CARY GRANT ,BRITISH ACTOR BORN 1904 ,JANUARY 18 - 1986 NOVEMBER 29

CARY GRANT ,BRITISH ACTOR 

BORN 1904 ,JANUARY 18 - 1986 NOVEMBER 29

Cary Grant 

Born January 18, 1904 in Horfield, Bristol, England, UK
Died November 29, 1986 in Davenport, Iowa, USA  (cerebral hemorrhage)
Birth Name Archibald Alec Leach
Height 6' 1½" (1.87 m)
Mini Bio (1)
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 Alexander 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. 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. 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.

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

In 1999, the American Film Institute named Grant the second male star of Golden Age of Hollywood cinema (after Humphrey Bogart). Grant was known for comedic and dramatic roles; his best-known films include Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Philadelphia Story (1940), His Girl Friday (1940), Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), Notorious (1946), An Affair to Remember (1957), North by Northwest (1959) and Charade (1963).
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Dale O'Connor <daleoc@worldnet.att.net>

Spouse (5)

Barbara Harris (11 April 1981 - 29 November 1986) (his death)
Dyan Cannon (22 July 1965 - 21 March 1968) (divorced) (1 child)
Betsy Drake (25 December 1949 - 13 August 1962) (divorced)
Barbara Hutton (8 July 1942 - 30 August 1945) (divorced)
Virginia Cherrill (9 February 1934 - 26 March 1935) (divorced)
Trade Mark (5)
Mid-Atlantic accent
Often played a handsome bachelor
Roles in romantic comedies

Chin dimple
Often played characters who were much younger than his actual age.
Trivia (137)
Ranked #7 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]
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.
Ian Fleming modeled the James Bond character partially with Grant in mind.
Suffered a major stroke prior to performing in his one-man show "An Evening with Cary Grant" at the Adler Theater in Davenport, Iowa on November 29, 1986. Passed away later that night at St. Luke's Hospital at 11:22 p.m.
From 1932-1944, 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.

Cary Grant passed away on November 29, 1986, almost two months away from what would have been his 83rd birthday on January 18, 1987.
He gave his entire fee for The Philadelphia Story (1940) to the British war effort.
He once phoned hotel mogul Conrad Hilton in Istanbul, Turkey, to find out why his breakfast order at the Plaza Hotel, which called for muffins, came with only 1-1/2 English muffins instead of two. When Grant 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 being cheated out of a half, the Plaza Hotel changed its policy and began serving two complete muffins with breakfast. From then on, Grant 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. No (1962), believing himself to be too old at age 58 to play the hero. The role went to Sean Connery instead.
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#22) (1995).

Donated his entire salary for Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) ($100,000) to the U.S. War Relief Fund.
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).
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).
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)
Pictured on a 37¢ USA commemorative postage stamp in the Legends of Hollywood series, issued 15 October 2002.
Turned down roles opposite Audrey Hepburn in both Roman Holiday (1953) and Sabrina (1954); later he starred with her in Charade (1963).
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 time: 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.
Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith, pg. 191-193. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387

Thanks mainly to the strength and physical dexterity he gained as an acrobat when he was young, he did a majority of 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 1966 and, despite the attempts of directors as important as Howard Hawks, Billy Wilder, and 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 Cooper, their biggest male star, (C.G. being an inversion of G.C.) and possibly because Clark Gable had the same initials. Gable and Cooper were born with their last names, however, with Grant having been born Archibald Leach.
Named the #2 Greatest Actor on The Greatest Screen Legends list by the American Film Institute.
According to his will (dated November 26, 1984), his body was to be cremated and no funeral service held. His ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.
He was voted the sixth Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

The late Christopher Reeve said that he based his portrayal of Clark Kent in the Superman films on Grant in the early part of his career.
In His Girl Friday (1940), his 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.
John Cleese's character in A Fish Called Wanda (1988) was named "Archie Leach" after Grant's real name.
Was largely self-educated as he had dropped out of school at age 14. 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 (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.

Often spoke of his relationship with Sophia Loren as one of the most passionate romances in his life. She was 31 years his junior.
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 Grant 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.

