History Creator / CaryGrant

* MrFanservice: He was the sex symbol of the 30's and 40's.

* ItsAllAboutMe: Along with ManipulativeBastard, some of Cary's characters (particularly in his screwball comedy films) were {{jerkass}}es that would do anything to get their own way. Most famously was C. K. Dexter Haven from ''The Philadelphia Story'', who pulled a few strings by sending {{intrepid reporter}}s to spite ex-wife Tracy's engagement, and this was taken UpToEleven in ''His Girl Friday''.

!!Tropes common with his characters

One of Grant's most famous (and easily imitated) characteristics was [[VerbalTic his rhythmic speech pattern]] and transatlantic accent, which his fans thought added an air of sophistication of his characters. Ironically, he spoke that way to keep his native [[UsefulNotes/BritishAccents working-class Bristol accent]] at bay. (On the rare occasions when he played a working-class character, like ''Gunga Din'' or ''None But the Lonely Heart'', he let the Bristol accent out.) In the film ''Film/SomeLikeItHot'', Creator/TonyCurtis does a riff on Grant's deliberate cadencing when his character pretends to be a millionaire playboy, prompting Creator/JackLemmon's character to call him out on it: "Where did you get that phony accent? No-bawdy tawks loik theht!"[[note]]''Some Like It Hot'' is a period film taking place in TheRoaringTwenties, before Grant became famous. Part of the humor is that while everybody watching it would know Tony Curtis was impersonating Cary, none of the characters in the movie would.[[/note]]

[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cary_grant.jpg]]

It's a career which spanned thirty years. Some of his more famous films were the screwball comedies ''Film/HisGirlFriday'', ''Theatre/ArsenicAndOldLace'' and ''Film/BringingUpBaby'', the comedy-soap opera ''Film/ThePhiladelphiaStory'', the classic romance ''Film/AnAffairToRemember'', and [[GentlemanThief several collaborations]] with the director Creator/AlfredHitchcock, most notably ''Film/NorthByNorthwest''. A poll by the Creator/AmericanFilmInstitute named Grant the second greatest male star in American movie history, behind only Creator/HumphreyBogart.

He retired from acting in 1966, feeling, perhaps correctly, that as he aged the movie world was beginning to pass him by, and unwilling to accept the sort of character work that older actors usually have to settle for. In 1970, he happily accepted an honorary Oscar for his body of work, but he never again appeared on-screen. In later years, he married a succession of beautiful younger women, most famously Creator/DyanCannon, [[MayDecemberRomance 33 years his junior]], and experimented with [=LSD=] (back when it was still legal) as a means of confronting his inner demons.

One of Grant's most famous (and easily imitated) characteristics was [[VerbalTic his rhythmic speech pattern]], which his fans thought added to the air of sophistication of his characters. Ironically, he spoke that way to keep his [[UsefulNotes/BritishAccents working-class Bristol accent]] at bay. (On the rare occasion where he played a working-class character, like ''Gunga Din'' or ''None But the Lonely Heart'', he let the Bristol accent out.) In the film ''Film/SomeLikeItHot'', Creator/TonyCurtis does a riff on Grant's deliberate cadencing whenever his character pretends to be a millionaire playboy. Jack Lemmon's character confronts him on this with the line "where did you get that phony accent? No-bawdy tawks loik theht!"[[note]]''Some Like It Hot'' is a period film taking place in TheRoaringTwenties, before Grant became famous. Part of the humor is that while everybody watching it would know Tony Curtis was impersonating Cary, none of the characters in the movie would.[[/note]]

He [[BeamMeUpScotty never actually said]], "Judy, Judy, Judy!", a line oft-used by the aforementioned impressionists. According to legend, a fan magazine sent a telegram to inquire "''HOW OLD CARY GRANT?"'', to which he replied ''"OLD CARY GRANT FINE. HOW YOU?"'' Sadly, Grant denied that this ever happened, though he acknowledged that it would've been awesome if it did.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cary_grant.jpg]]

* ''Film/{{Notorious}}'' (1946)

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cary_grant.jpg]]

He retired from acting in 1966, feeling, perhaps correctly, that as he aged the movie world was beginning to pass him by, and unwilling to accept the sort of character work that older actors usually have to settle for. In 1970, he happily accepted an honorary Oscar for his body of work, but he never again appeared on-screen. In later years, he married a succession of beautiful younger women, most famously actress Dyan Cannon, [[MayDecemberRomance 33 years his junior]], and experimented with [=LSD=] (back when it was still legal) as a means of confronting his inner demons.

