Or is it the other way around?
I just tuned in to HOW THE WEST WAS WON, and the voice of the narrator sounded familiar but I couldn’t place it. I decided it was Ernest Borgnine, but it turned out to be Tracy.
Do they sound alike to you?
If you compare their voices late in life I agree with you.
If you compare their younger voices, not so much.
Good examples of Younger:
Boys Town (1938) - Scene with Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney
Marty 1955
Never thought of it before, but yeah, there is a similarity. That movie is boring as hell. I’da been thinking about other stuff too.
They were both in Bad Day at Black Rock. I never noticed a resemblance in their voices. They wouldn’t be mistaken for each other in that movie, but their voices both have a gravelly quality. Great, great movie. Important for every American to see.
I think there is some similarity between the voices by the time How the West Was Won was made (which came out in 1962). Tracy’s voice had typically been softer and lighter in most roles unless he was being tough, but by that time age (and alcohol?) had roughened his voice to sound kind of like Borgnine had sounded for a long time. But to anyone familiar with Tracy, with his pronunciation and cadence, it’s pretty much unmistakably him.
Here are the closing moments of HTWWW in a YouTube clip that features his narration: How the West Was Won (1962) --- the grand finale - YouTube
Here is his summation in Judgment at Nuremberg from the year before (one of my favorite scenes of his): judgment at nuremberg verdict - YouTube
Here is one of his other best scenes, in Inherit the Wind, from 1960: Inherit the Wind scene, creationism vs. evolution - YouTube