Spencer Tracy Tracy left MGM in 1955, and continued to work regularly as a freelance star, despite an increasing weariness as he aged. His personal life was troubled, with a lifelong struggle against severe alcoholism and guilt over his son's deafness. Tracy became estranged from his wife in the 1930s, but never divorced, conducting a long-term relationship with Katharine Hepburn in private. Towards the end of his life, Tracy worked almost exclusively for director Stanley Kramer. It was for Kramer that he made his last film, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" in 1967, completed just 17 days before his death. During his
Spencer Tracy the film, Mann wrote to Tracy: "Every writer ought to have the experience of having Spencer Tracy do his lines. There is nothing in the world quite like it." The film met with positive reviews and a large audience; Tracy received an eighth Oscar nomination for his performance. Tracy turned down roles in "Long Day's Journey into Night" (1962) and "The Leopard" (1963), and had to pull out of MGM's all-star "How the West Was Won" (1962) when it clashed with "Judgment at Nuremberg". He was, however, able to record the film's narration track. Tracy was in very poor health