Half a century of excellence
He was one of two children born to parents Elias and Elsie Leach. His older brother John died of tuberculous meningitis a day before his first birthday. Archibald is pictured here aged four years old.
In November 1933, Cary Grant visited England and made time to drop by his old school in Bristol. He's pictured here shooting hoops with some star-struck female students.
Grant initially appeared in crime films or dramas such as 'Blonde Venus' (1932), opposite famed leading lady Marlene Dietrich, and 'She Done Him Wrong' (1933) with the equally respected Mae West.
By the late 1930s, Cary Grant was enjoying considerable fame as one of Hollywood's favorite leading men.
From the early 1940s onwards, Cary Grant made some of the greatest films of his career, some of which are regarded as cinema classics. He also became one of the first actors to secure status as a free agent. Rather than remain under contract to a particular studio, Grant was able to choose his own roles. This was a major departure from the traditional Hollywood studio system, which would only later become the norm in the 1960s.
In 1931, Leach won a role in a short film, 'Singapore Girl.' The experience prompted the burgeoning screen actor to relocate to Los Angeles.
Grant's next film, however, did see the actor nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. In 'Penny Serenade' (1941), Grant teamed up again with Irene Dunne in a story about a loving couple who must overcome adversity to maintain their marriage and raise a child.
The actor garnered his second Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in 'None but the Lonely Heart,' a drama costarring Ethel Barrymore, who won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Grant is pictured with June Duprez, who portrays Ada Brantline in the picture.
Grant had found his forte, carefully nurturing his debonair image as a man of wit and polish. In 1938, he appeared for the second time alongside Katharine Hepburn in 'Bringing Up Baby,' a madcap caper involving a leopard named Baby.
The Grant-Hepburn double act found further success with the romantic comedy 'Holiday.' The film tells the story of a self-made man torn between his free-thinking lifestyle and the starchy tradition of his wealthy fiancée's family.
The same year, 1939, Grant was back on familiar screwball territory with 'His Girl Friday,' a fast-talking comedy the plot of which centers on a newspaper editor named Walter Burns (Grant) who is about to lose his ace reporter and ex-wife Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell), newly engaged to another man. The telephone conversation scenes are full of delightfully rapid, overlapping dialogue.
James Stewart joined Grant and Katharine Hepburn for this witty and romantic picture, which became an unqualified success. Stewart won an Oscar for Best Actor, an award that many thought should have gone to Grant.
Grant's second picture for Alfred Hitchcock is this film noir, in which the actor plays a husband who may or may not be a killer. Hitchcock prized out of Grant a darker, more sinister side in this espionage thriller set in the aftermath of the Second World War. Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains costar.
This Howard Hawks-directed film is noted for a brief scene where Cary Grant dons a wig and female military uniform to pass as a war bride in order to go back to the United States with Women's Army Corps officer Catherine Gates (Ann Sheridan).
'Monkey Business' sees an early role for Marilyn Monroe, pictured here with Grant, who plays an absent-minded professor trying to develop an elixir of youth. Ginger Rogers costars.
Hitchcock's 'North by Northwest' delivers one of the most famous scenes in cinema history, the moment when Cary Grant's character, Roger Thornhill, is chased down by a crop-dusting biplane. This was the actor's final collaboration with the "Master of Suspense."
Bob Hope was originally slated to play Mortimer Brewster, the lead character in Frank Capra's black comedy 'Arsenic and Old Lace.' Instead, Cary Grant won rave reviews for his interpretation as the writer who finds out that his maiden aunts are habitual murderers.
A memorable later role had Grant again working with Hitchcock in 'To Catch a Thief,' which was also the last of the three films the director made with Grace Kelly. The South of France shooting location lent the film an authentic and sophisticated allure.
Cary Grant made only five films in the 1960s. 'Charade' is the most notable, not least because Audrey Hepburn costars. A comedy mystery, it received generally positive reviews from critics, with the "sparkling chemistry" between the two stars applauded widely.
'Suspicion' marks the first time Cary Grant worked with Alfred Hitchcock. Critically acclaimed, the movie cemented the actor's relationship with the director and the British-born pair would go on to make a further three pictures together. 'Suspicion' costars Joan Fontaine, who went on to win the Academy Award for Best Actress—the only Oscar-winning performance in a Hitchcock film.
Cary Grant retired from Hollywood in 1966, bowing out in suitably comedic style in 'Walk, Don't Run,' which costars Samantha Eggar and Jim Hutton. Grant cited a wish to raise his daughter Jennifer as his reason to quit the industry.
