Cary Grant (born Archibald Alexander Leach; January 18, 1904 – November 29, 1986) was a British-American actor. He is known in such films as Penny Serenade, Suspicion, Notorious, To Catch a Thief and Indiscreet.
Biography[]
Grant was born as Archibald Leach in Bristol, England in 1904. He had a troubled childhood, with his father Elias James Leach a heavy alcoholic and his mother Elsie Maria Leach often struggling with depression. When Grant was nine, his mother was placed into a mental institution, and the father lied to Grant that Elsie had gone on holiday, and then died. Grant was unaware of the ruse until Elias' death in 1935, when he made a deathbed confession to his son; Grant promptly freed his mother from the institution afterwards.
Grant was attracted to the theater from a young age, joining a local performing group called the Bob Pender Stage Troupe at the age of 10. The troupe grew in prominence to become a national touring act, and set sail for the United States in 1920, with the 16-year-old Grant among its members. After its successful American tour, Grant along with several other members of the troupe decided to settle in the United States (he obtained American citizenship in 1942). Throughout the 1920s, he worked as a vaudeville performer, touring many major cities in the US.
A performance in a stage production called Nikki in 1931 led to Grant catching the attention of Paramount Pictures, who signed the young actor to a five-year contract. However, they deemed the name "Archie Leach" to be unsuitable as a screen name and requested it be changed; "Cary" was chosen from the name of the actor's character in Nikki, and "Grant" was picked off a list of all-American surnames compiled by Paramount bosses. The newly-renamed actor made his screen debut in This Is the Night (1932) and on average he performed in six films a year, though Grant disliked most of the roles he was given.
Grant received significant attention when he was cast opposite pre-Code queen Mae West in She Done Him Wrong and I'm No Angel (both 1933), and his comedic skills were praised by critics. When his Paramount contract ended in 1936, Grant opted to go freelance, a daring decision for an actor at the time. At this time he married his first wife, actress Virginia Cherrill, though the relationship ended in a bitter divorce. He was also the roommate and close friend to fellow actor Randolph Scott; rumours that the pair engaged in a homosexual relationship persist to this day.
The period from the late 1930s to the early 1940s is considered to contain an extraordinary run of hits in Grant's career. He played the lead in acclaimed comedies which are now regarded as being among the greatest of their genre, including: The Awful Truth (1937) opposite Irene Dunne, Bringing Up Baby (1938) with Katharine Hepburn, His Girl Friday (1940) with Rosalind Russell, and The Philadelphia Story (1940) with Hepburn and James Stewart. Grant also showed his flair for dramatic roles, starring in Gunga Din, Only Angels Have Wings (both 1939) and Suspicion (1941), where he is regarded to have played his darkest role; its director Alfred Hitchcock was impressed enough with Grant to cast him in a similarly mysterious role in Notorious (1946) opposite Ingrid Bergman.
Grant was married to his second wife, wealthy socialite Barbara Hutton, from 1942-45. Toward the end of 1949 he began what would become his third and longest marriage, to fellow actress Betsy Drake, lasting until 1962.
The breakthrough of Marlon Brando and method acting in the early 1950s led to Grant becoming disillusioned with the profession, thinking his own style of acting was now dated; however Hitchcock convinced him to star in his thriller To Catch a Thief (1955) with Grace Kelly. The film's success began a new phase of Grant's career that saw him excel in romances and more thrillers, including An Affair to Remember (1957) opposite Deborah Kerr, Indiscreet (1958) again opposite Bergman, North by Northwest (1959) which is considered his most iconic film, That Touch of Mink (1962) with Doris Day, and Charade (1963) with Audrey Hepburn.
In 1966, Grant announced his retirement from acting at the age of 62, following the birth of his daughter Jennifer, produced from his fourth marriage to Dyan Cannon (1965-68). While his marriages were never particularly fulfulling, Grant found great joy in finally becoming a father; he refused all offers to return to acting, stating he had found "more important things in life". Grant's fifth and final marriage was to Barbara Harris, a hotel relations agent; at the time of their wedding in 1981 Grant was 77 and Harris was 30, a 47-year difference.
In his later years Grant took on a number of business jobs, becoming a spokesman for the Faberge cosmetics company and being appointed to a senior director position at MGM, where he was tasked with promoting the resort of Las Vegas where MGM were building a complex. He was presented with an Honorary Academy Award in 1970 (Grant had been nominated for Best Actor twice in the 1940s). Grant also went on a tour of American cities to host a one-man show, A Conversation with Cary Grant, where he would show footage from his films to attendees and answer their questions.
