Cary Grant (January 18, 1904 – November 29, 1986) was a British-born American actor who became the very definition of the suave, debonair, and witty leading man, an iconic and beloved star of Hollywood’s Golden Age.
After a difficult childhood in England, he came to America with a troupe of acrobats and honed his skills in vaudeville before arriving in Hollywood. His career skyrocketed in the late 1930s when he became the master of the screwball comedy, showcasing his impeccable timing and effortless charm in classics like The Awful Truth (1937) and Bringing Up Baby (1938) with Katharine Hepburn, and as the fast-talking editor Walter Burns in His Girl Friday (1940).
Grant was also a favorite of director Alfred Hitchcock, who cast him in a series of sophisticated and suspenseful thrillers that revealed a more complex and dangerous side to his persona. Their legendary collaborations include the romantic spy thriller Notorious (1946), the French Riviera caper To Catch a Thief (1955), and the epic cross-country adventure North by Northwest (1959), which cemented his status as one of the most charismatic and enduring stars in cinema history.
