Born
5 April 1900 (125)
Place of Birth
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Also known as
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy
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 th...
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.
Gene Kelly - An American in Hollywood
2025
Heart of a Servant: The Father Flanagan Story
2024
DEVO
2024
Rat Pack
2022
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
2018
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
2013
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
2009
Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults
1999
Hidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults
1997
Bogart: The Untold Story
1997
Ingrid Bergman Remembered
1996
La Classe américaine
1993
Movie Tough Guys
1991
Something a Little Less Serious: A Tribute to 'It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World'
1991
Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To
1990
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
1988
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
1987
The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn
1986
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
1975
That's Entertainment!
1974
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
1972
Brasileiros em Hollywood
1970
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
1967
The Big Parade of Comedy
1964
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
1963
How the West Was Won
1962
Judgment at Nuremberg
1961
The Devil at 4 O'Clock
1961
Inherit the Wind
1960
The Last Hurrah
1958
The Old Man and the Sea
1958
Desk Set
1957
The Mountain
1956
Bad Day at Black Rock
1955
Broken Lance
1954
The Actress
1953
Plymouth Adventure
1952
Pat and Mike
1952