HEPBURN HOSTS A TRIBUTE TO SPENCER TRACY

Memories of Spencer Tracy were very much alive here Monday night--memories of the actor and the man, lovingly related by his longtime companion Katharine Hepburn and by others whose lives he had deeply touched.

They paid him tribute in person and via a revealing feature-length documentary, “The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A tribute by Katharine Hepburn,” which was previewed at the event.

The 90-minute documentary, which is hosted and narrated by Hepburn and which contains the normally very private actress’ intimate remarks about Tracy, is scheduled to be broadcast Monday night at 9 on public television stations (including KCET Channel 28 in Los Angeles and KPBS Channel 15 in San Diego).

“We are full of memories, and full of affection,” Hepburn said, in introducing the documentary at a benefit for Tracy’s alma mater, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, at Broadway’s Majestic Theater.

The occasion marked a rare public appearance by the 78-year-old actress--she earned the evening’s only standing ovation--but one that was not surprising. By the end of the evening’s three-hour program, it was apparent that she had been intimately involved in the event as well as in the TV documentary.

Hepburn was joined on stage at the Majestic by Frank Sinatra, Robert Wagner, Sidney Poitier and Stanley Kramer, director of four of Tracy’s best-known films, including his last, “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.” The actor died in 1967, 10 days after completing “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.” Hepburn said that all four speakers quickly accepted her personal invitation to participate in the tribute.

The four men affectionately and often humorously reminisced about Tracy and about the Hollywood of which he was a part. The actors, in particular, seemed to revel in reminiscing about “Spence and Katie” together. Recalling the indomitable Hepburn’s demeanor in Tracy’s presence, Poitier said: “He had her number. Around him, she was a little pussycat.”

Tracy’s daughter, Susie Tracy, also appeared on stage to accept the American Academy of Dramatic Arts’ second annual lifetime achievement award in honor of her father. The academy also announced the establishment of two student scholarships in Tracy’s name, one at its headquarters here, and another at its Los Angeles campus.

However, it was the documentary and the still-beautiful on-screen presence of Hepburn that stole the show. Consisting of film clips from Tracy’s 74 films over nearly four decades, as well as interviews with such colleagues as Elizabeth Taylor, Joanne Woodward, Mickey Rooney and Joseph Mankiewicz, the documentary reveals the enduring legacy of Hollywood films gone by as well as of Tracy.

“You might think I’m prejudiced, but Spencer was in a class all by himself,” Hepburn remarks at the outset of the documentary, adding, “pure, of the earth, dependable--that was Spencer.” Hepburn then guides viewers through Tracy’s life, often appearing on the Hollywood locations that were central to his film career, including MGM where the couple met and made the first of nine films together.

At the conclusion of the documentary, Hepburn touchingly and, finally, tearfully, reads an intimate letter she said she just recently wrote to the long-deceased Tracy. “Are you happy, finally . . . is it a nice, long rest you’re having?” the letter begins, and then ends with, “What did you say, Spence, what did you say, because I can’t hear you.”