American actor Spencer Tracy was BOTD in 1900. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he served in the US Navy during World War One, and studied at Ripon College where he developed a love of acting. He studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, working in stock companies before his Broadway role in The Last Mile, which won him a Hollywood contract. After signing with MGM in 1935, he had a hit in the 1936 drama Fury and won consecutive Oscars for Captains Courageous and Boys Town, propelling him to stardom. He is best known for his on-screen partnership with Katharine Hepburn, finding huge success in the romantic comedies Woman of the Year, Adam’s Rib, State of the Union and Pat and Mike. His later career included the hit comedy Father of the Bride and social issue” dramas Inherit the Wind, Judgment at Nuremberg and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?, the latter pairing him again with Hepburn. Spencer married Louise Treadwell in 1923, with whom he had two children. Within a decade they were living apart, though as a devout Catholic he refused to get a divorce. He had a long off-screen relationship with Hepburn, remaining together until his death in 1967, aged 67. Biographers have speculated that Tracy was secretly gay and that his relationship with Hepburn, while affectionate, was sexless. In his 2012 memoir, Hollywood hustler Scotty Bowers revealed his ongoing sexual relationship with Tracy, and procuring women for Hepburn.