Cary Grant

Archibald Alexander Leach
1904 - 1986
British born Bristol

Height 6' 1½" (1.87 m) . Once told by an interviewer "Everybody would like to be Cary Grant", Grant is said to have replied, "So would I." His early years in Bristol, England, would have been an ordinary lower-middle-class childhood except for one extraordinary event. At age nine he came home from school one day and was told his mother had gone off to a seaside resort. The real truth, however, was that she had been placed in a mental institution, where she would remain for years, and he was never told about it (he never saw his mother again until he was in his late 20s). He left school at 14, lying about his age and forging his father's signature on a letter to join Bob Pender's troupe of knockabout comedians. He learned pantomime as well as acrobatics as he toured with the Pender troupe in the English provinces, picked up a Cockney accent in the music halls in London, and then in July 1920 was one of the eight Pender boys selected to go to the US. Their show on Broadway, "Good Times", ran for 456 performances, giving Grant time to acclimatize. He would stay in America. Mae West wanted Grant for She Done Him Wrong (1933), because she saw his combination of virility, sexuality and the aura and bearing of a gentleman. Grant was young enough to begin the new career of fatherhood when he stopped making movies at age 62. One biographer said Grant was alienated by the new realism in the film industry. In the 1950s and early 1960s, he had invented a man of the world persona and a style--"high comedy with polished words". In To Catch a Thief (1955) he and Grace Kelly were allowed to improvise some of the dialogue. They knew what the director, Alfred Hitchcock, wanted to do with a scene, they rehearsed it, put in some clever double entendres that got past the censors, and then the scene was filmed. His biggest box-office success was another Hitchcock 1950s film, North by Northwest (1959) made with Eva Marie Saint since Kelly was by that time Princess of Monaco. Spouse Barbara Harris (11 April 1981 - 29 November 1986) (his death), Dyan Cannon (22 July 1965 - 21 March 1968) (divorced) 1 daughter, Betsy Drake (25 December 1949 - 14 August 1962) (divorced), Barbara Hutton (8 July 1942 - 30 August 1945) (divorced), Virginia Cherrill (10 February 1934 - 26 March 1935) (divorced).

Walk Don't Run (1966) , Father Goose (1964) , Charade (1963) , That Touch of Mink (1962), The Grass Is Greener (1960) , Operation Petticoat (1959) , North by Northwest (1959) , Houseboat (1958) , Indiscreet (1958) , Kiss Them for Me (1957) , The Pride and the Passion (1957) , An Affair to Remember (1957) , To Catch a Thief (1955) , Dream Wife (1953) , Monkey Business (1952), Room for One More (1952) , People Will Talk (1951) , Crisis (1950) , I Was a Male War Bride (1949) , Every Girl Should Be Married (1948) , Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) , The Bishop's Wife (1947) , The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947) , Notorious (1946) , Night and Day (1946) , None But the Lonely Heart (1944) , Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) , Once Upon a Time (1944) , Destination Tokyo (1943) , Mr. Lucky (1943) , Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942) , The Talk of the Town (1942) , Suspicion (1941) , Penny Serenade (1941) , The Philadelphia Story (1940) , The Howards of Virginia (1940) , My Favorite Wife (1940) , His Girl Friday (1940), In Name Only (1939) , Only Angels Have Wings (1939) , Gunga Din (1939) , Holiday (1938) , Bringing Up Baby (1938) , The Awful Truth (1937) , The Toast of New York (1937) , Topper (1937) , When You're in Love (1937) , Wedding Present (1936) , The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss (1936) , Suzy (1936) , Big Brown Eyes (1936) , Sylvia Scarlett (1935) , The Last Outpost (1935) , Wings in the Dark (1935) , Enter Madame (1935) , Ladies Should Listen (1934) , Kiss and Make Up (1934) , Born to Be Bad (1934) , Thirty Day Princess (1934), Alice in Wonderland (1933) , I'm No Angel (1933) , Gambling Ship (1933) , The Eagle and the Hawk (1933) , The Woman Accused (1933) , She Done Him Wrong (1933) , Madame Butterfly (1932) , Hot Saturday (1932) , Blonde Venus (1932) , Devil and the Deep (1932) , Merrily We Go to Hell (1932) , Singapore Sue (1932) , Sinners in the Sun (1932) , This Is the Night (1932)