# Does Spencer Tracy sound like Ernest Borgnine? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** actor-characters\ **Created:** [June 17, 2023, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-spencer-tracy-sound-like-ernest-borgnine/985692 "2023-06-17T20:16:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-spencer-tracy-sound-like-ernest-borgnine/985692/1 "2023-06-17T20:16:12Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-spencer-tracy-sound-like-ernest-borgnine/985692/2 "2023-06-17T20:20:14Z")
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 [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/OeuJEq6_GhE/hqdefault.jpg "Boys Town (1938) - Scene with Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeuJEq6_GhE) Marty 1955 [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ktXm7CRXbsE/maxresdefault.jpg "Marty (3/10) Movie CLIP - A Big Night of Heartache (1955) HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktXm7CRXbsE) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-spencer-tracy-sound-like-ernest-borgnine/985692/3 "2023-06-17T20:23:20Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-spencer-tracy-sound-like-ernest-borgnine/985692/4 "2023-06-17T20:58:54Z")
They were both in [Bad Day at Black Rock](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047849/). 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. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-spencer-tracy-sound-like-ernest-borgnine/985692/5 "2023-06-17T22:14:04Z")
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](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t_qToyqiOU) Here is his summation in Judgment at Nuremberg from the year before (one of my favorite scenes of his): [judgment at nuremberg verdict - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3BwK51YFgQ&t=1s) Here is one of his other best scenes, in Inherit the Wind, from 1960: [Inherit the Wind scene, creationism vs. evolution - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtNdYsoool8&t=185s)