracy: a Bio-bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0313287279.
- New England Vintage Film Society, Inc. (2008). Spencer Tracy: The Pre-Code Legacy of a Hollywood Legend. Newton, MA: New England Vintage Film Society. ISBN 978-1-4363-4138-7.
{{cite book}}:|first=has generic name (help) - Swindell, Larry (1969). Spencer Tracy; a Biography. New York: World Pub. Co. OCLC 6078.
External links
- Spencer Tracy at Find a Grave
- Spencer Tracy at the Internet Broadway Database
- Spencer Tracy at IMDb
- Spencer Tracy at the TCM Movie Database
- Profile @ Turner Classic Movies
- Chang, David A. "Spencer Tracy's Boyhood: Truth, Fiction, and Hollywood Dreams," Wisconsin Magazine of History, vol. 84, no. 1 (Autumn 2000)
- 1900 births
- 1967 deaths
- American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni
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- California Democrats
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- Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
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- American people of Irish descent
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