Celebrity Biographies
Spencer Tracy
If the top three Hollywood directors were John Ford, John Ford, and John Ford, the top three actors were Spencer Tracy, Spencer Tracy, and Spencer Tracy. He embodied kind-hearted, idealistic characters with impressive economy of means in one of Hollywood’s longest and most prolific careers.
And that Spencer Bonaventure Tracy, born on April 5, 1900 in Milwakee (Wisconsin), in a Catholic middle-class family, was a naughty child expelled from several schools. It seems that he put his life on the right track when he decided to become a priest. The outbreak of World War I prevented him from doing so, as he was recruited to be sent to the front in Europe.
After the war, he began studies at the University, joining the theater group. At that time, he married Louise Treadwell, and decided that acting was his thing, so he ended up entering the Academy of Dramatic Arts, in New York. This city would see him succeed on the Broadway stage, where he was discovered by director John Ford , when he was performing “The Last Mile.” Ford offered him a role in 1930’s Up the River , which marked his film debut. In the 30s it is difficult to find a failed Spencer Tracy movie, since he starred in titles like My Girl and I , by Walsh, Twenty Thousand Years in Sing-Sing , by Curtiz, Intrepid Captains and Test Pilot, both by Victor Fleming , The Lost Explorer , by Henry King , Human Forces , by Frank Borzage , and above all, Fury , Fritz Lang ‘s impeccable critique of the maddened masses .
He began the 40s with the unbeatable The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll , once again directed by Fleming, in which the actor proved to be capable of embodying the two personalities of the protagonist, and that he came to seem like two different people, with the only help of minimal makeup. At that time he would interpret films like Thirty seconds over Tokyo and would start a fruitful collaboration with the actress Katharine Hepburn . He had a long extramarital affair with the charismatic actress, although the actor did not separate from his wife. On screen they appeared together nine times, with titles such as Adam’s Rib , Woman of the Year , State of the Union ,Sea of Grass and Guess Who’s Coming Tonight . In the 1950s and 1960s, Tracy continued to win public and critical acclaim with films like Father of the Bride and Father Is Grandfather , both by Vincente Minnelli , Broken Lance , Conspiracy of Silence , The Old Man and the Sea , Winners or defeated and his stupendous reunion with Ford, The Last Hurray , an unbeatable critical analysis of the world of politics. After filming the aforementioned Guess Who’s Coming Tonight , the actor died of a heart attack on June 10, 1967.