On this day, over a century ago, one of Hollywood’s best known and most enduring celebrities was born. Let’s take a quick look at the life and work of Cary Grant in this installment of Today in History.
On January 18, 1904, Archibald Alexander Leach, who would later take an American stage name and rise to popularity as one of Hollywood’s most popular actors, was born in Bristol, England. The young Archie Leach endured an unhappy childhood, which began when his father had his mother admitted in a mental institution for clinical depression. Archie Leach eventually believed that his mother was dead, and his father abandoned him after remarrying and starting a new family with a younger woman.
His career in the entertainment industry was sparked when he joined the Bob Pender Troupe of comedians and acrobats at age 13, and performed as a juggler. Later on, he joined the troupe’s American Tour in 1920, and went on to master other vaudeville acts such as stilt-walking, pantomime, and acrobatics. When the troupe returned to the United Kingdom two years later, Archie Leach decided to stay in America to continue his budding acting career.
Many years later, Archie Leach got his first break when he was casted in a stage musical of “Golden Dawn.” Several theater roles later, he auditioned for Paramount Studios and successfully secured a five-year contract in 1931. It was during this time that he took the screen name Cary Grant. A year later, he starred alongside leading ladies Marlene Dietrich and Mae West in his first feature film entitled “This Is The Night.”
Grant later on starred in several successful films that cemented his reputation as one of Hollywood’s classic leading men. In celebration of the dashing Hollywood actor’s life and film career, let’s take a look back and watch the trailer of some of these notable movies:
The Awful Truth (1937)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
To Catch A Thief (1955)
North by Northwest (1959)