In 1970, the retired Cary Grant finally received an Oscar, albeit an honorary, non-competitive Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement. He was presented with the accolade during the 42nd Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. He's pictured accepting the statuette from Frank Sinatra. Incidentally, Grant never won a Golden Globe either, even though he was nominated in the Best Actor category five times in six years.
Grant is pictured here with Sophia Loren in Washington, D.C. The pair had begun an affair during the filming of 'The Pride and the Passion' (1957) while Grant was still married to his third wife. In an interview over 60 years later, the Italian actress denied that Grant proposed to her while making the film.
A familiar face on the big screen, Grant was also active behind the microphone throughout much of his career, in radio plays. From 1935 to 1955, the actor's voice was heard in numerous theater productions adapted for radio. Grant also lent his time to special broadcasts, including a presentation of 'Circle Show' at the Hollywood Radio City with Carole Lombard and British playwright Noël Coward (pictured).
Cary Grant was married five times, first to Virginia Cherrill in 1934. They divorced the following year. Grant's second marriage in 1942 was to Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton (pictured), one of the wealthiest women in the world. The press dubbed the union "Cash and Cary." They divorced in 1945. Wife number three was Betsy Drake in 1949. That union ended in 1962. In 1965, Grant tied the knot with Dyan Cannon. The couple had one child, a daughter named Jennifer. They divorced in 1968. Grant's fifth and final wife was Barbara Harris, whom he married in 1981.
The daughter of Cary Grant and Dyan Cannon, Jennifer Grant was born on February 26, 1966. She is best known for roles in the television series 'Beverly Hills, 90210' and 'Movie Stars.'
In retirement, the former actor continued to make personal appearances at public events across the United States and abroad. He'd made hundreds of friends from all walks of life, and throughout his film career had developed a slew of business interests, which he maintained long after leaving cinema (though he still maintained contact with the film industry, becoming a director of MGM in 1975). He's pictured with wife Barbara Harris in 1981.
Cary Grant is seen here two months or so before he died on November 29, 1986 from complications resulting from a stroke. In 2014, the biennial Cary Comes Home Festival was established in his hometown of Bristol, in England.
Sources: (Biography) (Herald Weekly) (Decider)
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In Los Angeles, Leach landed a contract with Paramount Pictures—and a new identity. The young man from England became Cary Grant at the studio's behest. He made his first feature film, 'This is the Night,' in 1932.
Grant's gift for both physical humor and comic timing became established once and for all in 'The Awful Truth,' a screwball comedy costarring Irene Dunne.
Just as he was honing his comedy skills, Grant acted against type in 'Only Angels Have Wings,' an aviation adventure drama directed by Howard Hawkes. The movie costars Rita Hayworth in her first major role.
Cary Grant arrived in this world as Archibald Leach, his real name, on January 18, 1904 in Bristol, England.
As a pupil at Bishop Road Primary School in Bristol, the young Leach became attracted to theater. At 16, he ran away from home to join a circus troupe. In 1920, the troupe sailed for the United States. After arriving in New York, the group performed at the New York Hippodrome (pictured). It was the teenager's ticket to stardom.
The troupe toured the country before returning to New York City. Leach decided to stay in the US with several of the other members when the rest of the troupe returned to Britain. By the late 1920s, he had made several appearances on Broadway, including in a production of the comedy 'Boom-Boom' at the Casino Theater (pictured).
British-born Cary Grant starred in some of the most celebrated films to come out of classic Hollywood. Tall and handsome, he was one of cinema's definitive leading men from the 1930s until the mid-1950s. The epitome of elegance and possessed of a debonair demeanor, Grant radiated an easy-going charm that endeared him to all those who knew him and worked with him. He died well over three decades ago, but his light-hearted approach to acting and unusually broad appeal still captivates movie audiences today.
Click through for an appreciation of the boy from Bristol who found fame in Hollywood.
The timeless appeal of Cary Grant
Classic Hollywood's definitive leading man was born on January 18, 1904
CELEBRITY Retrospective
British-born Cary Grant starred in some of the most celebrated films to come out of classic Hollywood. Tall and handsome, he was one of cinema's definitive leading men from the 1930s until the mid-1950s. The epitome of elegance and possessed of a debonair demeanor, Grant radiated an easy-going charm that endeared him to all those who knew him and worked with him. He died well over three decades ago, but his light-hearted approach to acting and unusually broad appeal still captivates movie audiences today.
Click through for an appreciation of the boy from Bristol who found fame in Hollywood.