Cary Grant

Cary Grant born Archibald Alec Leach January 18 1904 November 29 1986 was an Englishborn American actor known as one of classic Hollywoods definitive leading men He was known for his transatlantic accent debonair demeanor lighthearted approach to acting and sense of comic timing Grant was born in Horfield Bristol He became attracted to theater at a young age and began performing with a troupe known as The Penders at age six At the age of 16 he went as a stage performer with the Pender Troupe for a tour of the US After a series of successful performances in New York City he decided to stay there He established a name for himself in vaudeville in the 1920s and toured the United States before moving to Hollywood in the early 1930s Grant initially appeared in crime films or dramas such as Blonde Venus 1932 with Marlene Dietrich and She Done Him Wrong 1933 with Mae West but later gained renown for his performances in romantic and screwball comedies such as The Awful Truth 1937 with Irene Dunne Bringing Up Baby 1938 with Katharine Hepburn His Girl Friday 1940 and The Philadelphia Story 1940 with Hepburn and James Stewart often with some of the biggest female stars of the day These films are frequently cited among the greatest comedy films of all time Other wellknown films in which he starred in this period were the adventure Gunga Din 1939 and the dark comedy Arsenic and Old Lace 1944 He also began to move into dramas such as Only Angels Have Wings 1939 Penny Serenade 1941 and Clifford Odets None but the Lonely Heart 1944 he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the latter two During the 1940s and 1950s Grant developed a close working relationship with director Alfred Hitchcock who cast the popular actor in several of his critically acclaimed films including Suspicion 1941 Notorious 1946 To Catch a Thief 1955 and North by Northwest 1959 The suspensedramas Suspicion and Notorious both involved Grant showing a darker more ambiguous nature in his characters Toward the end of his film career Grant was praised by critics as a romantic leading man and he received five nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor including Indiscreet 1958 with Ingrid Bergman That Touch of Mink 1962 with Doris Day and Charade 1963 with Audrey Hepburn He is remembered by critics for his unusually broad appeal as a handsome suave actor who did not take himself too seriously able to play with his own dignity in comedies without sacrificing it entirely Description above from the Wikipedia article Cary Grant licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia