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01
Katharine Hepburn, his frequent screen partner and longtime flame, never watched Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner 1967 because it was his final film and watching it without him was too painful for her.
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02
Tracy died only 17 days after filming of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner had been completed.
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03
While making a cup of coffee on the morning of June 10, 1967, Tracy suffered a sudden heart attack; Katharine Hepburn found him dead on the kitchen floor.
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04
During 1956 and 1957, when his close friend Humphrey Bogart was dying of cancer, Tracy and Hepburn visited Bogart and wife Lauren Bacall almost daily, sitting at his bedside for half an hour each evening. After Bogart’s death, Bacall asked Tracy to deliver the eulogy, but he declined because it would be too emotional. Director John Huston delivered it instead.
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05
Tracy was one of the few major actors who never appeared in a television movie or series, despite living well into the television age.
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06
He was offered the role of the Penguin in the 1966 TV series Batman before Burgess Meredith, but said he would only accept if he could kill Batman.
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07
Tracy’s son John was born deaf; his wife Louise became an activist for deaf education, founding the John Tracy Clinic at USC.
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08
Although he and Hepburn lived together for more than 25 years, they never discussed marriage. Tracy was already married and Hepburn was not interested in marrying.
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09
Tracy disliked rehearsing and would read through a scene only once, five days before shooting. He also preferred not to shoot a scene more than once, and in most cases he didn’t have to.
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10
When needing a break, Tracy often returned to Milwaukee and visited local bars. Finding him there was nearly impossible for Hepburn because of the city’s many bars.
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11
Tracy suffered from severe insomnia his entire life.
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12
He received a posthumous Best Actor Academy Award nomination for Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner 1967. His widow Louise attended the ceremony in case he won, but the award went to Rod Steiger for In the Heat of the Night.
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13
The American Film Institute named Tracy the ninth Greatest Actor on its 50 Greatest Screen Legends list.
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14
Harold Clurman said of Tracy: He was the universal American: honest, calm, considerate, free of all phoniness. There was in him no petty motive or concealed malice. He was a man.
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15
His Best Actor Oscar for Boys Town 1938 is inscribed with the name Dick Tracy.
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16
Tracy and Hepburn made nine films together: Woman of the Year 1942, Keeper of the Flame 1942, Without Love 1945, The Sea of Grass 1947, State of the Union 1948, Adam’s Rib 1949, Pat and Mike 1952, Desk Set 1957, and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner 1967.
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17
Warner Bros. bought the rights to the book Mute Witness with Tracy in mind, but after his death, the script was altered: a chase scene was added, the location moved to San Francisco, and the character became Detective Frank Bullitt, played by Steve McQueen.
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18
Tracy was announced to co-star with Paul Newman and Robert Mitchum in The Enemy Within, based on Robert F. Kennedy’s book, but the film was never made.
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19
He turned down many roles, including Cary Grant’s role in The Philadelphia Story 1940 because he wanted to make Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1941.
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20
In 1935, MGM bought Tracy’s contract from Fox as Louis B. Mayer saw him as a good second lead to Clark Gable. After four years playing second fiddle, Tracy became a star with Captains Courageous and Boys Town.
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21
Tracy earned two Best Actor Oscar nominations for playing foreign fishermen: as Manuel in Captains Courageous 1937 and as The Old Man in The Old Man and the Sea 1958.
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22
He is interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, California, in the Garden of Everlasting Peace.
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23
Tracy’s political views are disputed; some sources say he was an arch-conservative in the 1930s that moderated after meeting Hepburn, while others say he was always a moderate Democrat. He often said actors had no place in politics.
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24
He was supposed to appear in Cheyenne Autumn 1964 and The Cincinnati Kid 1965, but suffered a severe heart attack in 1963. Edward G. Robinson replaced him in both.
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25
His father was of Irish descent; his mother descended from early English settlers.
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26
Along with Laurence Olivier, Tracy is one of only two actors to receive nine Best Actor Oscar nominations.
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27
His father John Tracy worked as a clerk at a railroad office.
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28
Tracy appears in four of the American Film Institute’s 100 Funniest Movies: Adam’s Rib at 22, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World at 40, Father of the Bride at 83, and Woman of the Year at 90.
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29
In 2006, his performance as Henry Drummond in Inherit the Wind 1960 was ranked 67th on Premiere Magazine’s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time.
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30
Tracy and his wife Louise had two children: John Ten Broeck Tracy 1924–2007 and Louise Treadwell Susie Tracy born 1932.
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31
He was the first actor to receive back-to-back Best Actor Oscars, a record held for 55 years until Tom Hanks won for Philadelphia 1993 and Forrest Gump 1994.
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32
William Holden cited Fredric March and Tracy as his acting idols.
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33
Tracy was voted the 19th Greatest Movie Star of All Time by Premiere Magazine.
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34
He has three films on the American Film Institute’s 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time: Captains Courageous at 94, Boys Town at 81, and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner at 35.
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35
Director Vincente Minnelli quoted Tracy as saying, It was a badge of honor for an actor to be a drunk.
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36
Tracy was supposed to star in Ten North Frederick 1958 but withdrew due to poor health; Gary Cooper replaced him.
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37
He got along very well with James Cagney, Frank McHugh, and Pat O’Brien; they were known in Hollywood as the Irish Mafia.
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38
A street in Iowa City, Iowa, is named after Tracy.
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39
As of 2009, Tracy is one of only six performers who won a Golden Globe as Best Lead Actor in a Motion Picture Drama without an Oscar nomination for the same role The Actress, 1953. The others are Anthony Franciosa, Omar Sharif, Shirley MacLaine, Jim Carrey, and Kate Winslet.
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40
Tracy was sought for Fredric March’s role in The Desperate Hours 1955 but would not take second billing to Humphrey Bogart.
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41
Winning an Oscar for playing Father Edward Flanagan in Boys Town 1938 made Tracy one of 18 actors to win for portraying a real person still alive at the ceremony.
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42
In October 1997, Empire magazine ranked Tracy 64th in The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time.
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43
Tracy attended at least six high schools, including Marquette Academy, Rockhurst High School, and Northwestern Military and Naval Academy, finally graduating from West Division High School in Milwaukee in 1921.
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44
He came to Hollywood’s attention after eight years on stage with his performance as Killer Mears in The Last Mile. John Ford saw him twice in the role and Fox allowed him to hire Tracy for his film debut, Up the River 1930.
