Cary Grant

Cary Grant was by all rights, Hollywood’s original leading man by bringing a handsome face to the screen combined with a charming and clever personality. With a Hollywood legacy that masks an unhappy childhood and controversial personal life, Cary Grant lives on in the classic films he made over his thirty-year career.

Born Archibald Alexander Leach on January 18, 1904 in Bristol, England, Grant was an only child. His mother was institutionalized when he was only ten years of age and his father misled him about the whereabouts of his mother until he was an adult. The severed relationship with his mother and mistrust of his father led Leach to want to create a new persona. He was expelled from high school in Bristol and began touring with the Bob Pender stage troupe when he made his way to the United States in 1920. He supported himself with odd jobs and pursued an acting career on Broadway.

Leach made his way to Hollywood in 1931 where he acquired the stage name Cary Grant. After some success with his early movies, he began to rise to stardom with films including The Awful Truth and Bringing Up Baby, which he starred in alongside Katharine Hepburn for the first time. His next appearance with her in The Philadelphia Story solidified his position as a big-name actor. Now sought after by the likes of Howard Hawks and Alfred Hitchcock, Grant was a box-office smash. In the 1950s he formed his own production company with limited success. Cary Grant was nominated for an Academy Award on two occasions, but never won.

His personal life was riddled with five failed marriages and accusations regarding his sexual preference. He was reportedly bisexual and has been accused of having homosexual affairs with fellow actors Randolph Scott and Marlon Brando. Though he had outwardly gay friends, Cary Grant never outwardly proclaimed his own sexuality. To the contrary, he actually filed and won a lawsuit against Chevy Chase, who joked about Grant being gay during a 1980 television interview.

Grant’s three-year marriage to Barbara Hutton was dubbed “Cash and Cary” because critics assumed he married her for her money, however he declined any money in their divorce settlement and the marriage ended amicably. His fourth marriage, which was to Dyan Cannon, resulted in Cary Grant’s only child Jennifer. A first-time father at age 62, the marriage didn’t last but 18 months and ended badly. Grant married a fifth time to PR agent Barbara Harris in 1981. Cary Grant died of a stroke in 1986 at the age of 82. In 2004, 18 years after his death, Cary Grant was honored by Premier Magazine as The Greatest Actor of All Time.

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