When Sophia Loren visited Los Angeles during the filming of An Affair to Remember (1957), Grant inundated her with dozens of phone calls and hundreds of flowers - even though she had called off the affair.
Participated in an experimental psychotherapy program in which he was prescribed LSD. Betsy Drake encouraged him to take the drug (as part of a medical experiment), as he wanted to examine his failed marriages. He underwent about 100 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 not to use drugs.
Premiere magazine ranked him as the #1 Movie Star of All Time in their "Stars in Our Constellation" feature (2005).
Maintained a year-round suntan to avoid wearing makeup.
Became the director of Fabergé cosmetics firm in 1966.
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 play), but he never got around to it.

In 1957, he accepted the Oscar for "Best Actress in a Leading Role" on behalf of Ingrid Bergman, who was not present at the awards ceremony.
He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1610 Vine Street in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.
Replaced James Stewart as the 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 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.
Introduced First Lady Betty Ford at the Republican National Convention in 1976.
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".

His performance as T.R. Devlin in Notorious (1946) is ranked #16 on Premiere magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).
His performance as Dr. David Huxley in Bringing Up Baby (1938) is ranked #68 on Premiere magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).
His favorite aftershave was Acqua Di Parma.
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.
Writer Sidney Sheldon used Grant as the prototype for Rhys Williams, a character in the novel "Bloodline".
One of his favorite poems was a bit of doggerel: "They bought me a box of tin soldiers,/I threw all the Generals away,/I smashed up the Sergents and Majors,/Now I play with my Privates all day.".
He was a huge baseball fan, originally supporting the New York Giants and then the Los Angeles Dodgers.
At one time, he owned a Sealyham terrier called Archie Leach.
He became an American citizen on June 26, 1942, under naturalization certificate #5502057.
As a child, he had a fear of knives and a fear of heights.
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. Christopher for Virginia Cherrill (Roman Catholic), a small cross for Barbara Hutton and Betsy Drake (Protestants), and a Star of David for Dyan Cannon (Jewish). (Donaldson).
Was considered one of the best-dressed men in the United States of America. George Francis Frazier, Jr., in "The Art of Wearing Clothes" (published in 'Esquire' magazine, September 1960), wrote "Although Grant, who is fifty-six, favors such abominations as large tie knots and claims to have originated the square-style breast-pocket handkerchief, he is so extraordinarily attractive that he looks good in practically anything. He insists upon tight armholes in his suit jackets, finds the most comfortable (and functional) of all underwear to be women's nylon panties." Other best-dressed American men cited in the article were Miles Davis, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Clark Gable and Walter Pidgeon.
If you look closely at his teeth, you'll find that he only has one incisor (front tooth). Apparently when he was a boy he knocked out a tooth while ice skating. Rather than get into trouble with his father, he opted to go to a nearby dental college and have them gradually push his other teeth together to fill in the gap. Only one person (an eagle-eyed cinematographer) ever noticed and mentioned it to him. It's described in depth in the book "Evenings with Cary Grant".
Hated his performance in Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), saying it was way too over the top and that it was his least favorite film.
Was the only actor Alfred Hitchcock was said to "love". Hitch said that James Stewart was the "everyman", but never cast Stewart after Vertigo (1958) flopped, which he blamed on Stewart now looking too old to draw in the crowds. Ironically, Grant was actually four years older than Stewart.
Initally accepted his role in Houseboat (1958) because he was dating Sophia Loren, whom he was madly in love with. After she went and married someone else, heartbroken, Cary wanted to back out. He could not, but the director made sure the production was a smooth one.
Initially refused Stanley Donen's offer to appear in Charade (1963), but-realizing that it was a great part-accepted it after a while. He made one stipulation: Audrey Hepburn had to chase him, not visa-versa.
Was very hurt when he lost his two Academy Award nominations, particularly None But the Lonely Heart (1944), which he thought was his best performance. This is why he was so excited when he accepted his Honarary Academy Award in 1970.
Said Indiscreet (1958), to be his personal favorite film.
He gave serious consideration to retiring in 1953, because he believed the success of Marlon Brando and Method acting meant his own kind of acting was a thing of the past. Eighteen months later, he was lured back to make To Catch a Thief (1955), and therefore delayed his retirement until 1966.
Maintained good physical health until becoming sick with high blood pressure in the late 1970s. In October 1984, he suffered a minor stroke, which limited his appearances thereafter.
