A biography for Spencer Tracyhasn’t been written yet.
“Know your lines and don't bump into the furniture.”
“Just know your lines and don't bump into the furniture.”
“This mug of mine is as plain as a barn door. Why should people pay 35 cents to look at it?”
“Acting is not the noblest profession in the world, but there are things lower than acting. Not many, mind you - but politicians give you something to look down on from time to time.”
“Concentrate, don't embroider.”
“I couldn't be a director because I couldn't put up with the actors. I don't have the patience. Why, I'd probably kill the actors. Not to mention some of the beautiful actresses.”
“Acting is not an important job in the scheme of things. Plumbing is.”
“I'm disappointed in acting as a craft. I want everything to go back to Orson Welles and fake noses and changing your voice. It's become so much about personality.”
“Acting to me is always reacting.”
“It is up to us to give ourselves recognition. If we wait for it to come from others, we feel resentful when it doesn't, and when it does, we may well reject it.”