Essay, Research Paper: Cary Grant

Cary Grant
Perhaps the most dashing of all Hollywood film stars, Cary Grant stole the hearts of
millions of audience members during his 40 years of acting.
Born Archibald Alexander Leach on January 18,1904 in Bristol England, he was the only
child of impoverished parents Elsie and Elias. At the age of nine he lost his mother when
she was institutionalized at Fishpond s Country Home for the Mental Defectives. Around
that time, he developed a love for the English music hall and began working at odd jobs at
the Hippodrome and Empire theaters. At 14, he joined the Bob Pender comedy troupe and
honed his dancing, acrobatic, stilt-walking and pantomime skills. The troupe performed in
small towns throughout England; in 1920 they sailed to the United States for a successful
two-year tour, at the end of which young Archie decided to try it on his own in New York
City. For five years, Leach found employment in jobs as varied as placard walker and
society escort. In 1927, he made his first stage appearance in the musical Golden Dawn,
followed by appearances in Boom Boom in 1929, A Wonderful Night also in 1929, and
Nikki in 1931. In 1931, Leach appeared in his first film, a ten-minute short entitled
Singapore Sue. Grant then traveled to Los Angeles, where he made a successful screen
test for Paramount. The studio offered him a five-year contract, suggesting he change his
name to Cary Lockwood; Leach negotiated with them, and they settled on the name Cary
Grant.
Grant's feature debut was in This Is the Night in 1932. He soon found himself playing
opposite such top Paramount female stars as Nancy Carroll, Sylvia Sidney, Marlene
Dietrich and Mae West . In 1935 Grant appeared with Katharine Hepburn in Sylvia
Scarlett. When his Paramount contract expired in 1937, Grant chose not to sign with
another studio. Instead, he selected his own films, scripts and directors.
Grant's first hit was Topper in1937, but it was The Awful Truth that made him a star.
For the next three years, Grant appeared in a succession of hits: Bringing up Baby ,
Holiday, Gunga Din, Only Angels Have Wings, His Girl Friday, My Favorite Wife and
The Philadelphia Story.
In 1966, Grant decided to retire from the screen. With his age beginning to show, his exit
from the screen left the Grant image untarnished and alive. At the same time, his
retirement seemed to signal a farewell to classic Hollywood glamour and sophistication.
His death in 1986 was mourned by many and his movies are still considered to be classics.
Let me leave you with a quote that Pauline Kael has written: "He embodies what seems a
happier time a time when we had a simpler relationship to a performer. We could admire
him for his timing and nonchalance; we didn't expect emotional revelations from Cary
Grant... He appeared before us in his radiantly shallow perfection and that is all we wanted
of him.... We didn't want depth from him; we asked only that he be handsome and silky
and make us laugh."