Cary Grant - Biography

Born: 18 January 1904
Birth Name: Archibald Alexander Leach
Birthplace: Bristol, England
Height: 6' 1½"
Sign: Capricorn
Nationality: United States
Died: 29 November 1986

Cary Grant was born on January 18, 1904 as Archibald Alexander Leach in Bristol, England. Cary Grant's father, Elias, was a tailor's presser by trade, working in a clothing factory and mother, Elsie, was a short, slight woman with olive skin.

Cary Grant had a confused and unhappy childhood. When he was nine years old, his mother was removed to a mental institution. Cary Grant's father never told him the truth about his mother. He knew the truth about his mother after 20 years that she was still alive.

Cary Grant was married five times in life:

• Actress Virginia Cherrill (1934-35)
• Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton (1942-45)
• Actress Betsy Drake (1949-62)
• Actress Dyan Cannon (1965-68)
• Barbara Harris (1981-86)

Cary Grant had one child Jennifer Grant, was born in 1966 by his forth wife, Actress Dyan Cannon.

His Girl Friday (1940) and Bringing Up Baby (1938) are Cary Grant's early films and he had remarkable success in Suspicion (1941), Notorious (1946), To Catch a Thief (1955) and North by Northwest (1959).

In December 1941, Cary Grant legally changed his name to Cary Grant and applied for American citizenship, which was granted the following year. In the mid-1950s Grant formed his own production company, Grantley Productions.

Walk, Don't Run(1966), was Cary Grant's last film. It was filmed in Japan. After 1966, Grant concentrated on his family. He called his daughter Jennifer his "best production".

In 1968, Grant became a board member of Rayette-Faberge, an even more accomplished businessman than before. In 1974, Cary was appointed to the board of Directors of Western Airlines and, in 1975, he was made a director of MGM. Cary Grant supported the World Wildlife Fund and Variety Clubs International.

In the last few years of his life, Cary Grant undertook tours of the USA with his "A Conversation with Cary Grant", in which he would show clips from his films. Afterward he held a question-and-answer session with the audience.

On 29 November 1986, Cary Grant suffered a severe stroke and died in the hospital. On 26th November 1984 he wrote his will that his body was to be cremated and no funeral service held. According to his will, his body was cremated and his cremated ashes were given to his family. His ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.