Spencer Tracy Hepburn, living what she described as a quiet life: reading, painting, and listening to music. On June 10, 1967, 17 days after completing what was his last film role in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", Tracy awakened at 3:00 am to make himself a cup of tea in his apartment in Beverly Hills, California. Hepburn described in her autobiography how she followed him to the kitchen: "Just as I was about to give [the door] a push, there was a sound of a cup smashing to the floor—then clump—a loud clump." She entered the room to find Tracy lying dead
Spencer Tracy introduced Mr. Tracy as one of the screen's best performers". Mordaunt Hall of "The New York Times" stated: "No more convincing performance has been given on the screen than Spencer Tracy's impersonation of Tom Garner." "Shanghai Madness" (1933), meanwhile, gave Tracy a previously unseen sex appeal and served to advance his standing. Despite this attention, Tracy's next two movies went largely unnoticed. "Man's Castle" (1933) with Loretta Young was anticipated to be a hit, but made only a small profit. "The Show-Off" (1934), for which he was lent to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, proved popular, but his subsequent outings continued to be unsuccessful.