Spencer Tracy: Tragic Idol Hardcover – April 18, 1988 by Bill Davidson
 
Complemented by reminiscences of Tracy by Elizabeth Taylor, Gene Kelly, Elia Kazan, Pat O'Brien, and other celebrities, this exposes the more troubled side of one of Hollywood's greatest stars
 
From Publishers Weekly
Davidson (The Gary Coleman Story, etc.) dwells overlong on attempts to explain the late actor's periodic alcoholic binges and their tragic effects. And there are some slips: commenting on the father-son bond between Tracy and George M. Cohan, he says that the latter was only 12 years older; the difference was 22 years. Cohan sponsored the actor's early stage career on Broadway, Tracy's goal after leaving Milwaukee where he was born in 1900. It was an apprenticeship that led him to Hollywood in 1930, playing roles in 75 films and winning two Oscars out of seven nominations. The best parts of the book are reminiscences by Katharine Hepburn, director Stanley Kramer, actors and others who loved, or disliked, the incomparable performer known for such classics as Judgment at Nuremberg, Boys' Town, etc. The consensus voiced by Sir Laurence Olivier is that Tracy was the greatest actor of his time. As for his lapses, James Cagney's words serve as an epitaph: "Sure he was a fallible human . . . . What counts is what he did on the screen. People are always imitating me and other actors. Well nobody imitates Tracy. Nobody can imitate Tracy." Photos. Author tour.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
"Too ugly to be a leading man, not ugly enough to be a villain," ventured a casting agent on Tracy's chances in the movies. Too talented to be ignored, he might have added. Unfortunately, Tracy was dogged by a not unusual demon of the gifted: booze. His dark side was long concealed by studio publicists. Davidson tries to reconcile the often drunken, contentious Tracy with his compassionate persona. But he doesn't indulge in excessive psychoanalysis or dwell on Tracy's extramarital activity, except for respectfully evoking his legendary romance with Kate Hepburn. An interesting biography of a paradoxical man; for general collections. Jeff T. Dick, Decatur P.L., Ill.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
 
5.4