One of Grant's most famous (and easily imitated) characteristics was [[VerbalTic his rhythmic speech pattern]], which his fans thought added to the air of sophistication of his characters. Ironically, he spoke that way to keep his [[UsefulNotes/BritishAccents working-class Bristol accent]] at bay. (On the rare occasion where he played a working-class character, like ''The Lives of a Bengal Lancer'' or ''None But the Lonely Heart'', he let the Bristol accent out.) In the film ''Film/SomeLikeItHot'', Creator/TonyCurtis does a riff on Grant's deliberate cadencing whenever his character pretends to be a millionaire playboy. Jack Lemmon's character confronts him on this with the line "where did you get that phony accent? No-bawdy tawks loik theht!"[[note]]''Some Like It Hot'' is a period film taking place in TheRoaringTwenties, before Grant became famous. Part of the humor is that while everybody watching it would know Tony Curtis was impersonating Cary, none of the characters in the movie would.[[/note]]

It's a career which spanned thirty years. Some of his more famous films were the screwball comedies ''Film/HisGirlFriday'', ''Theatre/ArsenicAndOldLace'' and ''Film/BringingUpBaby'', the comedy-soap opera ''Film/ThePhiladelphiaStory'', the classic romance ''Film/AnAffairToRemember'', and [[GentlemanThief several collaborations]] with the director Creator/AlfredHitchcock, most notably ''Film/NorthByNorthwest''. A poll by the Creator/AmericanFilmInstitute named Grant [[AFIS100Years100Stars the second greatest male star in American movie history]], behind only Creator/HumphreyBogart.

He retired from acting in 1966, feeling, perhaps correctly, that as he aged the movie world was beginning to pass him by, and unwilling to accept the sort of character work that older actors usually have to settle for. In 1970, he happily accepted an honorary Oscar for his body of work, but he never again appeared on-screen. In later years, he married a succession of beautiful younger women, most famously actress Dyan Cannon, [[MayDecemberRomance 33 years his junior]] and experimented with [=LSD=] (back when it was still legal) as a means of confronting his inner demons.

He [[BeamMeUpScotty never actually said]], "Judy, Judy, Judy!", a line oft-used by the aforementioned impressionists. According to legend, a fan magazine sent a telegram to inquire "''HOW OLD CARY GRANT?"'', to which he replied ''"OLD CARY GRANT FINE. HOW YOU?"'' Sadly, Grant denied that this ever happened.

-->-- Archie Leach on [[StageName Cary Grant]]

He retired from acting in 1966, feeling, perhaps correctly, that as he aged the movie world was beginning to pass him by, and unwilling to accept the sort of character work that older actors usually have to settle for. In 1970, he happily accepted an honorary Oscar for his body of work, but he never again appeared on-screen. In later years, he married a succession of beautiful younger women, most famously actress Dyan Cannon, [[MayDecemberRomance 33 years his junior]] (he is now claimed as bisexual, thanks in no small part to his close friendship with Randolph Scott, by LGBT activists but it is likely that a living Cary would have sued them for this as he did Creator/ChevyChase), and experimented with [=LSD=] (back when it was still legal) as a means of confronting his inner demons.

He retired from acting in 1966, feeling, perhaps correctly, that as he aged the movie world was beginning to pass him by, and unwilling to accept the sort of character work that older actors usually have to settle for. In 1970, he happily accepted an honorary Oscar for his body of work, but he never again appeared on-screen. In later years, he married a succession of beautiful younger women, most famously actress Dyan Cannon, [[MayDecemberRomance 33 years his junior]] (he is now widely believed to have been bisexual, thanks in no small part to his close friendship with Randolph Scott), and experimented with [=LSD=] (back when it was still legal) as a means of confronting his inner demons.

He retired from acting in 1966, feeling, perhaps correctly, that as he aged the movie world was beginning to pass him by, and unwilling to accept the sort of character work that older actors usually have to settle for. In 1970, he happily accepted an honorary Oscar for his body of work, but he never again appeared on-screen. In later years, he married a succession of beautiful younger women (he is now widely believed to have been bisexual, thanks in no small part to his close friendship with Randolph Scott), and experimented with [=LSD=] as a means of confronting his inner demons.

Grant was married five times, and fathered his only child, Jennifer Grant, with his fourth wife at the age of 62. He died of a stroke twenty years later. Jennifer Grant named her son Cary too in his honor.

Archibald Alexander Leach (January 18, 1904 – November 29, 1986) was a handsome and athletic, if fairly typical, English bloke. Following the bizarre (and bizarrely literal[[note]]His father had her committed to a mental institution for her depression when their son was 9, but told the world she was dead. Not until age 31 did he learn he had not actually lost his mother in the more traditional sense. He got her released a few years after learning this.[[/note]]) loss of his mother at an early age, he ran away from home and went into acting. After a stint touring Britain, he crossed the Atlantic to Broadway and from there [[LimeyGoesToHollywood ended up in Hollywood]], which projected him onto the silver screen as [[StageName Cary Grant]], the 20th Century's screen epitome of suave sophistication.