Walt Disney and Spencer Tracy
I’ve long been aware that Walt Disney knew Spencer Tracy. There’s a 1938 photo of them together with Tracy in polo togs and I knew that Disney also played polo. Having read the excellent Spencer Tracy: ABiography by James Curtis, I learned that the relationship was longer and deeper than I knew. While the Tracys and Disneys knew each other from polo, the Tracys also entertained the Disneys at their home. Perhaps the greatest link was John Tracy, Spencer and Louise Tracy’s son, who was born deaf. John had an interest in art and as a child started a newspaper. The first issue sported a Mickey Mouse cover with an inscription by Disney which read, “Good Luck to Johnny Tracy.” Louise Tracy spent a great deal of her life establishing the John Tracy Clinic for families with deaf children. Having struggled to understand the best way to educate her son, she wanted to provide the best medical advice to other parents in the same situation. Disney dona...