Received Kennedy Center honors in November 1981. President Ronald Reagan wrote how pleased he was to be able to honor his friend, while Grant stated that he was glad James Stewart was at the ceremony.
Held a press conference announcing his retirement from acting early in 1953, saying he was very angry over Hollywood's treatment of director Charles Chaplin, who had recently been blacklisted for his liberal political beliefs.
Attended the state funeral of his friend Earl Louis Mountbatten of Burma at Westminster Abbey in August 1979, and openly wept during the service.
Alfred Hitchcock originally planned to cast Grant in the role of the publisher and Montgomery Clift as Brandon Rope (1948). However the established homosexual relationship between Leopold and Loeb, and the tacit recognition of a similar tie between Hamilton's killers, persuaded Grant and Clift to steer clear of the project to avoid long term commercial repercussions.
His final appearance at the Academy Awards was in 1985 to present James Stewart with an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement.
He often played characters who were considerably younger than his actual age. He was age 50 when To Catch a Thief (1955) was filmed, but was playing a character of age 34.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 346-348. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.
Although he had been considered a liberal during his career, after his retirement from acting he emerged as a major supporter of Richard Nixon in the late 1960s.
Smoked up to 60 cigarettes a day until 1957, when his third wife Betsy Drake made him give up in order to protect his voice. He quit smoking while filming An Affair to Remember (1957) after visiting a hypnotist. However, she recalled occasionally catching him smoking outside the house, so he probably never stopped completely.
He was considered for the leading role in Bicycle Thieves (1948).
Grant eagerly sought William Holden's role in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), but the producers decided he was not right for the role, and in any case they felt he was too old at age 53.
He was director Howard Hawks' first choice to play the lead in Man's Favorite Sport? (1964), which he turned down because he was age 59 and leading lady Paula Prentiss was age 25.
Turned down the role of gunfighter Cherry Valance, which was to have been much larger, in Howard Hawks' epic western Red River (1948) opposite John Wayne and Montgomery Clift. The role went to John Ireland instead.
Was very close friends with Ingrid Bergman, his co-star in both Indiscreet (1958) and Notorious (1946). Grant was one of the few who supported her throughout her notorious affair with Rossellini, and while Bergman was in exile in Italy he accepted her Best Actress Oscar in 1958.
Always cited his To Catch a Thief (1955) co-star Grace Kelly as his favorite leading lady. He attended her state funeral in 1982 and wept throughout the televised service.
At the time of his death, his estate was valued at $60 million.
His mother, Elsie Maria Leach, passed away in January 1973 at age 94.
Underwent a hernia operation in the spring of 1977.
Had a benign tumor removed from his forehead in 1957.
Became seriously sick with infectious hepatitis and jaundice in 1948, and doctors gave him a less than 10% chance of survival. The problem was the damage that years of heavy drinking had done to his liver. Grant took more than six months to recover.
Eagerly sought the role of Midshipman Roger Byam in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), which went to Franchot Tone instead.
Turned down James Mason's role in A Star Is Born (1954).
Turned down James Mason's role in Stanley Kubrick's Lolita (1962) because he considered the film "depraved".
He turned down the role of Professor Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady (1964) because he felt he would either not be as good as Rex Harrison, who had originated the part on the London stage and on Broadway, or he would be accused of imitating Harrison. He told producer Jack L. Warner that unless Harrison was cast, he would not even go to see the film.
In later years, he always said the character he played in Father Goose (1964) came closest to his real self.
He and his fifth wife Barbara Harris renewed their wedding vows on April 11, 1986, the fifth anniversary of their marriage.
In 1999, he was named the second Greatest Male Star of All Time of American cinema, after Humphrey Bogart, by the American Film Institute.
For a scene in The Grass Is Greener (1960), he refused to wear a smoking jacket, fearing he would immediately lose the support of the audience if he were seen dressed like that. The director later recalled that an old-fashioned kind of comedy had died that day, and it never came back.
After The Tree of Liberty (1940) flopped at the box office, Grant turned down all offers for historical epics until The Pride and the Passion (1957), which was also a failure.
He initially decided to end his 1953 retirement just to make To Catch a Thief (1955). When the film proved to be a huge success, he agreed to make further films.
He was involved in a serious car crash in New York, but fortunately escaped with only minor injuries. [March 1968]
Elton John recalled that one of the highlights of his 1976 tour of the United States was meeting Grant backstage after a concert.
For several years, he had toyed with the idea of playing Hamlet in an attempt to prove to his critics that he could act. This idea was finally scuppered by Laurence Olivier's film Hamlet (1948).

