Jeff Tracy

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Jeff Tracy
Thunderbirds character
Jeff-Tracy.jpg
The classic puppet character
First appearance"Trapped in the Sky"
(30 September 1965)
Created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson
Designed byJohn Brown (puppet sculptor) [1]
Portrayed by Bill Paxton (2004 live-action film)
Voiced by Peter Dyneley (original series)
Lee Majors (remake series)
Jon Culshaw (2021 audio series) [2]
In-universe information
OccupationHead of International Rescue
Business executive
Colonel, US Air Force
Astronaut (formerly)
FamilyGrant Tracy (father)
Grandma Tracy (mother)
Lucille Tracy (wife)
Children
Home Tracy Island

Jeff Tracy is a fictional character from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's Supermarionation television show Thunderbirds and the subsequent films Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbird 6 . The voice for the character in these shows was supplied by Peter Dyneley. The character also appeared in the live-action movie Thunderbirds , played by actor Bill Paxton.

Contents

Original series biography

The series was first broadcast in 1965 and was set in the then future 2065, [Note 1] when Jeff was 56 years old. According to his backstory "bio", Jeff was born 2 January, [3] the son of a combine harvester driver on a Kansas wheat farm. [4] [5]

As the Tracy family patriarch, he spends most of his time on Tracy Island, situated somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, from where he co-ordinates rescue missions.

It has been suggested that the Tracy family are based on the Cartwrights from the TV series Bonanza , and that the Jeff Tracy puppet is based on the actor who played Ben Cartwright, Lorne Greene. [3]

Along with his sons, Scott and Virgil, Jeff is the only other Tracy to appear in all 32 episodes of Thunderbirds. [12]

2004 film

In an interview, Bill Paxton, who played the live-action version of Jeff, described the character as "a kind of teacher, this father figure who has to teach his sons, particularly his youngest son Alan, these basic lessons of ethics and integrity, about doing the right thing." [13]

Remake series

In the 2015 'reboot' of the series, Jeff vanished six years previous to the start of the series for which the Hood is shown to be responsible. [14] Scott appears to have assumed command of International Rescue in his father's place as he is the oldest of the Tracy brothers, while Grandma Tracy, who has herself changed from the classic series, has taken over his role as head of the family.

The origins for International Rescue are also explained gradually throughout the series. Jeff originally was the only member with one ship: the TV-21, an ultra-high speed rocket and a vehicle by Brains' own admission that was faster than any Thunderbird, with his ultimate objective to be the first one to the rescue. However when he lost the TV-21, he instead created the 5 Thunderbirds to be there for any emergency.

Jeff finally appears in season 3, initially in recordings in the two-part episode "Signals", which reveals that he was last seen trying to stop the Hood stealing the Zero-X spaceship; when the Hood's actions nearly caused the Zero-X's engine to overload and cause an extinction-level event, Jeff took the ship into space, with the apparent detonation believed to be the ship's engine overloading and exploding. However at the end of "SOS", Brains discovered that rescued robot Braman was not sending a distress call, but was actually acting as a relay to send the message to Earth, and discovers a coded message within the distress call that could only have come from Jeff. After recovering the escape pod that the Hood made his escape in, Brains realizes that the explosion was a shockwave created as a result of the ship's faster-than-light engine working, which propelled Jeff into deep space. At the end of the episode "The Long Reach - Part One", Scott, while trying to make his way back to Thunderbird 1, almost falls into the reaches of space after two asteroids collide with each other. Scott is caught by a mysterious figure's hand; he looks up and realizes that it is his father, Jeff Tracy. In the episode "The Long Reach - Part Two", Jeff reunites with his sons after Scott brings him home. After defeating The Hood, Jeff reunites with the rest of the team on Tracy Island. Lee Majors provided the voice of Jeff in the revival series.

Notes

  1. ↑ Give Or Take A Million has the date "December 25, 2026.

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References

  1. ↑ La Rivière, Stephen (2014) [2009]. Filmed in Supermarionation (2nd ed.). London, UK: Network Distributing. p. 172. ISBN   978-0-992-9766-0-6.
  2. ↑ "Thunderbirds is Back". bigfinish.com. Big Finish Productions. 11 April 2021. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Thunder Birds Biography" . Retrieved 19 December 2008.[ dead link ]
  4. ↑ Thunderbirds Legends: The Story of Jeff Tracy. 14 March 2020 – via YouTube.
  5. ↑ Thunderbirds Legends: The Tracy Sons & The Disaster. 21 March 2020 – via YouTube.
  6. ↑ "Thunderbirds Annual," p.10, 1966, City Magazines Ltd. and A.P. Films (Merchandising) Ltd.
  7. ↑ The Calling International Rescue! fan site names his wife as Lucille, Lucy for short, but this is not an official site
  8. ↑ "Thunderbirds - The Characters". Fab1.co.nz. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  9. ↑ "Mercury Crewed Flights Summary". www.nasa.gov. 17 March 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  10. ↑ The Complete Thunderbirds Story Archived 20 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine says Jeff's wife, Lucille, and his father, Grant, both died in an avalanche at their Aspen holiday home. The lack of rescue equipment supposedly inspired Jeff to form International Rescue. However the narrative has several deviations from canon, e.g. how Jeff Tracy first met Kyrano, Tin-Tin, and The Hood.
  11. ↑ Archived 6 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ "Thunderbirds: The Origins Of International Rescue". Gerry Anderson. 13 March 2019.
  13. ↑ Head, Steve (29 June 2004). "Paxton discusses Thunderbirds: the Mission of International Rescue". IGN . Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  14. ↑ Thunderbirds Are Go Season 1 Episode 2 "Ring of Fire, Part 2"
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