Spencer Tracy_ A Biography - James C. Curtis [0]
PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF
Copyright © 2011 by James Curtis
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf,
a division of Random House, Inc., New York,
and in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
www.aaknopf.com
Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered
trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Curtis, James, 1953–
Spencer Tracy : a biography / by James Curtis.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
eISBN: 978-0-307-59522-5
1. Tracy, Spencer, 1900–1967. 2. Actors—United States—Biography. I. Title.
PN2287.T7C78 2011
791.43’028092—dc22
[B]
2011014719
Designed by Soonyoung Kwon
Front-of-jacket photograph: Spencer Tracy, New York, 1948. © The Penn Foundation Jacket design by Carol Devine Carson
Frontispiece: Actor George Fleming snapped Tracy, at age twenty-four, in his dressing room at the Montauk Theatre during the Christmas week run of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. (SUSIE TRACY)
v3.1
This one is for Kim.
On the level.
Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which
sustained him through temporary periods of joy.
—WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
Acknowledgments
1 General Business
2 A Born Actor
3 A Sissy Sort of Thing
4 The Best Goddamned Actor
5 Dread
6 The Last Mile
7 Quick Millions
8 The Power and the Glory
9 The Amount of Marriage We’ve Experienced
10 And Does Love Last?
11 That Double Jackpot
12 The Best Year
13 The New Rage
14 Enough to Shine Even Through Me
15 A Buoyant Effect on the Audience
16 Someone’s Idea of Reality
17 Woman of the Year
18 I’ve Found the Woman I Want
19 Not the Guy They See Up There on the Screen
20 The Big Drunk
21 The Rugged Path
22 State of the Union
23 Adam’s Rib
24 Father of the Bride
25 Rough Patch
26 At Loose Ends
27 A Granite-like Wedge of a Man
28 The Mountain
29 The Last Hurrah
30 Our Greatest Actor
31 The Value of a Single Human Being
32 Something a Little Less Serious
33 A Lion in a Cage
34 A Humble Man
Author’s Note: The Biographies of Katharine Hepburn
Appendix I: Stage Chronology
Appendix II: Film Chronology
Notes and Sources
Selected Bibliography
Index
Other Books by This Author
Acknowledgments
“I’m too trusting,” Spencer Tracy lamented. “I always believe the best of people and often get fooled.” In vetting any statement or proposition put to him, Tracy would often do no more than lock eyes with the other person and ask, “Is this on the level?” It’s one of the first things his daughter ever recalled to me, and it’s a question I’ve repeatedly asked myself as I’ve worked on this book. As so much has been written about Spencer Tracy that is either careless, foolish, or downright malicious, there would be no valid reason to spend six years on a biography of him that merely culled the misinformation printed elsewhere. Finding the truth and nuance in a life as maligned as Tracy’s wasn’t easy, and it would have been impossible without the help of a great many people.
This book wouldn’t exist at all without the good faith and persistence of Susie Tracy, the daughter of Spencer and Louise Tracy, who wanted it written and was a fierce advocate for seeing it done properly. I first approached her through Dr. James Garrity, then the executive director of John Tracy Clinic, convinced a thorough and balanced biography of her father needed to be written, and that the time to talk to the people who knew him was running out. Susie demurred at first, as another biography had long been in the works. A few months later, I had an e-mail message from the Emmy-winning makeup artist and author Michael Blake, passing along word from producer William Self. Was I still interested in writing a biography of Spencer Tracy? If so, Susie Tracy would like to meet.
Bill Self knew Spencer Tracy for nearly twenty-five years and, as it turned out, was familiar with my work. Over a three-hour lunch, Bill, Susie, and I discussed the challenges