Tracy, Spencer

(1900-1967)

   Born in Milwaukee, Spencer Bonaventura Tracy spent time in the Navy during World War I, after which he attended Ripon College where, at the suggestion of one of his professors, he decamped for New York to enter the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA). After a year at AADA, Tracy landed a small role as a robot in the Theatre Guild's production of Karel Cäpek's expressionist drama R.U.R. (1922). During the 1920s, he continually found acting roles on Broadway, including A Royal Fandango (1923), starring Ethel Barrymore, and Yellow (1926). Mentored by George M. Cohan, who cast Tracy in a leading role in his comedy The Baby Cyclone (1927), Tracy continued in weak plays like Conflict (1929) and Nigger Rich (1929), but finally created a sensation as merciless "Killer" Mears, a death-row inmate, in John Wexley's* prison drama, The Last Mile* (1930). This led to Tracy's long Hollywood career as a major motion picture star. He returned once to Broadway in Robert E. Sherwood's The Rugged Path* (1945), winning strong reviews, although the play's run was brief.