Spencer Tracy

Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor celebrated for his effortless, natural style and wide-ranging talent. A defining figure of Hollywood’s Golden Age, he became the first performer to win back-to-back Academy Awards for Best Actor, earning nine nominations over his career. Across 75 films, he built a reputation among fellow actors as one of the finest to ever work on screen. In 1999, the American Film Institute named him the ninth greatest male star of Classic Hollywood Cinema.

Tracy’s path to stardom began at Ripon College, where he first realized his gift for acting. A scholarship took him to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and he then spent seven years honing his craft in theater, moving through stock companies and making occasional Broadway appearances. His big break came in 1930 when his lead role in *The Last Mile* caught Hollywood’s eye. After a strong film debut in John Ford’s *Up the River* (alongside Humphrey Bogart), he signed with Fox Film Corporation. Over five years at Fox, Tracy delivered one powerful performance after another, but audiences largely ignored them at the box office. After 25 films—nearly all starring him as the lead—he remained mostly unknown to moviegoers, though his work in *The Power and the Glory* (1933) earned high critical praise.

In 1935, Tracy moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, then Hollywood’s most prestigious studio. His career took off after his fifth MGM film, *Fury* (1936), and he won consecutive Oscars in 1937 and 1938 for *Captains Courageous* and *Boys Town*. He teamed up with Clark Gable, MGM’s top leading man, for three major hits, and by the early 1940s, Tracy was one of the studio’s biggest stars. In 1942, he starred with Katharine Hepburn in *Woman of the Year*, beginning a professional and personal partnership that would span nine films over 25 years. In 1955, he won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for *Bad Day at Black Rock*.

Tracy left MGM in 1955 and continued working steadily as a freelance actor, despite worsening health and growing weariness and irritability as he aged. His personal life was marked by turmoil: he struggled with severe alcoholism and guilt over his son’s deafness. He and his wife Louise became estranged in the 1930s but never divorced, while his 25-year relationship with Katharine Hepburn was an open secret. In his later years, Tracy worked almost exclusively with director Stanley Kramer. His final film, *Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner* (1967), was completed just 17 days before his death.

Tracy was born in Milwaukee on April 5, 1900, the second son of Caroline Brown and John Edward Tracy. His mother came from a wealthy Presbyterian Midwestern family; his father was of Irish Catholic descent and worked as a truck salesman. He had an older brother, Carroll. As a child, Tracy was difficult and hyperactive, with poor school attendance. Raised Catholic, he was sent at age nine to be cared for by Dominican nuns in hopes of improving his behavior. He later said 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 obsessed with films, watching the same ones repeatedly and re-enacting scenes for friends and neighbors. In his teens, he attended several Jesuit academies, which he felt took the “badness” out of him and helped his grades.

At Marquette Academy, he began going to plays with lifelong friend and fellow actor Pat O’Brien, sparking his interest in theater. With little interest in their studies and eager for excitement, Tracy and O’Brien enlisted in the Navy during World War I when Tracy turned 18. They were sent to a training station near Chicago, where they were still recruits when the war ended. Tracy reached the rank of seaman second class but never went to sea, and was discharged in February 1919. His father’s wish for a son to earn a college degree pushed Tracy back to high school to finish his diploma. After studies at two more schools and with war credits, he entered Ripon College in February 1921, planning to major in medicine.

At Ripon, Tracy was popular, serving as president of his hall and joining many activities. He made his stage debut in June 1921 as the male lead in *The Truth*. The role was well received, and he quickly became passionate about acting, reportedly “obsessive about acting to the degree that he talked about little else.” He and friends formed the Campus Players, a touring company. On the college debate team, he excelled at arguing and public speaking. During a debate tour, he auditioned for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York and was offered a scholarship after performing a scene from an earlier role.

Tracy left Ripon and started at AADA in April 1922. O’Brien was also there, and the two shared a small studio apartment. Money was tight—they often ate rice and pretzels and shared one decent suit. Tracy advanced to the senior class and joined the academy’s stock company. He made his New York debut in *The Wedding Guests* in October 1922, and three months later appeared on Broadway for the first time, playing a wordless role.