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On the night Cary Grant: A Biography April 7,four years after starring in his last feature film, sixty-six-year-old Cary Grant, who had never won an Oscar, was awarded a Cary Grant: A Biography noncompetitive Academy Award for his lifetime of achievement in motion pictures. Although to his great legion of fans it was an honor scandalously overdue, for a number of reasons, some less obvious than others, it very nearly did not happen. Mayer, who in came up with the idea of an interstudio house union open to all studio employees, including actors, run by moguls, to offset the growing problem of independent trade organization in Cary Grant: A Biography. The notion of annual awards was meant to placate those employees who sought the more practical benefits of better salaries, job security, health insurance, and retirement plans. At the time virtually everyone connected to the motion picture industry, from set painters, costume makers, and prop men to screenwriters, actors, and directors, was subject to the whims and fancies of the sweatshop mentality of the pioneering generation of Hollywood moguls. The first actor to successfully break the hitherto ironclad contract system for performers was Cary Grant, who became a freelance actor-for-hire on a per film basis inafter his original five-year exclusive deal with Paramount expired as had the studio itself, in its first incarnation as Paramount Publix. Money, however, was not the only reason Grant chose not to remain a contract studio player. It was a Cary Grant: A Biography Grant desperately wanted to be in, believing it would be the one to finally make him a major star. When Adolph Zukor, the head of Paramount, refused to allow the loan-out, MGM gave the role instead to its own relatively unknown contract player, Franchot Tone. Grant never forgave Zukor, and a year later, when his contract was up, he refused to re-sign with a reorganized Paramount, then surprised everyone when, after fielding offers from all the majors, he announced he was Cary Grant: A Biography going to sign an exclusive studio contract with any and instead would sell his services on a nonexclusive per film basis. To underscore the finality of his decision to go independent, he canceled his membership in the Academy, an action everyone in Hollywood considered professional suicide. At the time no one except Charlie Chaplin had been able to survive without the security of a weekly paycheck in Academy-dominated Hollywood, and to do it he had to start his own studio, United Artists with Douglas Fairbanks, D. Griffith, and Mary Pickford. No one, that is, until Cary Grant. To the Cary Grant: A Biography moguls, he was now officially an outsider, an enemy of their system, as reviled as any independent trade union activist. Menu More Topics. Get the App. Cary Grant: A Biography. Marc Cary Grant: A Biography. Cary Grant - Wikipedia

Actor Cary Grant ran away from home at 13 to perform as a juggler with a comedy troupe. They later toured the United States, where he honed his acting skills. In the s he signed with Paramount Pictures. He made films well into the s, establishing a debonair persona that made him a screen icon. Sometimes referred to as the "epitome of elegance," Grant exuded style, charm and sophistication. But that on-screen Cary Grant: A Biography was a carefully crafted image, one that hid a very difficult personal life. He died inhaving received an honorary Oscar in Grant was born on January 18, He grew up Cary Grant: A Biography Bristol, England, as Archie Leach, the son of a clothing presser and a homemaker. His father, Elias, left the family for a job in Southampton, and there he took up with another woman. The couple soon had a child of their own. When he was 10 years old, Grant was told that his mother was dead while, in fact, she had been committed to an institution by his father. Devastated by the loss, Grant was basically on his own, with little support from his father. At 13, he started hanging around a local theater, where he performed a few odd jobs. Grant then took up with Bob Pender's group of traveling performers, but Cary Grant: A Biography first attempt at a theatrical career was cut short by his father, who demanded that he return to school. Grant got himself expelled the following year and, this time with his father's permission, rejoined Pender's troupe. He traveled with the group for two years, performing in all types of acts from juggling to comedy bits to acrobatics. InGrant branched out on his own, leaving the troupe during its visit to New York City. There he struggled to make it into show business, even working as a stilt walker for a time. By the late s, Grant had made several appearances on Broadway. He got the lead part in the musical Nikki with Fay Wray, playing a soldier named Cary who fights for Wray's affections. While the production proved to be short-lived, Grant's role garnered him enough praise to land a role in a short film, Singapore Sue. Finally experiencing some studio interest, Grant decided to move out to Los Angeles. Grant landed a contract with Paramount Studios and took on a Cary Grant: A Biography identity. Archie Leach became Cary Grant