Cary Grant was the absolute king of high comedy. He conquered the public with natural elegance, his wit and an attractive look. On screen, he seduced the most beautiful actresses in the cinematic firmament, such as Joan Fontaine, Grace Kelly, Ingrid Bergman and even Sofia Loren. With the latter, he was deeply impressed after filming the historical drama together Pride and prejudice (1957) by Stanley Kramer. The protagonist of The suspicion (1941) died on November 29, 1986 at the age of 82, victim of a heart attack in the early morning. But just as he lived in glory, so did Grant. lived with the shadows of Hollywood’s most reserved stars.
His career spanned nearly four decades and he left a legacy of more than sixty films. His real name was Alexander Archibald Leach. He was born in Bristol, United Kingdom, on January 18, 1904, into a humble and conservative family. His passion for theater led him to join a traveling company at the age of 15. In 1920 he landed in the United States to make the leap to Broadway, where he played characters in musical comedies. In 1931 he traveled to Hollywood, and little by little he went from being a supporting actor to becoming a big star. His attractive face did not go unnoticed by talent scouts, and studios Paramount They offered him a juicy contract. That was the beginning of a career full of ups and downs, which catapulted him to the top and gave him the fame of an elegant seducer and perfect gentleman.
Grant reigned in all film genres, where he embodied a vast range of characters. He worked with the greatest directors, from George Cukor to the king of suspense Alfred Hitchcock, who directed him in four films and even said: “She could perform with her face smeared with egg and still look as fascinating as ever.”. The American Film Institute placed him second among legendary actors of all time, only behind Humphrey Bogart. He was nominated twice for the Oscar for Best Actor: for nostalgic serenade (1971) y A heart in danger (1944). Despite his long career, the Oscar eluded him and the Academy turned its back on him because Grant dared to criticize the abusive practices of the big studios and openly supported disgraced actors, such as Ingrid Bergman or Charles Chaplin. Finally, in 1970, Hollywood awarded him an honorary statuette.
Behind his apparent serenity, Cary Grant hid a tremendous insecurity, the result in part of a troubled childhood. grant always carried the wounds of painful first yearsmarked by the absence of his mother and the authority of a father, Mr. Leach, who preferred alcohol to taking care of his son.
His first years of life were not happy, since his parents did not get along well. At the age of 9, her father told her that her mother had left home to spend a long vacation, but the truth was that she had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital against her will. Elías Leach took advantage of His wife suffered from severe clinical depression, after the death of her first child, to go away with her lover.. Grant believed that his mother had abandoned him, and this fact affected him deeply for years. The actor grew up convinced that his mother was dead, until in 1935, after a telephone conversation with his father, he confessed the truth. In the visiting room of a grim mental institution, at age 56, father and son were reunited. The actor, now famous, made sure that his mother did not lack for anything and moved her to a private residence where she would die two weeks later, at the age of 95, while taking a nap.
Grant never wanted to give too many details about his unfortunate childhood and even falsified it, posing as a son of a family with a theatrical tradition and dedicated to prosperous businesses. His desire to lead a different life and be loved led him to become an actor. In 1917 he got his first job on stage, joining a group of young acrobats, where he found the place he never had. In 1920 he traveled with them to America on a tour that lasted two years. There he was enchanted by the atmosphere of New York, where In addition to doing vaudeville and selling ties, he became a gigolo. to earn a living during his youth. Some biographers claim that actress May West had a gigolo agency in the Big Apple, and Grant was the most sought-after in her catalog. Among his clients were both ladies and gentlemen of New York high society, among them the designer Oleg Cassini – the genius who dressed Jackie Kennedy and who was called Secretary of Style of the White House -, with whom he is said to have starred in scandalous scenes. of jealousy.
Although he married five times, Cary Grant’s preference for men was always an open secret, until his death. However, he never admitted it publicly.. Among her close male friendships, the one she maintained for years with the actor Randolph Scott stands out, whom she met on the filming of Sabado de Juerga (1932). Cary and Randolph decided to live together, and an example of the good harmony that existed between them was the publication in the magazine Modern Screen in which they were seen cooking, enjoying the pool or reading in the living room of their mansion in Malibu. The publicists of Paramount They had to invent all kinds of farces to protect their image, placing young beauties next to the performers to not weaken their image of seducers. Pressured by studies, Cary and Randolph had to break off their relationship in 1940, although They never stopped seeing each other.
Grant had her first lover at age 17, an actor named Francis Renell. Then, the Australian Jack Kelly appeared, five years older, with whom she had a relationship, as well as the tycoon Howard Hughes, with whom she also had passionate encounters.
Regarding his relationships with women, Cary He was known for his possessive nature with his wives.. He was married to the first, actress Virginia Sherrell, for only a year, and the divorce became a rocky process in which she accused him of mistreatment and threatening her. His marriage to billionaire Barbara Hutton also did not come to fruition. However, his relationship with actress Betsy Drake lasted almost 13 years. With his fourth wife, actress Diana Cannon, he had a daughter, Jennifer, but their marriage ended scandalously. Diana accused him of domestic violence, locking her in the closet and forbidding her to wear clothes that were too short. The ruling called Cary Grant “hostile and irrational.” In 1981, he married for the fifth time with Barbara Harris, a hotel public relations officer, 47 years his junior.
On the other hand, Grant had a reputation as a maniac. Among his extravagances were ironing his shoelaces, always having a red rose on his breakfast tray, wearing women’s lingerie or choosing his wardrobe scrupulously. The economic hardships of his childhood made him be very careful with the money he earned. Despite earning more than three million dollars per film, becoming the highest-paid actor of his time, Grant was famous for his stinginess in Hollywood. The fear of being poor again was always on his mind, and he even received psychoanalysis sessions to avoid nightmares related to poverty. He was passionate about horse racing and betting, but he never invested more than a couple of dollars. It is also said that he charged between 15 and 25 cents for each autograph he signed.
He was known for his relationship with LSD: in 1959, upon the recommendation of his wife Betsy Drake, he began consuming this drug as part of psychological therapy. For three years, and in a total of 100 sessions, Grant took LSD under the supervision of Dr. Mortimer Harman. The sessions, lasting six hours, were often conducted in groups. During this time, Grant experienced outbursts of violence and even destroyed furniture in his home. Finally, when LSD was legalized in 1968, Grant stopped using it.
His white hair and older image did not hide the fact that, for some years, he was so obsessed with his physique that He underwent several cosmetic operations. His staunch defense of experimentation with LSD, when the harmful effects of the drug were still unknown, also ended up affecting his careful image.
Although he never lost the elegance or poise that his height of more than 1.80 meters gave him, his retirement in the mid-60s served to increase his legend. The honorary Oscar that he was awarded in 1970, for his entire career during which many had considered him a mere “entertainer”seemed like a fair compensation now, since he never took it too seriously. That awards night, the “Gentleman par excellence” let a tear fall down his cheeks, and since he had already left his professional work behind, he did not even try to hide his white hair or the years that were already beginning to take their toll on him.
On November 29, 1981, while preparing for one of his talks at the Lyric Theater in Davenport, he suffered a stroke. A few hours later, he died in a remote Iowa hospital. Recognized in life, Cary Grant left an unforgettable name.