He actively sought James Stewart's role in Bell Book and Candle (1958), and Clark Gable's role in Teacher's Pet (1958).
He and Charlton Heston attended a dinner at 10 Downing Street honoring the then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, whom they both greatly admired. Afterward Heston said to his wife Lydia Heston, "You know I sat next to Mrs. Thatcher." She replied, "That's nothing--I got to sit next to Cary Grant!".
He voted for Richard Nixon in 1968 and 1972, Gerald Ford in 1976 and Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984.
Once shared a house with his close friend Noël Coward early in his Hollywood career.
He considered himself to be miscast in The Tree of Liberty (1940), None But the Lonely Heart (1944) and The Pride and the Passion (1957).
Once lived with the silent movie star William Haines.
Alfred Hitchcock told François Truffaut that Grant, unlike James Stewart, would have been willing to play a villain. Before he was a star, Stewart (unlike Grant) once actually played an out-and-out villain, in After the Thin Man (1936). The closest Grant came was the original version of Suspicion (1941), directed by Hitchcock, in which Grant's character poisoned his wife, but the film was recut so that Grant wouldn't be a bad guy.
His daughter, Jennifer Grant, gave birth to a son, Cary Benjamin Grant on August 12, 2008.
Loved performing on network radio, where he often got to perform in roles different from his screen persona. He once told the producers of the radio series "Suspense", "Invite me back, invite me back.".
In 1968, he and fellow actor and friend Michael Caine were walking together and a fan approached them, only recognizing Caine. At the end of the conversation, the fan turned to Grant and commented how accommodating today's film stars are with the public, to which Grant nodded in agreement.
He can be seen in the audience and backstage in the Elvis Presley concert documentary Elvis: That's the Way It Is (1970).
Made a public appeal for gun control following the assassination of his friend Robert F. Kennedy. [June 1968]
He strongly disliked Method acting and never played a villain.
Was very good friends with Frederique "Quique" Jourdan, the wife of Louis Jourdan.

Grant introduced Frederick Brisson to future wife Rosalind Russell and acted as his best man at their marriage.
Has eight films on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 Funniest Movies: Bringing Up Baby (1938) at #14, The Philadelphia Story (1940) at #15, His Girl Friday (1940) at #19, Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) at #30, Topper (1937) at #60, The Awful Truth (1937) at #68, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) at #72 and She Done Him Wrong (1933) at #75.
Ran away from home at age 13 to join a mime troupe. His father tracked him down and brought him home, but he ran away again and rejoined the troupe.
He kept himself slender and fit until he retired acting, never weighing above 180 pounds.
Was once engaged to Queenie Smith.
Unlike several other major movie stars in his day, including James Stewart, John Wayne, Gary Cooper, etc., Grant never went bald and never needed to wear a toupee. Although he did dye his hair back to its natural black color when it started to gray in the 1950s. When he retired from acting in the 1960s, he stopped dying his hair and his hair was all-white by the time of his passing.
Holds the record at the Radio City Music Hall as its leading star. 27 films for a total of 113 weeks. Fred Astaire is the runner-up with 16 films for 60 weeks.
An executive of Paramount Pictures told struggling actor Archie Leach "You're bow legged and your neck is far too thick.".

Though financially well off, he was considered "tight" by his servants. They reported that, among other things, he charged fans for his autograph, marked the height of the liquor in every bottle, counted the logs for the fireplace and kept a detailed record of how much food was bought and how much was consumed. However, he was well liked by his servants and paid them very well.
He played Irene Dunne's husband in three movies: The Awful Truth (1937), My Favorite Wife (1940) and Penny Serenade (1941).
Died three days before Desi Arnaz who died on December 2, 1986.
In his last years, he was a militant anti-smoker.
In 1971, fearful that Dyan Cannon would take their daughter Jennifer with her to New York and Europe, Grant filed for joint custody. When the judge ruled that Jennifer should remain in California with her father, taking time out to visit her mother, he was jubilant. He could plan to spend every evening waiting for her to come back from school and every weekend teaching her to ride a horse. Within eight weeks he had sold the rights to his last films with Universal for more than $2 million. Operation Petticoat (1959), The Grass Is Greener (1960), That Touch of Mink (1962) and Charade (1963) were all included, as was Penny Serenade (1941), the only one of his earlier films to which he still retained the rights. He had no more connection to the movie business. He invested in a property development in Malaga in southern Spain and another near Shannon in Ireland.
His daughter, Jennifer Grant, gave birth to a daughter, Davian Adele Grant, on November 23, 2011.