at the studio's request. According to Hollywood legend, his first name came from his earlier stage role and his last name from a list given to him by the studio. He Cary Grant: A Biography his first feature film, This Is The Nightinand more roles on the big screen soon followed. Grant starred opposite such famed leading ladies as Marlene Dietrich and Mae West. By the late s, Grant had become an established leading man in Hollywood. He appeared in a range of movies, from war dramas to mysteries to comedies. His career, however, reached new heights starting inwith Topper. In this screwball comedy, Grant played a sophisticated spirit who, along with his late wife, decides to haunt an old friend. He had a gift for both physical humor and comic timing. In many of his roles, Grant played a similar type —a man with wit and polish. He did, however, occasionally try to defy the audience's expectations of him. He played a potentially lethal husband opposite Joan Fontaine in the thriller Suspicionwhich marked his first film with director and master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock. In Penny SerenadeGrant balanced humor with grief as a husband who experiences both joy and heartbreak in his marriage. His work in Cary Grant: A Biography film netted him an Academy Award nomination. His greatest dramatic leap was in 's None but the Lonely Heart. Directed and co-written by Clifford Odets, the film featured Grant as a wandering prodigal son who returns home to help his sick mother Ethel Barrymore. He picked up his second Academy Award nomination for this now mostly forgotten film. It was reportedly one of his personal favorites, saying "the part seemed to fit my nature better than the light-hearted fellows I was used to playing. By the early s, Grant became one of the first actors to land status as a free agent, choosing not to be under contract to one of the many film studios that ruled Hollywood at the time. Instead, he picked his own parts, becoming increasingly selective about what roles he'd take. One of his first decisions as a free agent was to appear in another Hitchcock film—'s Notorious. Two of Grant's most memorable later roles had him once again working with Hitchcock. He played a reformed criminal accused of a robbery he didn't commit in 's To Catch a Thief. In the film, Grant starred opposite Grace Kelly. Hitchcock then put Grant through his paces in 's North by Northwest. As an advertising man who gets mixed up in murder and espionage, his character is on the run from sinister forces and battling for his Cary Grant: A Biography for much of the movie. Grant also teamed up with Audrey Hepburn for the humorous and romantic thriller Charadewhich gently poked fun at the genre. For his final film, Walk Don't Runhe had moved from romantic lead to mature matchmaker in this comedy. Grant retired from filmmaking after this movie. After walking away from Cary Grant: A Biography, Grant still appeared in public. Grant received numerous honors for his contributions to film in his later years, including a special Academy Award in for his "unique mastery of the art of screen acting. Grant agreed to a special public appearance in Davenport, Iowa, on November 29,but he never made it to the theater that night. He suffered a fatal stroke in his hotel room. As he had in life, Grant continued to seek privacy after his death. No Cary Grant: A Biography funeral was held for the great star, but many who knew him expressed their grief over his passing. Cary Grant: A Biography Ronald Reagan said Cary Grant: A Biography "He was one of the brightest stars in Hollywood and his elegance, wit and charm will endure on film and in our hearts. Unlike his suave film characters, Grant Cary Grant: A Biography to struggle in his romantic life off-screen. He was married five times and went through four divorces. Several of his ex-wives described him as controlling. His fourth wife, actress Dyan Cannon, said that he tried to tell her what to wear. She has also claimed that he forced her to take LSD, a drug he took himself. She later explained that Grant took LSD as "a gateway to peace inside himself. Some have said, including Cannon herself, that Grant's troubled childhood affected his romantic relationships. After believing her to be dead, Grant discovered his mother was still alive when he was 30 years old. He was reunited with his mother, but they never regained the close bond they had once shared. While his romantic relationships may have been troubled, Grant was an attentive father. He Cary Grant: A Biography had one child, a daughter Jennifer, who was born inwith wife Dyan Cannon. After he and Cannon divorced, Grant spent as much time as he could with his daughter. We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that Cary Grant: A Biography their lives. Grant Wood was an American painter who is best known for the iconic work 'American Gothic. Ulysses S. Grant served as U. Amy Grant is a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter who came up Cary Grant: A Biography the Christian music industry and became a crossover pop success. She's married to Vince Gill. Filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock was nicknamed the "Master of Suspense" for employing Cary Grant: A Biography kind of psychological suspense in his films, producing a distinct viewer experience. English writer A. Milne is best known for his children's stories about the adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh. David Bowie was an English rock star known for dramatic musical transformations, including his character Ziggy Stardust. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Actor Cary Grant performed in films from the s through the s. He starred in several Alfred Hitchcock films, including the hit 'North by Northwest. Cary Grant - Biography - IMDb

