Spencer Tracy_ A Biography - James C. Curtis [523]
In the days following his death, Kate busied herself acknowledging the cards and wires she had received from friends and acquaintances and prominent strangers, all in her own hand, often on Spence’s notepaper. To Justice William O. Douglas she wrote of how she was always trying to hold him up as a fine example of a walker, “[b]ut I must say it didn’t have much effect.” To Joan Blondell: “What can one say—He was such a delicious + remarkable man + actor—I was lucky to be around him for so long.” To Anne Pearce Kramer: “He was really a unique creature, Spencer + I was lucky to be the one—So I try to think of that + I am glad he did not have a humiliating half alive time—just stopped.” To Jack Hamilton: “So there is silence where once a delicious Irish wit sparkled my days with laughter and tears—It seems incredible doesn’t it—I did not realize about death—the end—the absolute end—This roadblock will never be removed. Now we will see how much character I really have.”
A stricken Louise Tracy is escorted from the church by Howard Strickling. (PATRICIA MAHON COLLECTION)
Dorothy Gopadze wrote of her gratitude when her daughter was permitted to visit the set of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. “Do you remember A Guy Named Joe? I’d like to think of Mr. Tracy prowling around Heaven right this minute, telling the Archangel Gabriel he expects him to be better organized.”
From London, Vivien Leigh wired, “DEAREST GIRL MY WHOLE HEART IS WITH YOU.” And then a week later: “I am blinded with sorrow for you …” Three weeks after writing that note, Leigh herself was dead of tuberculosis at the age of fifty-three.
From San Francisco, Joe Cohn wrote of the “wholehearted devotion, care, and companionship” that Kate had given Spence. “Because of this you made his life a much richer one—far too many people are so unfortunate they never encounter this in their entire lives. I hope the realization of this and the awareness that you were never found wanting when he needed you will in some measure ease the loss of a truly magnificent person and a rare rare companion.”
She responded: “Your letter was so touching and I am so grateful to you for making me feel happy about myself—I just really loved Spence—he—well I said to him just the other day—You know my friend—you just get to me—And he did—I was lucky—And he just wasn’t a bore was he—such a unique slant—so funny—He was so pleased to get your wire at the beginning of the picture—And he did a fine job—& finished it—But I think Joe—he was tired out—he’d led quite a life—And his heart just stopped—He was getting a cup of tea in the kitchen at 3 AM as he often did—& I was just coming through the door to help him—when—& it was the end—no struggle—no terror—just end.”
The estate was valued at $1,049,675, of which $226,526 was in cash, the rest in assets. The house on Tower Road was appraised at $200,000, but Tracy’s personal effects and property were worth just $1,880. Carroll inherited almost everything in the house on St. Ives, along with Spence’s 1958 and 1961 Thunderbirds. Once all claims and expenses had been paid, the final valuation of the estate was $664,147. Louise claimed half pursuant to the terms of the will and half by virtue of her community property interest. A trust for John and Susie was established in March 1968, and for the period 1968–70 it received a total of $46,000 from the estate. John benefited separately from a trust established by his maternal grandfather, Allienne Treadwell, which included shares in the family newspaper business.
Carroll Tracy felt lost without his brother, who had been his employer and benefactor since 1933. He and Dorothy settled into a much quieter life in their apartment on Spalding Drive, and it was there that he suffered an even greater blow when his wife died on Christmas morning, 1967.
“It was a terrible shock,” he wrote Kate. “Went to mass Xmas eve came home after stopping for dinner. Had a pleasant evening. Said the angina pains were bad but would