Acting
Spencer 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 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.
Filmography
Gene Kelly: An American in Hollywood
Film · 2025
Heart of a Servant: The Father Flanagan Story
Film · 2024
DEVO
Film · 2024
Rat Pack
Film · 2022
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
Film · 2018
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
Film · 2013
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
Film · 2009
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story
Film · 2006
Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults
Film · 1999
Bogart: The Untold Story
Film · 1997
Hidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults
Film · 1997
Ingrid Bergman Remembered
Film · 1996
Legends in Light: The Photography of George Hurrell
Film · 1995
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
Film · 1995
La Classe américaine
Film · 1993
Movie Tough Guys
Film · 1991
Something a Little Less Serious: A Tribute to 'It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World'
Film · 1991
Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To
Film · 1990
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
Film · 1988
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
Film · 1987
The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn
Film · 1986
George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey
Film · 1985
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Film · 1983
That's Entertainment, Part II
Film · 1976
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Film · 1975
That's Entertainment!
Film · 1974
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Film · 1972
Brasileiros em Hollywood
Film · 1970
The Happy Ending
Film · 1969
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Film · 1967
The Big Parade of Comedy
Film · 1964
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Film · 1963
How the West Was Won
Film · 1962
Judgment at Nuremberg
Film · 1961
The Devil at 4 O'Clock
Film · 1961
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
Film · 1961
Inherit the Wind
Film · 1960
The Old Man and the Sea
Film · 1958
The Last Hurrah
Film · 1958
Desk Set
Film · 1957
The Mountain
Film · 1956
Bad Day at Black Rock
Film · 1955
MGM Parade
Series · 1955
MGM Parade
Series · 1955
MGM Parade
Series · 1955
Broken Lance
Film · 1954
The Actress
Film · 1953
Pat and Mike
Film · 1952
Plymouth Adventure
Film · 1952
Father's Little Dividend
Film · 1951
The People Against O'Hara
Film · 1951
Father of the Bride
Film · 1950
Adam's Rib
Film · 1949
Malaya
Film · 1949
Edward, My Son
Film · 1949
State of the Union
Film · 1948
The Sea of Grass
Film · 1947
Cass Timberlane
Film · 1947
Without Love
Film · 1945
A Guy Named Joe
Film · 1944
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
Film · 1944
The Seventh Cross
Film · 1944
Twenty Years After
Film · 1944
Keeper of the Flame
Film · 1943
His New World
Film · 1943
Woman of the Year
Film · 1942
Tortilla Flat
Film · 1942
Ring of Steel
Film · 1942
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Film · 1941
Men of Boys Town
Film · 1941
Northwest Passage
Film · 1940
Edison, the Man
Film · 1940
Boom Town
Film · 1940
I Take This Woman
Film · 1940
Northward, Ho!
Film · 1940
Young Tom Edison
Film · 1940
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
Film · 1940
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Film · 1940
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
Film · 1940
Stanley and Livingstone
Film · 1939
Hollywood Hobbies
Film · 1939
From the Ends of the Earth
Film · 1939
Mannequin
Film · 1938
Boys Town
Film · 1938
Test Pilot
Film · 1938
Hollywood Goes to Town
Film · 1938
Another Romance of Celluloid
Film · 1938
Captains Courageous
Film · 1937
Big City
Film · 1937
They Gave Him a Gun
Film · 1937
The Romance of Celluloid
Film · 1937
Libeled Lady
Film · 1936
Fury
Film · 1936
San Francisco
Film · 1936
Riffraff
Film · 1936
The Murder Man
Film · 1935
Whipsaw
Film · 1935
Dante's Inferno
Film · 1935
It's A Small World
Film · 1935
Now I'll Tell
Film · 1934
Bottoms Up
Film · 1934
Looking for Trouble
Film · 1934
Marie Galante
Film · 1934
The Show-Off
Film · 1934
The Power and the Glory
Film · 1933
Man's Castle
Film · 1933
Face in the Sky
Film · 1933
The Mad Game
Film · 1933
Shanghai Madness
Film · 1933
20,000 Years in Sing Sing
Film · 1932
Me and My Gal
Film · 1932
Sky Devils
Film · 1932
Young America
Film · 1932
The Painted Woman
Film · 1932
Society Girl
Film · 1932
She Wanted a Millionaire
Film · 1932
Disorderly Conduct
Film · 1932
Quick Millions
Film · 1931
Goldie
Film · 1931
Six Cylinder Love
Film · 1931
Taxi Talks
Film · 1930
Up the River
Film · 1930
The Hard Guy
Film · 1930