His early years in Bristol 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. However, the real truth was that she had been placed in a mental institution, where she would remain for years, and he was never told about it he would not see his mother again until he was in his late 20s. He left school at age 14, lying about his age and forging his father's signature on a letter to join Bob Pender 's troupe Cary Grant: A Biography 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 Julywas one of the eight Pender boys selected to go to the United States. Cary Grant: A Biography show on Broadway, "Good Times", ran for performances, giving Grant time to acclimatize. He would stay in America. Mae West wanted Grant for She Done Him Wrong 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 One biographer said Grant was alienated by the new realism in the film industry. In the s and early s, he had invented a man-of-the-world persona and a style - "high comedy with polished words". They knew what the director, Alfred Hitchcockwanted 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. Although Grant retired from the screen, he remained active. He accepted a position on the board of directors at Faberge. By all accounts this position was not honorary, as some had assumed. Grant regularly attended meetings and traveled internationally to support them. The position also permitted use of a private plane, which Grant could use to fly to see his daughter wherever her mother Dyan Cannonwas working. Grant expressed no interest in making a career comeback. He was in good health until almost the end of his life, when he suffered a mild Cary Grant: A Biography in October In his last years, he undertook tours of the United States in a one-man-show, "A Conversation with Cary Grant", in which he would show clips from his films and answer audience questions. Sign In. Edit Cary Grant. Showing all items. Often played characters who were much younger than his actual age. Became a father for the first time at age of 62 when his fourth wife Dyan Cannon gave birth to their daughter Jennifer Diane Grant aka Jennifer Grant on February 26, Ian Fleming modeled the James Bond character partially with Grant in mind. Passed away later that night at St. Luke's Hospital at p. From he shared a house with Randolph Scottwhom he met on Hot Saturday Scott often jokingly referred to Grant as his spouse. The census report shows Scott as head of household and Grant as his partner. Many studio heads threatened not to employ them together, unless they lived separately. Grant's marriage to Barbara Hutton permanently dissolved his living arrangement with Scott. Cary Grant passed away on November 29,almost two months away from what would have been his 83rd birthday on January 18, He gave his entire fee for The Philadelphia Story to the British war effort. When he insisted that the explanation a hotel efficiency report had found that most people ate only three of the four halves brought to them still resulted in his being cheated out of a half, the Plaza Hotel changed its policy and began serving two complete muffins with breakfast. From then on, he often spoke of forming an English Muffin-Lovers Society, members of which would be required to report any hotel or restaurant that listed muffins on the menu and then served fewer than two. Turned down the role of James Bond in Dr. Nobelieving himself to be too old at age 58 to play the hero. The role went to Sean Connery instead. War Relief Fund. Was a great fan of Elvis Presley and attended his Las Vegas shows. He is seen discussing Elvis' performance with him backstage during the closing credits of Elvis: That's the Way It Is On American Film Institute's list of top U. He was originally supposed to play Humphrey Bogart 's role in, Sabrinabut turned it down, supposedly because he did not want to carry an umbrella onscreen. Although he became a Paramount Pictures contract player early in his film career, when the contract was up he made an unusual decision for the Cary Grant: A Biography he decided to freelance. Because his films were so successful at the box office, he was able to work at any studio he chose for the majority of his career. Smith, pg. New York: Facts on File, ISBN Cary Grant: A Biography Thanks mainly to the strength and physical dexterity he gained as an acrobat when Cary Grant: A Biography was young, he did a majority Cary Grant: A Biography his own stunts during his film career far more than people would think. Douglas Fairbanks was his boyhood idol, with Fairbanks' "healthy" tan being the inspiration for Grant's constantly