Cary Grant facts: Movies, real name, wives and children of the English-American Hollywood icon

29 December 2024, 21:21

How the Bristol-born Archibald Leach became a legendary Hollywood star.

In the history of Hollywood, there are stars and there are stars – and they don't get any bigger than Cary Grant.

Grant starred in over 70 films in a stunning three-decade career and is widely recognised as one of the all-time greats from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

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But Grant wasn't always destined for stardom.

He wasn't exactly born to an acting family in Los Angeles, and his life story is unlike most stars now or even then,

Below we take a closer look at his life and work.

When and where was Cary Grant born and what was his real name?

He was well known for his Mid-Atlantic lilt, but Cary Grant's mashup of British and US accents was less an affectation and more a result of his early life.

Cary was born in Horfield in Bristol (Yes, Bristol in England) as Archibald Alec Leach on January 18, 1904.

Both his parents were in the schmutter trade, with his dad Elias James Leach being tailor's presser and his mum Elsie Maria Leach (née Kingdon) being a seamstress.

Grant didn't have an easy or happy childhood. His dad was an alcoholic and his mum suffered from clinical depression, while his holder brother John William Elias Leach died of tuberculous meningitis two days before his first birthday.

Cary's dad had his mum placed in Glenside Hospital for her mental ill health. Understandably, he initially later told his son that his mum had gone away on a long holiday.

Unbelievably, Cary's dad later told him that his mother had died. He didn't learn that wasn't true until he was 31, when he got her out the institution and visited her regularly.

How did Cary Grant get into the movie business?

Before she was institutionalised and despite their apparently tense relationship, Cary's mum did help sow the seeds of stardom in her young son.

Not only did she start teaching him song and dance when he was just a toddler, but she also encouraged him ot have piano lessons.

There were also trips to the cinema, with early screen legends Charlie Chaplin, Chester Conklin, Fatty Arbuckle, Ford Sterling, Mack Swain, and Broncho Billy Anderson being an influence.

As he grew up he was a visitor to the Bristol Hippodrome where he saw live theatre. He also went to pantomimes with his dad, and got an evening job working backstage in various theatres.

The young Cary buddied up with some acrobatic dancers called the Pender Troupe and even trained as a stilt walker so he could join them on tour. He went on to establish himself as something of a presence on the vaudeville scene.

He got himself expelled from school at the age of 14 and joined up with the Pender Troupe full time, staying with them in Bristol even after his dad got a higher paying job in Southampton.

Perhaps no surprise given his less-than-wonderful home life, the young Cary Grant looked to escape even furtherr, and did just that by moving to the US with the group at the age of 16.

From Bristol to New York: he and the Troupe did a nine-month stint at the New York Hippodrome, racking up 12 shows a week there.

He went from strength to strength in the vaudeville scene, joining the The Walking Stanleys and continuing to tour, later picking up a role as an Australian in Reggie Hammerstein's musical Golden Dawn, before picking up other touring theatre roles.

Grant then moved to Hollywood in the early 1930s, just as the movie business there started to peak.

His theatre roles led to a flurry of screen tests, and after some ups and downs

What were his biggest films?

North By Northwest | Official Trailer 4K Ultra HD | Warner Bros. Entertainment

Cary Grant starred in many classic films during Hollywood's Golden Age. Some of his most significant films include:

North by Northwest (1959) - Hitchcock's iconic thriller where Grant plays an advertising executive caught in a case of mistaken identity.

Bringing Up Baby (1938) - A beloved screwball comedy co-starring Katharine Hepburn, with Grant as a palaeontologist whose life is turned upside down.

His Girl Friday (1940) - A fast-paced comedy where Grant plays a newspaper editor trying to win back his star reporter and ex-wife.

Notorious (1946) - Another Hitchcock masterpiece where Grant plays a government agent who falls for Ingrid Bergman's character.

The Philadelphia Story (1940) - A sophisticated comedy starring Grant alongside Katharine Hepburn and James Stewart.

An Affair to Remember (1957) - A romantic drama co-starring Deborah Kerr that became one of Grant's most memorable films.

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) - A dark comedy where Grant plays a drama critic who discovers his aunts are serial killers.

To Catch a Thief (1955) - His third collaboration with Hitchcock, starring opposite Grace Kelly on the French Riviera.

Was Cary Grant married and did he have kids?

Cary Grant was married five times and had one child: His marriages were to:

1. Virginia Cherrill (1934-1935)
2. Barbara Hutton (1942-1945)
3. Betsy Drake (1949-1962)
4. Dyan Cannon (1965-1968)
5. Barbara Harris (1981-1986, until his death)

His only child was daughter Jennifer Grant, born in 1966 to him and Dyan Cannon when Grant was 62 years old. Jennifer later became an actress herself and wrote a memoir about her father called Good Stuff: A Reminiscence of My Father, Cary Grant.

Interestingly, despite his many marriages, Grant remained good friends with several of his ex-wives, particularly Betsy Drake and Barbara Hutton.

His marriage to Hutton was particularly high-profile as she was one of the wealthiest women in the world at the time, leading to the press dubbing them 'Cash and Cary', though Grant signed a prenuptial agreement and took no money in their divorce.

His last marriage to Barbara Harris, who was 47 years his junior, lasted until his death in 1986. She has often spoken about their happy life together in his final years.

When and how did Cary Grant die?

Cary Grant died on November 30, 1986, in Davenport, Iowa. He was 82 years old.

He suffered a stroke while preparing for a performance of his one-man show called A Conversation with Cary Grant at the Adler Theatre. This show was part of a speaking tour where he would share stories from his life and career and take questions from the audience.

He was taken to St. Luke's Hospital in Davenport, where he passed away later that night. The official cause of death was a cerebral haemorrhage (a type of stroke).

Grant had actually retired from acting in 1966 to focus on being a father to his daughter Jennifer and had moved into business, serving on the boards of several companies including Fabergé, MGM Hotels, and Western Airlines. These speaking tours were one of his few public appearances in his later years.

His body was returned to California where a private funeral was held. In accordance with his wishes, his ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.

His death marked the end of an era in Hollywood, as he was one of the last great stars from cinema's Golden Age.