Cary Grant

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Birthday:

18 January 1904, Horfield, Bristol, England, UK

Birth Name:

Archibald Alexander Leach

Height:

187 cm

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). Show less «

[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,...Show more »

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. Show less «

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 ...Show more »

[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. Show less «

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...Show more »

Mostly, we have manufactured ladies--- with the exception of Ingrid [Ingrid Bergman], Grace [Grace Kelly], Deborah [Deborah Kerr] and Audrey [Audrey Hepburn]. Show less «

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...Show more »

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. Show less «

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...Show more »

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.' Show less «

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 ...Show more »

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. Show less «

[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 i...Show more »

[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. Show less «

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 ...Show more »

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. Show less «

[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 ...Show more »

[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. Show less «

[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 fin...Show more »

[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. Show less «

[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 ...Show more »

[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. Show less «

For more than thirty years of my life I had smoked with increasing habit. I was finally separated from the addiction by Betsy [wife Betsy Dr...Show more »

For more than thirty 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. Show less «

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 onl...Show more »

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. Show less «

[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 ...Show more »

[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. Show less «

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...Show more »

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. Show less «

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 ...Show more »

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. Show less «

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...Show more »

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". Show less «

[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 Comm...Show more »

[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. Show less «

[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 ...Show more »

[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. Show less «

[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...Show more »

[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. Show less «

[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...Show more »

[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. Show less «

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 gr...Show more »

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. Show less «

[In 1986 on actresses] I've worked with Bergman. I've worked with Hepburn. I've worked with some of the biggest stars, but Grace Kelly was t...Show more »

[In 1986 on actresses] I've worked with Bergman. I've worked with 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 Hitchcock were Jesuit-trained; maybe that had something to do with it. Show less «

If I had known then what I know now, if I had not been so utterly stupid, I would have had a hundred children and I would have built a ranch...Show more »

If I had known then what I know now, if I had not been so utterly stupid, I would have had a hundred children and I would have built a ranch to keep them on. Show less «

[Asked in 1986 why he no longer makes movies] There's too much heavy breathing and shooting going on.

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 s...Show more »

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. Show less «

[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 l...Show more »

[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. Show less «

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 Mo...Show more »

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. Show less «

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 fo...Show more »

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. Show less «

[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...Show more »

[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. Show less «

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 do...Show more »

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. Show less «

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...Show more »

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. Show less «

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...Show more »

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. Show less «

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.

I doubt if I have more than 70,000 hours left and I'm not about to waste any of them. (1978)

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 subco...Show more »

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. Show less «

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 si...Show more »

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. Show less «

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 a hundred sessions in all - two yea...Show more »

I underwent heavy psychiatric therapy. I did weekly sessions of controlled LSD therapy. There were about a hundred sessions in all - two years' worth about twenty-five or thirty 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. Show less «

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 ne...Show more »

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 seventy or seventy-one films. One of the films that I think shows a successful bit of acting is None But the Lonely Heart. 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 and Notorious, both with Ingrid Bergman, are good. They hold up. Show less «

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 ano...Show more »

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. Show less «

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.