He was dismayed by the failure of Operation Musketeer, the Anglo-French attempt to regain the Suez Canal after it had been seized by the Nasser regime in Egypt. Israel invaded the Sinai peninsula. [November 1956]
He turned down the lead role in Gentleman's Agreement (1947) because he contended he was Jewish and thought he looked Jewish. He maintained, "The public won't believe my portrayal of a gentile trying to pass himself off as a Jew.".
He was circumcised at birth, which was highly unusual in the United Kingdom in 1904.
He donated money to Israel in the name of his late mother.
He was usually considered poor at accents. His attempts at Cockney accents in Gunga Din (1939) and None But the Lonely Heart (1944) were widely ridiculed in the United Kingdom.
He appeared in four films directed by Alfred Hitchcock: Suspicion (1941), Notorious (1946), To Catch a Thief (1955) and North by Northwest (1959).
Cut back on his heavy drinking after his serious illness in 1948.
Personal Quotes (66)
[responding to a wire from a reporter inquiring, "How old Cary Grant?"] Old Cary Grant fine. How you?
I have spent the greater part of my life fluctuating between Archie Leach and Cary Grant, unsure of each, suspecting each.
Everybody wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant.
[About Burt Reynolds] As well as being my, and the world's favorite light comedian, Burt is a very considerate and thoughtful man.
My screen persona is a combination of Jack Buchanan, Noël Coward and Rex Harrison. I pretended to be somebody I wanted to be, and, finally, I became that person. Or he became me.

I improve on misquotation.
Divorce is a game played by lawyers.
To succeed with the opposite sex, tell her you are impotent; she can't wait to disprove it.
The only really good thing about acting is that there's no heavy lifting.
[1970 Honorary Oscar acceptance speech] You know that I may never look at this without remembering the quiet patience of directors who were so kind to me, who were kind enough to put up with me more than once, some of them even three or four times. I trust they and all the other directors, writers and producers and my leading women have forgiven me for what I didn't know. You know that I've never been a joiner or a member of any particular social set, but I've been privileged to be a part of Hollywood's most glorious era.
My formula for living is quite simple. I get up in the morning and I go to bed at night. In between, I occupy myself as best I can.
My father used to say, "Let them see you and not the suit. That should be secondary."
Mostly, we have manufactured ladies--with the exception of Ingrid [Ingrid Bergman], Grace [Grace Kelly], Deborah [Deborah Kerr] and Audrey [Audrey Hepburn].

