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The first time I ever heard the expression "Actor's actor," it was used in reference to our star of the month Spencer Tracy. That's a term now often attached to Robert DeNiro, but in the days when DeNiro was still on a tricycle, long before he looked in that mirror and said "You talkin' ta me?," it was Tracy who was "The Man." He was the guy, pre-DeNiro, all other actors aspired to be. Most would have sold their souls to be able to produce the same effect Tracy did whenever he was in front of a camera. His was a seemless art which took acting to it's highest form because he never seemed to be acting at all. He just was, whether playing a Portuguese fisherman, a Catholic priest, a small-town Judge or a Mexican scamp living in John Steinbeck country.
Tracy was a married man who had an intense 25-year extra-marital relationship with Katharine Hepburn which, miraculously, was never public knowledge until after Tracy's death in 1967. The pair traveled together, shared nearby cottages (but never the same living quarters) on the grounds of George Cukor's estate in Hollywood and were devoted to each other Ð yet mum was the word and no one snitched, not even journalists who were well aware of the details. Remarkable! Hepburn, by her own admission, was so devoted to Tracy she often put her own career on hold to look after the "Actor's actor" during the many times he was possessed by what she called "his dark Irish side." He adored her too, but there was never a question of marriage. His religion didn't allow divorce; her needs did not include a wedding certificate. On screen and off, they were a remarkable couple. And he, at least, always kept a sense of humor, and perspective, about their unique relationship. Once when he was making a film with Hepburn, a pal said to him, "Spence, you always get first-billing when you work with Kate. Don't you think it would be nice to let her name go first this time?" Tracy's reply: "My friend, this is a movie. Not a lifeboat." List of films |
