Spencer Tracy
Acting
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.
Known for
Acting119
movieGene Kelly - An American in Hollywood
2025
Self (archive footage)
movieHeart of a Servant: The Father Flanagan Story
2024
Fr. Edward Flanagan (archive footage)
movieDEVO
2024
Henry Drummond (archive footage) (uncredited)
movieRat Pack
2022
Self (archive footage)
movieScotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
2018
Self (archive footage)
movieClassic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
2013
Self (archive footage)
movie1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
2009
Self (archive footage)
movieStardust: The Bette Davis Story
2006
Self (archive footage)
movieHidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults
1997
Self (Archival Footage)
movieBogart: The Untold Story
1997
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
movieIngrid Bergman Remembered
1996
Self (archive footage)
movieThe First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
1995
Self (archive footage)
Legends in Light: The Photography of George Hurrell
1995
Self (archive footage)
movieLa Classe américaine
1993
The Professional Witness (archive footage)
movieMovie Tough Guys
1991
Self (archive footage)
movieSomething a Little Less Serious: A Tribute to 'It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World'
1991
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
movieMyrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To
1990
(archive footage)
movieThe Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
1988
Self (archive footage)
movieJames Stewart: A Wonderful Life
1987
Self (archive footage)
movieThe Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn
1986
Self (archive footage)
movieHollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
movieThat's Entertainment, Part II
1976
(archive footage)
movieBrother, Can You Spare a Dime?
1975
Self (archive footage)
movieThat's Entertainment!
1974
(archive footage) (uncredited)
movieHollywood: The Dream Factory
1972
Self (archive footage)
movieBrasileiros em Hollywood
1970
Self (archive footage)
movieGuess Who's Coming to Dinner
1967
Matt Drayton
movieThe Big Parade of Comedy
1964
Haggerty in 'Libeled Lady' (archive footage)
movieIt's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
1963
C. G. Culpepper
movieHow the West Was Won
1962
Narrator (voice)
movieHollywood: The Selznick Years
1961
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
movieJudgment at Nuremberg
1961
Dan Haywood
movieThe Devil at 4 O'Clock
1961
Father Matthew Doonan
movieInherit the Wind
1960
Henry Drummond
movieThe Last Hurrah
1958
Mayor Frank Skeffington
movieThe Old Man and the Sea
1958
The Old Man
movieDesk Set
1957
Richard Sumner
movieThe Mountain
1956
Zachary Teller
tvMGM Parade
1955
Self / self
movieBad Day at Black Rock
1955
John J. Macreedy
movieBroken Lance
1954
Matt Devereaux
movieThe Actress
1953
Clinton Jones
moviePlymouth Adventure
1952
Capt. Christopher Jones
moviePat and Mike
1952
Mike Conovan
movieThe People Against O'Hara
1951
James P. Curtayne
movieFather's Little Dividend
1951
Stanley Banks
movieFather of the Bride
1950
Stanley T. Banks
movieMalaya
1949
Carnaghan
movieAdam's Rib
1949
Adam Bonner
movieEdward, My Son
1949
Arnold Boult
movieState of the Union
1948
Grant Matthews
movieCass Timberlane
1947
Cass Timberlane
movieThe Sea of Grass
1947
Col. James B. Brewton
movieWithout Love
1945
Pat Jamieson
movieThirty Seconds Over Tokyo
1944
Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle
movieThe Seventh Cross
1944
George Heisler
movieA Guy Named Joe
1944
Pete Sandidge
movieTwenty Years After
1944
(archive footage)
movieKeeper of the Flame
1943
Stevie O'Malley
His New World
1943
Narrator (voice)
movieRing of Steel
1942
Narrator (voice)
movieWoman of the Year
1942
Sam Craig
movieDr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
1941
Dr. Henry 'Harry' Jekyll / Mr. Hyde
movieMen of Boys Town
1941
Edward Flanagan
movieBoom Town
1940
Square John Sand
movieEdison, the Man
1940
Thomas A. Edison
movieYoung Tom Edison
1940
Man Admiring Portrait of Thomas A. Edison
movieNorthwest Passage
1940
Major Robert Rogers
movieNorthward, Ho!
1940
Himself
movieI Take This Woman
1940
Karl Decker
movieStanley and Livingstone
1939
Henry M. Stanley
movieHollywood Hobbies
1939
Self (uncredited)
movieBoys Town
1938
Father Flanagan
movieTest Pilot
1938
Gunner Morse
movieAnother Romance of Celluloid
1938
Self (uncredited)
movieMannequin
1938
John Hennessey
movieBig City
1937
Joe Benton
movieThe Romance of Celluloid
1937
Self (archive footage)
movieCaptains Courageous
1937
Manuel Fidello
movieThey Gave Him a Gun
1937
Fred P. Willis
movieLibeled Lady
1936
Haggerty
movieSan Francisco
1936
Father Tim Mullin
movieFury
1936
Joe Wilson
movieRiffraff
1936
Dutch
movieWhipsaw
1935
Ross 'Mac' McBride aka Danny Ross Ackerman
movieDante's Inferno
1935
Jim Carter
movieThe Murder Man
1935
Steven 'Steve' Grey
movieIt's A Small World
1935
Bill Shevlin
movieMarie Galante
1934
Dr. Crawbett
movieNow I'll Tell
1934
Murray Golden
movieBottoms Up
1934
'Smoothie' King
movieLooking for Trouble
1934
Joe Graham
movieThe Show-Off
1934
J. Aubrey Piper
movieThe Mad Game
1933
Edward Carson
movieThe Power and the Glory
1933
Tom Garner
movieShanghai Madness
1933
Pat Jackson
movieFace in the Sky
1933
Joe Buck
movie20,000 Years in Sing Sing
1932
Tommy Connors
movieMe and My Gal
1932
Danny Dolan
movieThe Painted Woman
1932
Tom Brian
movieSociety Girl
1932
Briscoe
movieYoung America
1932
Jack Doray
movieDisorderly Conduct
1932
Dick Fay
movieSky Devils
1932
Wilkie
movieShe Wanted a Millionaire
1932
William Kelley
movieGoldie
1931
Bill
movieSix Cylinder Love
1931
William Donroy
movieQuick Millions
1931
Daniel J. 'Bugs' Raymond
movieUp the River
1930
Saint Louis
Taxi Talks
1930
Taxi Driver