Spencer
Tracy

Biography

Considered to be one of the greatest male stars of all time, Spencer Tracy was a leading man in the early days of Hollywood and was nominated for 9 Academy Awards in his lifetime, all for Best Actor. Of his 9 nominations, he won 2 for his roles in Captains Courageous (1937) and Boys Town (1938). He was also famously involved with Katharine Hepburn with whom he starred in 9 films with and was romantically involved with to until his death in 1967.

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Tracy began his acting career on stage in the 1920's where he appeared in plays such as R.U.R. (1922), a play by Czeckh writer Karel Capek, RUR standing for Rossum's Universal Robots, a play in which Tracy with no surpise played a robot.

He performed on stage for many years until he gained a role in the 1930's broadway hit The Last Mile where he came to the attention of film director John Ford. Ford loved Tracy's performance on stage so much he cast him in the film Up the River (1930) alongside Humphrey Bogart. This was Tracy's breakout role and allowed him to move to Hollywood full time and over the next five years he would star in 25 films.

It was in 1942 however that he would meet Katharine Hepburn whilst filming Woman of the Year (1942). Despite being married to Louise Treadwell, his marriage had deteriated over the years but despite this he never filed for divorce. His relationship with Hepburn would remain a private affair and the couple had many periods of absence from one another, largely due to Tracy's alcoholism. He was also known to have had flings with the likes of  Loretta Young, Joan Crawford, Myrna Loy, Ingrid Bergman and Gene Tierney.

He is best remembered for his roles in films such as Father of the Bride (1950), Inherit the Wind (1960), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963), and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967).

On 10 June 1967, Spencer tracy died of a massive heart attack at age 67. He left behind not only Hepburn and his wife Louise but also his two children John Tracy and Louise 'Susie' Tracy.