Cary Grant

In 2006 his performance as T.R. Devlin in Notorious (1946) was ranked #16 on "Premiere" magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time.

In 2005 "Premiere" magazine ranked him as the #1 Movie Star of All Time in its "Stars in Our Constellation" feature.

On American Film Institute's list of top 100 U.S. love stories, compiled in June 2002, Grant led all actors with six of his films on the list. His An Affair to Remember (1957) was ranked #5; followed by: #44 The Philadelphia Story (1940) #46 To Catch a Thief (1955) #51 Bringing Up Baby (1938) #77 The Awful Truth (1937) #86 Notorious (1946)

In 1999, the American Film Institute named Grant the second male star of Golden Age of Hollywood cinema (after Humphrey Bogart).

In October 1997 he was ranked #7 in "Empire" (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.

In 1995 he was chosen by "Empire" (UK) magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#22).

Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith, pg. 191-193. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387

John Cleese's character in A Fish Called Wanda (1988) was named "Archie Leach" after Grant's real name.

He later joined the boards of Hollywood Park, the Academy of Magical Arts (The Magic Castle - Hollywood, California), Western Airlines (acquired by Delta Airlines in 1987) and MGM. Grant expressed no interest in making a career comeback.

On November 29, 1986, Cary Grant died at age 82 of a cerebral hemorrhage in Davenport, Iowa.

He was in good health until almost the end of his life, when he suffered a mild stroke in October 1984. 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.

Introduced First Lady Betty Ford at the Republican National Convention in 1976.

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 (1970).

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, 1966.

Turned down the role of James Bond in Dr. No (1962), believing himself to be too old at age 58 to play the hero. The role went to Sean Connery instead.

Awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1610 Vine St. on February 8, 1960.

Replaced James Stewart as hapless ad man Roger Thornhill in North by Northwest (1959). Stewart very much wanted the role, but director Alfred Hitchcock decided not to cast him because of the box-office failure of Vertigo (1958), which Hitchcock blamed on Stewart for looking "too old" and chose Grant instead, even though he was actually four years older.

Was still in love with Sophia Loren when it came time for them to film Houseboat (1958). She went to director Melville Shavelson, in tears, complaining that he was chasing her again--she had told Grant she was in love with Carlo Ponti, but he did not believe her.

Fell madly in love with Sophia Loren while filming The Pride and the Passion (1957) when he was 53 and she was 22. At the time Grant was still married to actress Betsy Drake and Loren was involved with 45-year-old producer Carlo Ponti, who was also married. Both men eventually separated from their wives and proposed to Loren at the same time; she chose Ponti.

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.

He was originally supposed to play Humphrey Bogart's role in, Sabrina (1954), but turned it down, supposedly because he did not want to carry an umbrella onscreen.

In the 1950s and early 1960s, he had invented a man-of-the-world persona and a style - "high comedy with polished words".

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. 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 Cannon, was working.

Was the original choice to play Rupert Cadell in Rope (1948), but he was unavailable, so the role went to James Stewart, instead (whom Grant would later replace as the lead in North by Northwest (1959)). Rope (1948) features references to Grant and the earlier Hitchcock film he appeared in, Notorious (1946) with Ingrid Bergman.

On April 18, 1947, King George VI awarded Grant the King's Medal for Service in the Cause of Freedom, citing his "outstanding service to the British War Relief Society".

Donated his entire salary for Arsenic and Old Lace (1942) ($100,000) to the U.S. War Relief Fund.

He gave his entire fee for The Philadelphia Story (1940) to the British war effort.

He never said "Judy, Judy, Judy" in the movies, which he credits to Larry Storch, but he did say "Susan, Susan, Susan" in Bringing Up Baby (1938).

Director Leo McCarey accused Grant of ripping off his persona during the time they shot The Awful Truth (1937) 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 Scarlett (1935), an 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 collaborated again several times.

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.

From 1932-44 he shared a house with Randolph Scott, whom he met on Hot Saturday (1932). Scott often jokingly referred to Grant as his spouse. The 1940 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.

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 United States. Their show on Broadway, "Good Times", ran for 456 performances, giving Grant time to acclimatize. He would stay in America.

Once told by an interviewer, "Everybody would like to be Cary Grant", Grant is said to have replied, "So would I. "Cary Grant was born Archibald Alec Leach on January 18, 1904 in Horfield, Bristol, England, to Elsie Maria (Kingdon) and Elias James Leach, who worked in a factory. 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 of knockabout comedians.