dark skin. He remained close to Barbara Hutton 's son Lance Reventlow after their divorce. The boy regularly stayed with Grant on some weekends. Grant referred to him as his son, was devastated when he died in a plane crash and helped Barbara with the funeral arrangements. People were surprised by his retirement in and, despite the attempts of directors as important as Howard HawksBilly Cary Grant: A Biographyand even Stanley Kubrick to get him out of retirement and into their films, he never worked again. Paramount Pictures named him Cary Grant when he began his film career, because of the similarity of the name to Gary Coopertheir biggest male star C. Gable and Cooper were born with their last names, however, with Grant having been born Archibald Leach. According to his will dated November 26,his body was to be cremated and no funeral service held. His ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean. The late Christopher Reeve said that he based his portrayal of Clark Kent in the "Superman" films on Grant Cary Grant: A Biography the early part of his career. In His Girl Fridayhis character remarks, "Archie Leach said that", a reference to his real name. Was hyperopic or "far-sighted". That is why in many publicity stills, he is seen holding a pair of glasses. Was largely self-educated, as he had dropped out of school at age However, he was a voracious reader throughout his life. Director Leo McCarey accused Grant of ripping off his persona during the time they shot The Awful Truth and using it as his own to become world-famous. What McCarey failed to notice was that many aspects of Grant's image were already developed in Sylvia Scarlettan otherwise poor Katharine Hepburn - George Cukor picture made two years before "The Awful Truth", and that his comic timing and versatility as an actor were all his own. Although ill at ease about it, they Cary Grant: A Biography again several times. Often spoke of his relationship with Sophia Loren as one of the most passionate romances in his life. She was almost 31 years his junior. Was still in love with Sophia Loren when it came time for them to film Houseboat She went to director Melville Shavelsonin tears, complaining that he was chasing her again--she had told Grant she was in love with Carlo Pontibut he did not believe her. Fell madly in love with Sophia Loren while filming The Pride and the Passion when he was 53 and she was At the time Grant was still married to actress Betsy Drake and Loren was involved with year-old producer Cary Grant: A Biography Pontiwho was also married. Both men eventually separated from their wives and proposed to Loren at the same time; she chose Ponti. When Sophia Loren visited Los Angeles during the filming of An Affair to RememberGrant Cary Grant: A Biography her with dozens of phone calls and hundreds of flowers--even though she had called off the affair. Participated in Cary Grant: A Biography experimental psychotherapy program in which he was prescribed LSD. Betsy Drake encouraged him to take the drug as part of a medical experimentas he wanted to examine his failed marriages. He underwent about sessions, and said that he benefited greatly from them. However in later life, he said he would not have experimented with LSD if he had known about the side-effects, and asked people Cary Grant: A Biography to use drugs. Alfred Hitchcock once toyed with the idea of casting him as Hamlet in what would have been a modern-dress film version of William Shakespeare 's playbut he never got around to it. In he accepted the Oscar for "Best Actress in a Leading Role" on behalf Cary Grant: A Biography Ingrid Bergmanwho was not present at the awards ceremony. Stewart very much wanted the role, but director Alfred Hitchcock decided not to cast him because of the box-office failure of Vertigowhich Hitchcock blamed on Stewart for looking "too old" and chose Grant instead, even though he was actually four years older. Was the original choice to play Rupert Cadell in Ropebut he was Cary Grant: A Biography, so the role went to James Stewartinstead Cary Grant: A Biography Grant would later replace as the lead in North by Northwest Rope features references to Grant and the earlier Hitchcock film he appeared in, Notorious with Ingrid Bergman. In his performance as T. In his performance as Dr. When his daughter Jennifer Grant was born, he gave wife Dyan Cannon a diamond and sapphire bracelet as a keepsake. He had one of his daughter Jennifer Grant 's first baby teeth encased in Lucite. At one time he owned a Sealyham terrier called Archie Leach. He became an American Cary Grant: A Biography on June 26,under naturalization certificate He always wore a gold chain around his neck with three charms attached. The three charms represented the religions of each of his former wives: a St. Was considered one of the best-dressed men in the US. George Francis Frazier, Jr. He insists upon tight armholes in his suit jackets, finds the most comfortable and functional Cary Grant: A Biography all underwear to be women's nylon panties. If you look closely at his teeth, you'll find Cary Grant: A Biography he only has one incisor front tooth. Apparently when he was a boy he knocked out a tooth while ice skating.