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Cary Grant Facts
| Sign | Capricorn |
| Born |
Jan 18, 1904 Horfield, Bristol |
| Died |
Nov 29, 1986 Davenport, IA |
| Age | Died at 82 |
| Total Facts | 129 |
John Cleese's character in A Fish Called Wanda (1988) was named "Archie Leach" after Grant's real name.
Elton John recalled that one of the highlights of his 1976 tour of the United States was meeting Grant backstage after a concert.
Cary Grant 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, "You know I sat next to Mrs Thatcher." She replied, "That's nothing - I got to sit next to Cary Grant!".
Douglas Fairbanks was his boyhood idol, with Fairbanks' "healthy" tan being the inspiration for Grant's constantly dark skin.
Alfred Hitchcock once toyed with the idea of casting him as Hamlet (in what would have been a modern-dress film version of Shakespeare's play), but he never got around to it.
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.
Alfred Hitchcock told 'Francois 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.
Ian Fleming modeled the James Bond character partially with Grant in mind.
According to his will (dated 26th November 1984), his body was to be cremated and no funeral service held. His ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.
After The Howards of Virginia (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.
After being widely criticized for playing the romantic lead in To Catch a Thief (1955) opposite the 26-years-younger younger Grace Kelly, Grant resolved never to play such a part again. He turned down Gregory Peck's role in Arabesque (1966) opposite Sophia Loren.
Although fifty when To Catch a Thief (1955) was filmed, Grant was still playing a character of thirty-five.
Although he became a Paramount 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.
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.
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.
As a child, he had a fear of knives and a fear of heights.
Ashes scattered in California, USA.
At one time, he owned a Sealyham terrier called Archie Leach.
At the time of his death, his estate was valued at $60 million.
Attended the state funeral of his friend Earl Louis Mountbatten of Burma at Westminster Abbey in August 1979, and openly wept during the service.
Became seriously ill with infectious hepatitis and jaundice in 1948, and doctors gave him a less than ten per cent 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.
Became the director of Fabergé cosmetics firm in 1966.
Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 346-348. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.
Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith, pg. 191-193. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387
Cary Grant is caricaturized in a Merrie Melodies short cartoon called Hollywood Steps Out directed by Tex Avery (Warner Brothers 1941). The action takes place in the famed Ciro's nightclub where the Hollywood stars are having dinner. Grant is seated alone talking to himself: "What a place! What a place! It's as pretty as a picture. But if I ever told my favorite wife the awful truth I'd land right on the front page. Yessireee Bobby."
Cary Grant was 'immortalized' in the Stone Age as "Gary Granite" in the cartoon, The Flintstones.
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#22). [1995]
Comedy director Leo McCarey accused him of ripping off his persona during the time that 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 Cary's image were already developed in Sylvia Scarlett (1935) an otherwise poor Katharine Hepburn-George Cukor picture made 2 years before The Awful Truth (1937), 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.
Considered for the leading role of "Ladri di biciclette" (1948).
Donated his entire salary for Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) ($100,000) to the U.S. War Relief Fund.
Eagerly sought the role of Midshipman Roger Byam in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), but the part went to Franchot Tone instead.
Fell madly in love with Sophia Loren while filming The Pride and the Passion (1957) when he was 53 and she was 22, despite the fact that he was married to actress Betsy Drake. However, Loren was seriously involved with producer Carlo Ponti, and her passion fizzled when the film wrapped.
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.
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).
From 1933 onwards, he occasionally shared a house with Randolph Scott. There were many rumors about their relationship. Scott often referred to himself, jokingly, as Grant's wife. Many studio heads threatened not to employ them unless they lived separately.
Grant eagerly sought William Holden's role in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), but the producers decided he wasn't right for the part, and in any case they felt he was too old at 53.
Grant introduced Frederick Brisson to future wife Rosalind Russell and acted as his best man at their marriage.
Grant was nearly 34 when he made Bringing Up Baby (1938) and had been worried that he might not ever become a major star, since younger actors like Errol Flynn and James Stewart were already established stars.
Grant, who was 59 at the time he filmed the romantic thriller Charade (1963), felt he was too old to play the love interest for Audrey Hepburn, who at 34 was 25 years younger than him. He demanded that the script make clear that it was Audrey pursuing him, not vice versa. He also added a number of wry jokes denoting the difference in age.
Had a benign tumor removed from his forehead in 1957.
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.
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.
He actively sought James Stewart's role in Bell Book and Candle (1958), and Clark Gable's role in Teacher's Pet (1958).
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)
He and his fifth wife Barbara Harris renewed their wedding vows on 11 April 1986, the fifth anniversary of their marriage.
He became an American Citizen on June 26, 1942, under naturalization certificate #5502057.
He can be seen in the audience and backstage in the Elvis Presley concert documentary Elvis: That's the Way It Is (1970).
He considered himself to be miscast in The Howards of Virginia (1940), None But the Lonely Heart (1944) and The Pride and the Passion (1957).
He gave his entire fee for The Philadelphia Story (1940) to the British war effort.
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.