Clark Gable and Cary Grant during rehearsals for the 30th annual Academy Awards, 1958.
Happy Birthday Cary Grant!
(18 January 1904 - 29 November 1986)
Eventually, of course, I learned to risk hearing the sound of my own voice in front of an audience; and later, in films, to accepting the accent resounding in the immense amplification of our modern movie theatres. I’ve also reluctantly grown accustomed to the tremendous size of my face in close ups; to accepting the magnification of all my imperfections. All there. The way I sound. The way I move. The way I look. All magnified to the very bags under my eyes. Its quite easy for everyone else to think its easy; but could you bear such magnification? Seeing yourself as others see you is not ‘orribly revealing, it’s downright masochistic, that’s wot it is.
On January 18, 1904, Cary Grant entered the world at 1:00a.m. as Archibald Leach, a poor boy from a provincial town in England, the other side of the world from Hollywood, both literally and figuratively. He was the only son of a pants presser and a strict mother who disappeared from his life when he was nine, only to addle him with a startling reappearance twenty years later.
CG: I first saw the light of day—or rather the dark of night—around 1:00 A.M. on a cold January morning, in a suburban stone house which, lacking modern heating conveniences, kept only one step ahead of freezing by means of small coal fires in small bedroom fireplaces; and ever since, I’ve persistently arranged to spend every possible moment where the sun shines warmest.
Archibald Alexander Leach, a.k.a. Cary Grant || January 18th, 1904 - November 29th, 1986
“Cary was a subtle blend of elegance, sensitivity, poise, and charm, wrapped a soul filled with wit, generosity, and concern for others.”
-Prince Albert of Monaco
“He was extraordinarily sensitive. He watched out for himself but never to the point where he stepped on anyone else. That’s unusual. I’ve been lucky enough to work with seven or eight really top actors, and it’s a pleasure when you get one like Cary. He was so professional he seemed to have three or four heads working at the same time.”
-Loretta Young
“Even when he was laughing and having fun and making jokes, which he was excellent at, there was still this remoteness; there was still this keeping something a secret. Cary was a devout believer in keeping to and following the kind of image that you have built up. He always kept Cary Grant.”
-Deborah Kerr
Various stars cementing their fame in the courtyard of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre
Cary Grant in North by Northwest (1959)
250 Favorite Classic Films in no particular order
⇨ The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Macaulay Connor: Doggone it, C.K. Dexter Haven. Either I’m gonna sock you or you’re gonna sock me.
C. K. Dexter Haven: Shall we toss a coin?
