10 Outstanding Final Film Performances

Versatile actor Spencer Tracey ended a stellar career with a noteworthy performance in the social drama Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Examining the contemporary debates and attitudes relating to interracial marriage in American society, the film's sensitive subject matter was a big success at the box office and is recognised today as one of Hollywood's first significant civil rights films. The film also received ten Oscar nominations and was selected for preservation at the US National Film Registry in 2017.

Opposite his real life long-term partner Katherine Hepburn, Tracey plays the role of father Matt Drayton, who is concerned about the problems that such an engagement would cause to his daughter. As a result of declining health, the film's production schedule was molded to accommodate Tracy, who had limited time on set, with many of the scenes that involved the actor using close-up shots to work around his justified absence.

Tracy would pass away just seventeen days after filming had ended and the following year, he would receive a posthumous Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Hepburn would later reveal that she never watched the complete film, as the memories of her partner's final days were too painful.