It takes 500 small details to add up to one favorable impression.
Actors today try to avoid comedy because if you write a comedy that's not a success, the lack of success is immediately apparent because the audience is not laughing. A comedy is a big risk. This is a tremendously costly business and to put money into a picture that might not come off -- oh, that's pretty risky.
This, I love. I enjoy talking back and forth to people. You know, otherwise, I wouldn't get to meet the people.
I tell you, in films, one doesn't really meet the audience. You don't get the impact or spirit of your audience, whereas when you are out in the public, you do.'
I've often been accused by critics of being myself on-screen. But being oneself is more difficult than you'd suppose.
It's important to know where you've come from so that you can know where you're going. I probably chose my profession because I was seeking approval, adulation, admiration and affection.
[on Irene Dunne] Her timing was marvelous. She was so good that she made comedy look easy. If she'd made it look as difficult as it really is, she would have won her Oscar.
I know they nicknamed us "Cash and Cary", but I never asked Barbara Hutton for a penny. I never married a woman for money, that's the God's truth. I may not have married for very sound reasons, but money was the least of them.
[on his many marriages] It seems that each new marriage is more difficult to survive than the last one. I'm rather a fool for punishment--I keep going back for more, don't ask me why.
[Charles Chaplin] is waiting a long time at a trolley car stop. He's the first in line of what turns out to be a huge crowd. The trolley finally arrives, he's the first one on, but then the crowd behind him surges through the door and pushes him right through the door on the other side. And that's a lot like what Hollywood is like. When you're a young man, Douglas Fairbanks Sr. is driving. Wallace Beery is the conductor, and Charles Chaplin's got a front-row seat. You take your seat, and back behind you is Gary Cooper. He has got his long feet stuck out in front of one of the exit doors, and people keep tripping over him and onto the street. Suddenly a young man named Tyrone Power gets on. He asks you to move over. You make a picture with Joan Fontaine. You think you do a good job, but she wins the Oscar, and you get nothing. And pretty soon more and more people get on, it's getting very crowded, and then you decide to get off. When you get off the trolley, you notice that it's been doing nothing but going around in circles. It doesn't go anywhere. You see the same things over and over. So you might as well get off.
[on Katharine Hepburn] She was this slip of a woman and I never liked skinny women. But she had this thing, this air you might call it, the most totally magnetic woman I'd ever seen, and probably ever seen since. You had to look at her, you had to listen to her; there was no escaping her.
For more than 30 years of my life I had smoked with increasing habit. I was finally separated from the addiction by Betsy [wife Betsy Drake], who, after carefully studying hypnosis, practiced it, with my full permission and trust, as I was going off to sleep one night. She sat in a chair near the bed and, in a quiet, calm voice, rhythmically repeated what I inwardly knew to be true, the fact that smoking was not good for me; and, as my conscious mind relaxed and no longer cared to offer a negative thought, her words sank into my subconscious; and the following day, to my surprise I had no need or wish to smoke. Nor have I smoked since. Nor have I, as far as I know, replaced it with any other harmful habit.
Everyone tells me I've had such an interesting life, but sometimes I think it's been nothing but stomach disturbances and self-concern.
I think making love is the best form of exercise.
I'd like to have made one of those big splashy Technicolor musicals with Rita Hayworth.
There are only seven movie stars in the world whose name alone will induce American bankers to lend money for movie productions, and the only woman on the list is Ingrid Bergman.
[1980] I have nothing against gays, I'm just not one myself.
[1965] I don't like to see men of my age making love on the screen. Being a father will make me more free than I have ever been. It will be a great experience. I can't wait.
There is no doubt I am aging. My format of comedy is still the same as ever. I gravitate toward scripts that put me in an untenable position. Then the rest of the picture is spent in trying to squirm out of it. Naturally, I always get the girl in the end. It may appear old-fashioned. There seems to be a trend toward satirical comedy, like The Apartment (1960). Perhaps it is because young writers today feel satirical living in a world that seems headed for destruction.
I can't portray Bing Crosby, I'm Cary Grant. I'm myself in that role. The most difficult thing is to be yourself--especially when you know it's going to be seen immediately by 300 million people.