On November 29, 1986, Grant was in Davenport, Iowa preparing for a performance of A Conversation with Cary Grant when he suffered a large cerebral hemorrhage; he died that evening at St. Luke's Hospital, aged 82.
Grant continues to be highly regarded as one of the most iconic actors of classical Hollywood, with his comic timing, transatlantic accent, handsome appearance and his light-hearted style of acting becoming hallmarks of his image. In 1999, he was named the second-greatest male star of classic Hollywood by the American Film Institute, with only Humphrey Bogart ranked higher.
Filmography[]
- This Is the Night (1932) as Stephen Matthewson (film debut)
- Devil and the Deep (1932) as Lieutenant Jaeckel
- Sinners in the Sun (1932) as Ridgeway
- Merrily We Go to Hell (1932) as Charlie Baxter
- Blonde Venus (1932) as Nick Townsend
- Hot Saturday (1932) as Romer Sheffield
- Madame Butterfly (1932) as Lieutenant B. F. Pinkerton
- She Done Him Wrong (1933) as Captain Cummings
- The Woman Accused (1933) as Jeffrey Baxter
- The Eagle and the Hawk (1933) as Henry Crocker
- Gambling Ship (1933) as Ace Corbin
- I'm No Angel (1933) as Jack Clayton
- Alice in Wonderland (1933) as The Mock Turtle
- Thirty-Day Princess (1934) as Porter Madison III
- Born to Be Bad (1934) as Malcolm Trevor
- Kiss and Make-Up (1934) as Dr. Maurice Lamar
- Ladies Should Listen (1934) as Julian De Lussac
- Enter Madame (1935) as Gerald Fitzgerald
- Wings in the Dark (1935) as Ken Gordon
- The Last Outpost (1935) as Michael Andrews
- Sylvia Scarlett (1935) as Jimmy Monkley
- Big Brown Eyes (1936) as Det. Sgt. Danny Barr
- Suzy (1936) as Andre Charville
- The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss (1936) as Ernest Bliss
- Wedding Present (1936) as Charlie Mason
- When You're in Love (1937) as Jimmy Hudson
- Topper (1937) as George Kerby
- The Toast of New York (1937) as Nicholas "Nick" Boyd
- The Awful Truth (1937) as Jerry Warriner
- Bringing Up Baby (1938) as Dr. David Huxley
- Holiday (1938) as John "Johnny" Case
- Gunga Din (1939) as Sgt. Archibald Cutter
- Only Angels Have Wings (1939) as Geoff Carter
- In Name Only (1939) as Alec Walker
- His Girl Friday (1940) as Walter Burns
- My Favorite Wife (1940) as Nick
- The Howards of Virginia (1940) as Matt Howard
- The Philadelphia Story (1940) as C.K. Dexter Haven
- Penny Serenade (1941) as Roger Adams (nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor)
- Suspicion (1941) as Johnnie
- The Talk of the Town (1942) as Leopold Dilg/Joseph
- Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942) as Patrick O'Toole
- Mr. Lucky (1943) as Joe Adams/Joe Bascopolous
- Destination Tokyo (1943) as Capt. Cassidy
- Once Upon a Time (1944) as Jerry Flynn
- Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) as Mortimer Brewster
- None but the Lonely Heart (1944) as Ernie Mott (nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor)
- Night and Day (1946) as Cole Porter
- Notorious (1946) as Devlin
- The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947) as Dick Nugent
- The Bishop's Wife (1947) as Dudley
- Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) as Jim Blandings
- Every Girl Should Be Married (1948) as Dr. Madison Brown
- I Was a Male War Bride (1949) as Capt. Henri Rochard (alternate title: You Can't Sleep Here)
- Crisis (1950) as Dr. Eugene Ferguson
- People Will Talk (1951) as Dr. Praetorius
- Room for One More (1952) as George "Poppy" Rose
- Monkey Business (1952) as Dr. Barnaby Fulton
- Dream Wife (1953) as Clemson Reade
- To Catch a Thief (1955) as John Robie
- An Affair to Remember (1957) as Nickie Ferrante
- The Pride and the Passion (1957) as Anthony
- Kiss Them For Me (1957) as Cmdr. Andy Crewson
- Indiscreet (1958) as Philip Adams
- Houseboat (1958) as Tom Winters
- North by Northwest (1959) as Roger Thornhill
- Operation Petticoat (1959) as Lt. Cmdr. Matt Sherman
- The Grass Is Greener (1960) as Victor Rhyall, Earl
- That Touch of Mink (1962) as Philip Shayne
- Charade (1963) as Peter Joshua
- Father Goose (1964) as Walter Eckland
- Walk, Don't Run (1966) as Sir William Rutland (final role)
External links[]
- Cary Grant on Wikipedia
