Monday, April 18, 2011

Tracy and Hepburn

Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn each started out in movies in the 1930's and went on to win Oscars in the same decade. Their first movie together was 1942's Woman of the Year. Shortly after, they began a love affair that would span over 20 years. However, they would never marry since he had a wife and two children, and he would not divorce her due to his Catholicism. Tracy and Hepburn went on to star in seven more films together over a  25-year period including Adam's Rib (1949), Pat and Mike (1952), and Desk Set (1957). In 1967, the pair starred in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, co-starring Sidney Poitier and Katharine Hepburn's niece, Katharine Houghton. It was during flming that Spencer's health began to decline. On June 10, 1967, seventeen days after completing the film, Spencer Tracy died of a heart attack at the age of 67.

Katharine Hepburn went on to win the Best Actress Oscar the following year for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. She went on to win two more Oscars over the years. Katharine died on June 29, 2003, at the age of 96.

Trivia: Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn have both won Oscars in back-to-back years. Spencer Tracy won Best Actor for 1937's Captains Courageous and 1938's Boys Town. Katharine Hepburn won for 1967's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and 1968's The Lion in Winter.

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