The secret of comedy is doing it naturally under the most difficult circumstances. And film comedy is the most difficult of all. At least on stage you know right away if you're getting laughs or not. But making a movie, you have no way of knowing. So you try to time the thing for space and length and can only hope when it plays in the movie theaters months later that you have timed the thing right. It's difficult and it takes experience. I'll always remember the great actor, A.E. Matthews, who said on his death bed, "Dying's tough--but not as tough as comedy".
[Charles Chaplin] has given great pleasure to millions of people, and I hope he returns to Hollywood. Personally, I don't think he is a Communist, but whatever his political affiliations, they are secondary to the fact that he is a great entertainer. We should not go off the deep end.
[on Betsy Drake] Betsy was a delightful comedienne, but I don't think Hollywood was ever really her milieu. She wanted to help humanity, to help others help themselves.
[1981] I have no plans to write an autobiography, I will leave that to others. I'm sure they will turn me into a homosexual or a Nazi spy or something else.
[1983] I asked James Stewart recently if he had thought about dying. He said he hadn't at all. But I have.
[In 1986 about Hollywood and drugs] I don't know anything about drugs. None of the people I know is involved with drugs. Hollywood is a very hard-working town--you have to get up early, and you have to look good. If you read the "National Enquirer," you think drugs are everywhere, but I've never seen them.
My intention in taking LSD was to make myself happy. A man would be a fool to take something that didn't make him happy. I took it with a group of men, one of whom was Aldous Huxley. We deceived ourselves by calling it therapy, but we were truly interested in how this chemical could help humanity. I found it a very enlightening experience, but it's like alcohol in one respect: a shot of brandy can save your life, but a bottle of brandy can kill you.
[In 1986 on actresses] I've worked with [Ingrid Bergman]. I've worked with Katharine Hepburn]. I've worked with some of the biggest stars, but Grace Kelly was the best actress I've ever worked with in my life. That woman was total relaxation, absolute ease--she was totally THERE. She was an extraordinarily serene girl. Both she and [Alfred Hitchcock] were Jesuit-trained; maybe that had something to do with it.
If I had known then what I know now, if I had not been so utterly stupid, I would have had 100 children and I would have built a ranch to keep them on.
[Asked in 1986 why he no longer makes movies] There's too much heavy breathing and shooting going on.
[on rumors that he is gay or bi-sexual] Look at it this way, I've always tried to dress well. I've had some success in life. I've enjoyed my success and I include in that success some relationships with very special women. If someone wants to say I'm gay, what can I do? I think it's probably said about every man who's been known to do well with women. I don't let that sort of thing bother me. What matters to me is that I know who I am.
[In 1986 on what he finds attractive in a woman] A lack of artifice. I don't like a lot of make-up or a lot of perfume. If someone wears a lot of make-up, it shows me they're not happy with their features--it shows their insecurity.
I have no rapport with the new idols of the screen, and that includes Marlon Brando and his style of Method acting. It certainly includes Montgomery Clift and that God-awful James Dean. Some producer should cast all three of them in the same movie and let them duke it out. When they've finished each other off, James Stewart, Spencer Tracy and I will return and start making real movies again like we used to.
When a young fellow like Louis Jourdan moves in on your field, you take stock of your assets and liabilities. It make you nervous.
Hollywood is very much like a streetcar. Once a new star is made and comes aboard, an old one is edged out of the rear exit. There's room for only so many and no more.
[on aging] When people tell you how young you look, they are also telling you how old you are.
[on Ingrid Bergman] She wears no make-up and has big feet and peasant hips, yet women envy her ability to be herself.
[on Marilyn Monroe, his co-star in Monkey Business (1952)] She seemed very shy, and I remember that when the studio workers would whistle at her, it seemed to embarrass her.
Let me call it "coming on straight". It's easy to hide behind characters and roles. I think it's much tougher to be yourself.
I let people think or say whatever they want to. There have been all sorts of things written about me. It's an occupational hazard. But I don't particularly care. I live inside me. I can't control anyone's thoughts. I have enough trouble controlling my own.
[on stories of his being penurious] I'm sure I have that reputation because I don't gamble or go to nightclubs or give huge parties, and because I don't believe in giving gifts at Christmas. I give presents when I feel like it.
I'm not very interested because that's something which is behind me now. I'm more interested in living for today. I don't see films as being very real. Reality is what interests me now.
When people say, "You've led such a glamorous life", all I can honestly say is that I've lived my life. It isn't glamorous to me.
[in 1978] I doubt if I have more than 70,000 hours left and I'm not about to waste any of them.
