Spencer Tracy has been dead for almost 30 years but his brilliance has never been surpassed. He is still regarded as the most skillful and versatile actor the screen has ever known. James Cagney once said of him “He could mold himself into any role without leaving a trace of himself”.
He left Broadway for Hollywood to earn enough money to cure his son but little John’s deafness was forever and Spence never stopped feeling guilty. It was that Irish penchant for guilt and self-doubt that led to chronic sleepless nights, a failed marriage and two week binges. Spencer Tracy was haunted by his demons but while the sun shined, he gave us priceless portraits on the silver screen. Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on April 5 th, 1900, the second son of John Edward and Caroline Brown Tracy. John was a truck salesman and first generation Irish Catholic while “Carrie” was from a long line of Protestant Browns dating back to colonial New England. When John and Carrie married, the clash of cultures and traditions was thunderous but it was a happy marriage. Their red-haired, blue-eyed second son was another story. Born four years after his brother Carroll, Spencer was always in trouble and even once set the house on fire. His favorite pastimes were either fighting or playing truant with Ratty and Mousy Donovan and hiding from authority figures under the bar at Donovan’s Tavern.
He hated school and was expelled from 15 public and parochial schools. He finally finished 8 th grade at St. Rose’s where he liked the nuns and was at the head of his class. Spencer later admitted “The only reason I went was so I could learn to read the sub-titles in the silent movies”. With relief his parents sent him off to Marquette Academy, a high school run by the Jesuits, where Spencer became interested in theology. His father regained the hope that one of his sons would become a priest. Spencer also met up with another Irish lad by the name of William O’Brien. But WWI snatched Spence from a life of prayer when he joined the Navy with pal Bill to fight for his country…even though Spence never got out of the Norfolk Navy Yard. At the end of the war, Tracy enrolled first at Northwestern Military and Naval Academy where he finally got his high school diploma and then Ripon College where he became fascinated with acting. When he left college for New York, Bill went with him and they roomed together while attending AADA (American Academy of Dramatic Arts) and starved together waiting for their big break. Bill had now changed his name to Pat O’Brien.
Just after graduation from AADA, Spencer got his first Broadway break in a non-speaking role as a robot in “R.U.R.” (Rossum’s Universal Robots). He made $10 a week! After the show closed and he couldn’t find work in New York City, Spence decided to join a stock company in White Plains, New York. On the train he met Louise Treadwell, the leading lady from the same troupe and it didn’t take long for romance to blossom. Louise was 4 years older than Spence and Episcopalian but they decided none of that would be an obstacle. They were married 6 months later in a civil ceremony between the matinee and evening shows. When the play finished its run, the couple returned to New York. But Spence was on his own now, because Louise was expecting their first child. Mom and Pop Tracy took her home with them while Spence stayed in New York.
Spence got his first big break with the role of Killer Mears in “The Last Mile” the story of a condemned man on his way to execution. His performance was so powerful that later, when asked to do the screen version, Clark Gable hesitated for fear he wouldn’t measure up. Director John Ford was in New York looking to Broadway to supply him with two actors he needed in a Fox production, and after seeing Tracy’s performance, he knew Spence should be one of them. The other one he took back was a 31-year-old actor with an odd speech impediment by the name of…. Humphrey Bogart.
Tracy’s first born, a son they named after Spencer’s father, was 10 months old before Louise realized the child was deaf. Every doctor she consulted told her that the hearing loss was permanent. Spencer was devastated. He was sure God must be punishing him for some past sin and now his son was suffering because of him. Pat O’Brien said that’s when Spence went out on “ his first big drunk” disappearing for almost a week. It was the harbinger of things to come.
Tracy reluctantly left for Hollywood hoping the money Fox offered him would be enough to help his son who had now also suffered mild muscle damage from a polio attack. Louise was devoting all her time to teaching John to read lips and, with Spence working on one film after another, the two eventually drifted apart. Even the birth of a perfect little daughter in July, 1932 wasn’t enough to close the gap. In 1933 Spence moved out. It was about the same time rumors surfaced that he had begun a sizzling love affair with Loretta Young, his leading lady in “A Man’s Castle”. The affair lasted 2 years until Loretta broke it off for “religious reasons”.
On April 2 nd, 1935 Spencer was called into the Fox office. It wasn’t an early birthday present. After 5 years, 24 rather mediocre films (Fox’s problem) and “bad behavior” (Spencer’s demons at work), Fox was dumping him. It was the biggest mistake that studio ever made! Waiting in the wings was Irving Thalberg, boy genius at MGM…and within 2 hours after he left the Fox lot Spencer Tracy had a MGM contract.
Spencer’s first Academy Award nomination came with his fourth film for MGM and his first role as a priest in 1936’s “San Francisco”. While he wondered if he was worthy of donning the cassock even on film, he admitted later he felt very comfortable in the role. However, he lost to Paul Muni (“The Story of Louis Pasteur”). He made up for it by being the first actor to win back-to-back Best Actor Oscars for “Captains Courageous” (1937) and “Boys Town” (1938) when he played another priest. Tom Hanks became only the second for “Philadelphia” (1993) and “Forrest Gump” (1994).
The ranch in Encino was still home even though Tracy didn’t live there. He phoned every day and spent Sundays with the children and he never allowed animals to be killed on the ranch for any reason…even the chickens. The place soon became known as “an old age home for animals”. He also devoted time and money to support Louise’s most important project…the now famous John Tracy Clinic and did everything he could to protect her from scandal.
But Spencer’s health was beginning to deteriorate. His chronic insomnia, depression and frequent bouts with alcohol were having their effect on his kidneys, heart and lungs. He was spending more time in the hospital every year and literally aging from the inside out. At 40, he looked 10 years older. Then, in 1941, Tracy met Katharine Hepburn and it is widely believed that it was Kate who kept him alive for the next 26 years.
Kate had seen Spencer in “Captains Courageous” and never forgot the impact his performance had on her. Now that she had moved from RKO (and Howard Hughes) to MGM , she had her chance to work with him in “Woman of the Year”. Once filming started, every one on the set felt the “magic”
and the chemistry continued all the way to the box office. But it didn’t stop there…the deep feeling between Spence and Kate would last a lifetime. Their love affair was private…shared in secret and kept that way by an unusually respectful press. When they were apart, Tracy’s demons overwhelmed him but his long bouts with alcohol diminished. Kate later said “Acting was easy for him….Life was the problem”. Spence called Kate “Bag of Bones” and she often addressed him as ‘Old Man” but the bond between them was strong and enduring. On August 30 th, 1965 Spencer developed complications from routine prostate surgery and was put on the critical list. Louise and Kate devised a plan to share time at his bedside without being together. Spencer recovered but no one knew if he would ever work again…except Kate. She knew he needed to work to live. But insurance wouldn’t cover him. So director Stanley Kramer and Kate put up their salaries as collateral for “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner”. The film was a box office bonanza and Tracy won his ninth Oscar nomination. Kate won the Best Actress award (only her second).
But 15 days after the picture wrapped, Spencer Tracy died in the little house he shared with Kate. She wrote later “the engine stopped at 3.a.m.”. The press release reported that he had died of a massive heart attack while alone at home. Kate was never mentioned and did not attend the funeral. He was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California near a garden named for him.
Spencer Tracy truly loved four women in his life…..his mother, Louise, Loretta and Kate. Two were still with him to the end…Louise, the wife he would never divorce and Kate, the beloved of his soul. For more on Spencer Tracy check out Arabella's Notes
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