CLASSIC VIDEO SHOWPLACE: Cary Grant’s Early Years
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For over a hundred years some of the greatest video treasures of all time have been produced. Some have been lost in the sands of time and others, soon to be rediscovered, will become fan favorites for a whole new generation. Each week we will feature just one of the many hidden gems that you can see on RCN TV with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.
As we approach the birthday anniversary of one of cinema’s classic actors, we salute the talented career of Cary Grant.
Cary Grant was born Archibald Alec Leach, on January 18, 1904 in Bristol, England.
Unlike other actors who sometimes toiled in other occupations or had other interests before pursuing roles in the entertainment industry, Grant knew at an early age that he was destined for acting. In the Graham McCann autobiography, Cary Grant: A Class Apart, Grant’s mother would teach him song-and-dance numbers at the age of four and he would frequently go to the theatre to see many great performers, including a very young Charlie Chaplin.
Grant would be befriended by the Pender theatrical performers in England who trained him to be a stilt walker and later asked him to join their touring production. He was seen on Broadway performing with them in America as early as nine years old. Back in England he continued to work as a lighting technician behind the stage. He seemingly forced his school to expel him at the age of 14 by constantly breaking school rules (he’d frequently be found in the girls’ lavatory). Three days after his expulsion, Grant rejoined the Pender touring group.
According to Cary Grant: A Celebration by Richard Schickel, Grant boarded the same ship that Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford were taking for their honeymoon. Grant played shuffleboard with Fairbanks and used him as a role model going forward. After arriving in New York City from that trip he performed (at the age of 16) at what was then the largest theater in the world, the New York Hippodrome.
He performed on the stage and in pictures throughout the 1920s and early 1930s. In 1927 he signed a film contract with Paramount Pictures, which demanded Archibald begin using a stage name–both parties mutually agreed on “Cary Grant.” One of his big early films, She Done Him Wrong, (starring Mae West), reportedly saved Paramount from bankruptcy and gave Grant a significant pay increase.
While 1935’s Sylvia Scarlett was a box office bomb, it was an important film for Grant in that it was his first leading role and a performance which earned him rave reviews. It also formed a successful partnership with Katherine Hepburn–a pairing the two would repeat several times over the next decade.
When his next film, Wedding Present, turned out to be a major success, Grant did not renew his Paramount contract and became the first “freelance” movie actor in Hollywood. It was unheard of in this time period for a major actor to not “belong” to a specific film production company. Grant changed his mind over the next 18 months as several of his movies were not successful and he signed a contract with Columbia Pictures in 1937.
While his films for the next two years had largely mixed reviews, Grant’s performances seemed to be always praised by critics and movie goers alike. Grant reunited with Heburn for what would be, by far, the pair’s most successful movie (critically and financially) — the Academy Award winning, The Philadelphia Story.
When up-and-coming actor Jimmy Stewart stole the spotlight from Hepburn and Grant in the film and won an Oscar for his performance, it formed a rift between the three actors. Grant never wanted to work with either performer again.
Grant would not be disappointed for very long as one of his next job offers came from a then, still somewhat obscure (to American audiences anyway) British director by the name of Alfred Hitchcock…we’ll examine those and other experiences next week here at The Showplace.
In the meantime, you can see Grant in one of his early classics, His Girl Friday, this Sunday at 4:00 p.m. on RCN-TV. To view the complete rundown of classic programming on RCN TV, check out the weekly listings here on our website.
