Spencer Tracy biography

Tracy scored again later that same year with San Francisco, co-starring with Clark Gable in this disaster tale.

In 1937, Tracy achieved both commercial and critical success with Captains Courageous. Audiences and critics alike praised his performance as a Portuguese fisherman,

and the film brought him his first Academy Award. Tracy picked up another Academy Award the following year for his portrayal of Father Flanagan in Boys Town.

In 1942, Tracy first appeared opposite Katharine Hepburn in Woman of the Year. The pair had tremendous chemistry, both on and off-screen. Some have commented that Tracy had finally met his match in Hepburn, and their talent for verbal sparring was dazzling in their films together. Many of their projects involved a battle-of-the-sexes theme, such as Adam's Rib (1949). In this film, the pair played married lawyers on opposite sides of a court battle.

By the mid-1950s, Tracy's career seemed to slow down. One memorable role from this time was Bad Day at Black Rock (1955). He played a one-armed man searching for the truth in a small desert town. Directed by John Sturges, the film also featured Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine. Tracy's work with Hepburn on the comedy Desk Set (1957) was another popular picture from this time.

Final Years

Tracy started the 1960s with several strong leading roles. With Inherit the Wind (1960), he brought a fictionalized version of the renowned lawyer Clarence Darrow to the big screen. The film, based on an earlier play, explored the infamous Scopes Trial of 1925, which was a legal battle over the teaching of evolution. In Judgment at Nuremburg (1961), he played an American judge presiding in a trial of his German counterparts after World War II.

In his later years, Tracy reportedly became moody and difficult and suffered from health problems, all of which affected his ability to work. In 1967, Tracy filmed his last movie, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, which also starred Hepburn and actor Sidney Poitier. The movie explored the subject of interracial dating. Shortly after the filming was complete, Tracy died of a heart attack on June 10, 1967, at his home in Beverly Hills, California. Hepburn had been with him during his final days.

Remembered as an actor's actor, Tracy had the amazing ability to make his performances seem effortless. He made an unlikely box office draw, with his stocky form and craggy face. Yet still he became one of Hollywood's most bankable names during his peak. Tracy is also forever linked to another great star, Katharine Hepburn. From their meeting on the set of Woman of the Year in 1941, they remained a couple until Tracy's death.

© 2013 A+E Networks. All rights reserved.