Spencer Tracy From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Spencer Tracy Spencer Tracy in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Born Spencer Bonaventure Tracy April 5, 1900(1900-04-05) Milwaukee, Wisconsin Died June 10, 1967 (aged 67) Los Angeles, California Spouse(s) Louise Treadwell (1923-1967) Domestic partner(s) Katharine Hepburn (1943-1967) [show]Awards won Academy Awards Best Actor 1937 Captains Courageous 1938 Boys Town BAFTA Awards Best Actor 1967 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Golden Globe Awards Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama 1954 The Actress Spencer Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an actor of stage and screen, who appeared in 74 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy is generally regarded as one of the finest actors in motion picture history. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Tracy among the Greatest Male Stars of All Time, ranking 9th on the list of 100. He was nominated for nine Academy Awards for Best Actor. Contents [hide] 1 Career 1.1 Tracy and Hepburn 2 Death and legacy 3 Filmography and awards 4 Quotes 4.1 By Tracy 5 Bibliography 6 References 7 External links [edit] Career Tracy was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the second son of John Edward Tracy, an Irish American Catholic truck salesman, and Caroline Brown, a Protestant turned Christian Scientist, and was christened Spencer Bonaventure Tracy. Tracy with Katharine Hepburn in the trailer for the film Adam's Rib (1949)Tracy's paternal grandparents, John Tracy and Mary Guhin, were born in Ireland. His mother's ancestry dates back to Thomas Stebbins, who immigrated from England in the late 1630s. Tracy attended six high schools, starting with Wauwatosa 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 left school in spring 1917 to enlist in the Navy with 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 St. Johns Northwestern Military Academy in Delafield, Wisconsin 30 miles west of Milwaukee, but finished his studies at Milwaukee's West Division High School (now Milwaukee High School of the Arts) in February 1921.[1] Afterward he attended Ripon College where he appeared in a leading role in a play entitled The Truth, and decided on acting as a career. Tracy received an honorary degree from Ripon College in 1940.[2] 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). For several years he performed in stock in Michigan, Canada, and Ohio. 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 him to do Up the River (1930) with Humphrey Bogart for Fox Film Corporation. Shortly after that he and his family moved to Hollywood, where he made over 25 films in five years. Spencer Tracy in the trailer for the film Broken Lance (1954)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. [edit] Tracy and Hepburn In 1941, during the filming of Woman of the Year, Tracy began a relationship with Katharine Hepburn, who had just ended a five-year affair with producer Howard Hughes. Their relationship, which neither would discuss publicly, lasted until Tracy's death in 1967. Their relationship was complex and there were often periods where they were estranged. During one Tracy had a brief romance with actress Gene Tierney while filming the Plymouth Adventure.[3] [edit] Death and legacy Spencer Tracy with Katy Jurado in the trailer for the film Broken Lance (1954)During his later years, Tracy's health worsened after he was diagnosed with diabetes, exacerbated by his alcoholism. In 1963 he suffered a severe heart attack, forcing him to pull out of Cheyenne Autumn and The Cincinnati Kid. Edward G. Robinson replaced him for both films. Seventeen days after filming had completed on his last film, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, with Hepburn, he died from a heart attack after suffering from lung congestion. The film was released in December, six months after his death. [1] Tracy is still widely considered one of the most skillful actors of his time. Fellow actor Van Johnson referred to Tracy as "my mentor". Tracy was one of Hollywood's earliest "realistic" actors. Actors have noted that Tracy's work in 1930s films sometimes looks like that of a modern actor interacting with the more stylized and dated performances of everyone around him. 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. [edit] 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. 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). Year Title 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 1936 Riffraff Dutch Fury Joe Wilson San Francisco Father Mullin Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor Libelled Lady Haggerty 1937 They Gave Him a Gun Fred P. Willis Captains Courageous Manuel Fidello Academy Award for Best Actor Big City Joe Benton Mannequin John L. Hennessey 1938 Test Pilot Gunner Morris Boys Town Father Flanagan Academy Award for Best Actor 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 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 Northward, Ho! himself behind-the-scenes short film about the filming of Northwest Passage 1941 Men of Boys Town Father Flanagan 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 1953 The Actress Clinton Jones Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor 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 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 National Board of Review 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 The Last Hurrah Mayor Frank Skeffington National Board of Review Award for Best Actor (award was also for The Old Man and the Sea) Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor 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 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) [edit] Quotes This section is a candidate to be copied to Wikiquote using the Transwiki process. If the content can be changed to be more encyclopedic rather than just a list of quotes, please do so and remove this message. Otherwise, you can help by formatting it per the Wikiquote guidelines in preparation for the duplication. [edit] By Tracy On Gene Tierney "Although she was beautiful in her films, they couldn't quite capture all of her. Fortunately, I did even if it was late in my life."[4] "Know your lines and don't bump into the furniture." 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". "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". [edit] Bibliography Swindell, Larry (1969). Spencer Tracy; a Biography. New York: World Pub. Co.. OCLC 6078. 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. 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. [edit] References ^ Chang, David A.Y.O. (Autumn 2000). "Spencer Tracy's Boyhood: Truth, Fiction, and Hollywood Dreams" (.PDF). Wisconsin Magazine of History vol. 81 (no. 1): 30–35. http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/wmh/issues/autumn00.asp. Retrieved on 29 May 2007. ^ "Spencer Tracy". Retrieved on 2007-05-30. ^ Osborne (2006) Chronicle Books, Leading Ladies p.197 ^ Osborne (2006) Chronicle Books, Leading Ladies p.195 [edit] External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Spencer Tracy Spencer Tracy at Find A Grave Spencer Tracy at the Internet Broadway Database Spencer Tracy at the Internet Movie Database Spencer Tracy at the TCM Movie Database Profile @ Turner Classic Movies [show]v • d • eAcademy Award for Best Actor Emil Jannings (1928) · Warner Baxter (1929) · George Arliss (1930) · Lionel Barrymore (1931) · Fredric March / Wallace Beery (1932) · Charles Laughton (1933) · Clark Gable (1934) · Victor McLaglen (1935) · Paul Muni (1936) · Spencer Tracy (1937) · Spencer Tracy (1938) · Robert Donat (1939) · James Stewart (1940) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Complete List · (1928–1940) · (1941–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001-present) Persondata NAME Tracy, Spencer ALTERNATIVE NAMES SHORT DESCRIPTION American actor DATE OF BIRTH April 5, 1900 PLACE OF BIRTH Milwaukee, Wisconsin DATE OF DEATH June 10, 1967 PLACE OF DEATH Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spencer_Tracy" Categories: 1900 births | 1967 deaths | American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni | American film actors | American Roman Catholics | BAFTA winners (people) | Best Actor Academy Award winners | Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) | Deaths from myocardial infarction | Irish-Americans | People from Milwaukee, Wisconsin | United States Navy sailors