They all left me. I didn't leave any of them. They all walked out on me. Maybe my marriages were heavily influenced by something in my subconscious that's related to my early years and the way I envisioned my mother. That's a pat answer, I know, but it's very possible. However, I'm not really sure why they left me. Maybe they just got bored. It took a lot of psychiatry was necessary. It didn't all happen at once. It got piled on in layers. Thick layers, one on top of the other. It took time to undo.
Once I found that formula I mentioned, I was pretty much the same in all my films. I simply changed the leading ladies and those terrible situations. But I always tried to play Cary Grant. Did you know that I seldom wore makeup? I didn't want any of that. As for being as charming as the chap on the screen, I hope I sometimes am.
I like money. Anybody you know who doesn't? He's a liar.
I underwent heavy psychiatric therapy. I did weekly sessions of controlled LSD therapy. There were about 100 sessions in all--two years' worth about 25 or 30 years ago. At first I found it unbelievably painful. In the beginning I didn't want to go back. The sessions lasted six hours each. I would run the gamut of emotions from deep pain with tears running down my face to light-headed, almost drunken laughter. But I got my tape clean. I remember at one point lying on the doctor's couch, squirming around, moving around in small circles, telling myself that I was unscrewing myself. I told myself that I was getting unscrewed up. When each session ended, I was drained. I'd go home to sleep. But when each session ended, I knew that I had cleaned off a little more of my tape. It took two years, but it was necessary for my evolution.
Films? You know, if some people had their way, I should never have made any films. I failed my first screen test. The director thought my neck was too thick. And he was right. I made 70 or 71 films. One of the films that I think shows a successful bit of acting is None But the Lonely Heart (1944). That's where I found a form that fitted me. I played a well-dressed, fairly sophisticated chap who is put into intolerable situations. It's a formula, and I used it often. I think Indiscreet (1958) and Notorious (1946), both with Ingrid Bergman, are good. They hold up.
I know all too well that the day will come when I won't be around any longer. The prospect of that doesn't necessarily please me. That's another reason why I live for today. That's another reason why reality is so important to me. I travel. I enjoy myself. I spend time with my daughter. I love life. That's the way I hope to keep on going. I enjoy whatever it is I do. If I don't enjoy something, I don't do it. I admit I used to worry that when you reached a certain age, things stopped happening. But I don't worry about that anymore because--and it's a pleasure to tell you--they don't stop happening. I haven't stopped doing anything simply because of my age. In fact, I know a man who is almost ten years older than I am and he doesn't have any troubles.
Archie Leach the dropout/runaway from Bristol studied men like Noël Coward and became Cary Grant.
I was raised mostly by my father. I didn't get along with my mother until a few years before her death.
[when asked by a writer to compose his own epitaph] He was lucky--and he knew it.
Salary (44)
This Is the Night (1932) $450 /week
Sinners in the Sun (1932) $450 /week
Singapore Sue (1932) $150
Singapore Sue (1932) $450 /week
Merrily We Go to Hell (1932) $450 /week
Devil and the Deep (1932) $450 /week
Blonde Venus (1932) $450 /week
Hot Saturday (1932) $450 /week
Madame Butterfly (1932) $450 /week
She Done Him Wrong (1933) $750 /week
The Woman Accused (1933) $750 /week
The Eagle and the Hawk (1933) $750 /week
Gambling Ship (1933) $750 /week
I'm No Angel (1933) $750 /week
Alice in Wonderland (1933) $750 /week
Enter Madame! (1935) $2,500 /week
Wings in the Dark (1935) $2,500 /week
The Last Outpost (1935) $2,500 /week
Sylvia Scarlett (1935) $2,500 /week + $15,000 bonus
Big Brown Eyes (1936) $3,500 /week
Suzy (1936) $3,500 /week
The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss (1936) $3,500 /week
Wedding Present (1936) $3,500 /week
When You're in Love (1937) $50,000
Topper (1937) % of Gross
The Toast of New York (1937) $50,000
The Awful Truth (1937) $50,000 + 10% of gross ($500,000 in back end earnings)
Bringing Up Baby (1938) $75,000 + 11% gross ($139,150)
Gunga Din (1939) $125,000
In Name Only (1939) $100,000
The Philadelphia Story (1940) $150,000
The Philadelphia Story (1940) $137,500 (donated to British War Relief Fund)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) $100,000
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) $160,000 (donated to British War Relief, USO, and Red Cross)
None But the Lonely Heart (1944) $150,000 + 10% of the Profits
Night and Day (1946) $150,000
The Bishop's Wife (1947) $500,000
I Was a Male War Bride (1949) $100,000 (plus 10% of the gross receipts if they reached $1m.)
People Will Talk (1951) $300,000
To Catch a Thief (1955) $750,000 + 10% of grosses over $8,000,000
Indiscreet (1958) $300,000 + Rolls Royce
North by Northwest (1959) $450,000 (plus $315,000 overtime and percentage of gross profit)
Operation Petticoat (1959) $3,000,000 (including his percentage of the gross profits.)
That Touch of Mink (1962) $4,000,000 (including his percentage of the gross profits.)