Spencer Tracy was born four years after his brother Carroll to truck salesman John Edward and Caroline Brown Tracy. He attended Marquette Academy along with Pat O'Brien and the two left school to enlist in the Navy at the start of World War I. He was still at Norfolk Navy Yard in VIrginia at the end of the war. At Ripon College he did well in the lead of "The Truth" and decided on acting as a career. In New York he roomed with O'Brien while they attended the Academy of Dramatic Arts. In 1923 they both got nonspeaking parts as robots in "R.U.R". In stock he supported himself with jobs as bellhop, janitor and salesman. John Ford saw his critically acclaimed performance in the lead role in in The Last Mile and signed him to Up the River for Fox. His family moved to Hollywood in 1931, and Tracy made 16 films in three years. In 1935 he signed with MGM. He became the first actor to win back-to-back Oscars for Captains Courageous and Boys Town. He was nominated for San Francisco, Father of the Bride, Bad Day at Black Rock, The Old Man and the Sea, Inherit the Wind, Judgment at Nuremberg, and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. He had a brief romantic relationship with Loretta Young in the 1930s and a lifelong one with Katharine Hepburn beginning in 1942. Because he was a Catholic he never divorced his wife Louise, though they lived apart. A few weeks after completion of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, during which he suffered from lung congestion, he died of a heart attack.
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967): $300,000
Broken Lance (1954): $165,000 + percentage of profits
Up the River (1930): $1,000/week

Sometimes people confuse Spencer Tracy and James Whitmore. The two sometimes look as if they could have been brothers. Ranked #64 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997] Born at 1:57am-CST Interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, California, USA, in the Garden of Everlasting Peace, on the right just after entering. His Best Actor Oscar for Boys Town is inscribed with the name "Dick Tracy." Attended Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin but did not graduate. Attended no fewer than six high schools: Wauwatosa (WI) High School; St. John's Cathedral School (Milwaukee); St. Mary's (near Topeka, Kansas); Rockhurst Academy (Topeka); Marquette Academy (Milwaukee); WWI service; Northwestern Military and Naval Academy (Lake Geneva, WI); and West Division High School (Milwaukee), from which he graduated in 1921. In 1956/57 when his longtime friend Humphrey Bogart was dying of cancer, Tracy and Katharine Hepburn were two of the only people who visited Bogie (and wife Lauren Bacall) at their home on an almost daily basis. They would sit together at Bogie's bedside for half an hour or so every evening in the months and weeks leading up to his death. After Bogie's death, Bacall requested that Tracy deliver the eulogy at the funeral. He apologetically declined, saying it would simply be too difficult for him. He felt he would be too emotional and wouldn't be able to do it. Bacall understood and director John Huston delivered the eulogy instead. Tracy was offered the role of The Penguin in the TV series _"Batman" (1966/II)_ before Burgess Meredith. He said he would only accept the role if he was allowed to kill Batman. Died only 17 days after filming of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner had been completed. Made nine films with Katharine Hepburn, the first of which was Woman of the Year. He was voted the 15th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly. Had two children from his marriage to Louise Treadwell: Son, John Ten Broeck Tracy (born 26 June 1924) and daughter, Louise Treadwell 'Susie' Tracy (born July 1 1932). Son John was born deaf; as a result, his wife, Louise, became an activist for deaf education, establishing the John Tracy Clinic at USC. He is often mentioned alongside Laurence Olivier and Marlon Brando as the greatest movie actor of all time. Unlike the other two, however, Tracy was not already successful and well-known as a stage actor before getting into films. His father was of Irish descent and his mother was descended from the earliest English settlers in America. Katharine Hepburn, his frequent screen partner and longtime flame, never watched Guess Who's Coming to Dinner because it was his last film and watching it with him gone was too painful for her. He was voted the 19th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Premiere Magazine. Named the #9 Greatest Actor on The 50 Greatest Screen Legends List by The American Film Institute When he needed a break, he would often come back to Milwaukee and frequent the local watering holes. However, finding him proved to be an almost impossible challenge for Katharine Hepburn, because there are so many bars in Milwaukee. Secretly diagnosed with diabetes in the late 1940s. His performance as Henry Drummond in "Inherit the Wind" (1960) is ranked #67 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006). Has three films on the American Film Institute's 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time. They are: "Captains Courageous" (1937) at #94, "Boys Town" (1938) at #81, and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (1967) at #35. In 1935, M.G.M. bought Tracy's contact from 20th Century-Fox as Louis B. Mayer respected his talent and thought he would be a good second lead, particularly in support of the studio's Number 1 male star, Clark Gable. Tracy had never developed into a star in his five years at Fox (which was merged with Darryl F. Zanuck's 20th Century), and Fox had cooled on him. After four years of playing second-fiddle to Gable 9and inevitably losing the girl to the man they called "The King" of Hollywood), Tracy came into his own as a star in M.G.M. vehicles such as Captains Courageous and Boys Town, both of which he won back-to-back Best Actor Oscars. Though he remained friends with Gable, the two never co-starred together after 1940. Didn't like to rehearse and would read through a scene only once, five days before shooting. He also never liked to shoot a scene more than once, and in most cases he didn't have to. He was a staunch supporter of the Democrat Party. Advertised Lucky Strike cigarettes. Was supposed to star in Ten North Frederick, but had to withdraw due to poor health and was replaced by Gary Cooper.