Two of the great stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood, Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, knew how to light up the silver screen. Tracy gained acclaim for his performances in such films as Boys Town, Captains Courageous, and Father of the Bride. He won an Academy Award for his role in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. Katharine Hepburn enjoyed a long Hollywood career which included roles in The Philadelphia Story, The African Queen, The Lion in Winter, and On Golden Pond. She won four Academy Awards for Best Actress, more than any other actor or actress in history. Tracy and Hepburn shared the screen in nine films … but that’s not all they shared. The two engaged in a long-term love affair that lasted a quarter of a century.
Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn first met in 1942 while they were working together on the film, Woman of the Year. The two played journalists who fall in love despite differing backgrounds and viewpoints. The on-screen chemistry between the two of them was palpable. Behind the screen, that chemistry was even stronger.
Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn began their romance even though Tracy was married to someone else. He had wed his wife. Louise Treadwell Tracy, in 1923. The couple had two children together and were devoted to each other. Despite his lengthy extramarital affair with Hepburn, Tracy remained married to his wife and committed to his family until the day he died.
Katharine Hepburn’s only marriage was over before she met Spencer Tracy. As a 21-year-old student at Bryn Mawr, Hepburn met 29-year-old businessman Ludlow Ogden Smith. They married on December 12, 1928, but when Hepburn moved to Hollywood in 1932, the marriage was essentially over. Their divorce was finalized in 1934. Afterwards, she began a romance with her agent, Leland Hayward. Hepburn declined his marriage proposal, preferring to remain single. She also dated Howard Hughes and Cary Grant. She was clear that she did not want to remarry or have children. She wanted to focus on her career.
The 25-year-long affair between Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy was widely known in Hollywood circles although publicly, the two denied their relationship was anything more than a working relationship. The media and the public were aware of the affair. It was even believed that Louise Treadwell Tracy was well aware of her husband’s relationship with Hepburn. Reportedly, they had an open marriage.
Throughout their 25-year affair, Tracy and Hepburn maintained their professional relationship, too. After their first film together, Woman of the Year, the pair went to make eight more films and, in each one, their on-screen chemistry was widely praised. Together, they starred in Keeper of the Flame in 1942, Without Love in 1945, Sea of Grass in 1947, State of the Union in 1948, Adam’s Rib in 1949, Pat and Mike in 1952, and Desk Set in 1957, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner in 1967.
The long-running affair between Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn only ended when Tracy died in 1967. Still, Hepburn refused to publicly acknowledge the affair. She waited until the 1983 death of Louise Tracy, Spencer’s wife, before she admitted to the decades-long romance.