Guide Note

Cary Grant was a British film actor, widely heralded for the considerable charm and grace he brought to the screen in American films such as Bringing Up Baby, The Philadelphia Story, North by Northwest, and An Affair to Remember.

When he was ten, his mother Elsie was placed in a mental institution by his father for depression after the death of an infant. His father told him that his mother had gone away on a "long holiday". When Grant was in his thirties, he located her, living in an institutionalized care facility.

Performing under his birth name, Grant joined the "Bob Pender Stage Troupe" as a stilt walker in 1920 and traveled them to the United States for a two-year tour. When they returned to England, he remained to continue his performing career. After some success in light Broadway comedies, he went to Hollywood in 1931 and signed with Paramount Pictures. He appeared as a leading man opposite Marlene Dietrich in Blonde Venus, followed by She Done Him Wrong and I'm No Angel with Mae West.

Grant continued to star in classic screwball comedies, with co-stars such as Katharine Hepburn, Rosalind Russell, Ginger Rogers and Irene Dunne. His onscreen persona came to be that of a charming if somewhat unreliable man, formerly married to an intelligent and strong-willed woman who divorces him, and comes to realize that with all his faults he is irresistible. Throughout his time in Hollywood, Grant was rumored to be either homosexual or bisexual, but nothing was ever substantiated.

After retiring from the screen, Grant toured the United States in a one man show called A Conversation with Cary Grant, in which he showed clips from his films and answered audience questions. He was preparing for such a performance in Davenport, IA, Iowa on November 29, 1986 when he suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage.

Fast Facts

Full Name: Archibald Alec Leach

1. Born: January 18, 1904
2. Place of birth: Bristol, England
3. Died: November 29, 1986 in Davenport, IA, Iowa
4. Married five times
5. Spouse(s):
6. Virginia Cherrill (1934-1935)
7. Barbara Hutton (1942-1945)
8. Betsy Drake (1949-1962)
9. Dyan Cannon (1965-1968)
10. Barbara Harris (1981-1986)
11. Father of actress Jennifer Grant
12. Named The Greatest Movie Star of All Time by Premiere Magazine in 2004
13. Archetype for Ian Fleming's famous fictional spy, James Bond