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"He is, after all, an immortal -- an ideal
of sophistication forever," concluded Pauline Kael, speaking of
Cary Grant in an extended critical appreciation that appeared in The
New Yorker six years ago. The subject himself, a robust 77, admits
to feeling "terribly flattered but quite speechless" when
confronted with such praise, the natural outcome of a remarkably
entertaining and durable Hollywood career.
He voiced similar sentiments about being chosen
for this year's round of Kennedy Center Honors. Contacted by phone
at his home in Los Angeles, Grant exclaimed, "I feel delighted
and flattered, and I don't think I deserve it.
"As a rule, I have tended to avoid these
events. I rarely go because I'm terrible at making speeches. The
thought of that duty leaves me feeling helpless. Jimmy Stewart, on
the other hand, seems to like them. Perhaps Jimmy should represent
us all the time. I was told by someone that Helen Hayes said it
would be high time to get off the tribute circuit and back to work
after the evening at the Kennedy Center. I liked that: the tribute
circuit. The difference is that the Kennedy Center event is the only
one of its kind. I'm glad to be a part of it."
Grant became unique among the romantic leading
men of his generation by perfecting a deft, appealing comedy style.
A handsome gent with a genius for both uninhibited farce and
diffident sexual magnetism, he evolved into a peerless romantic
comedian. As Tom Wolfe observed in 1963, at the time
"Charade" was released, "Hollywood has left Cary
Grant, by default, in sole possession of what has turned out to be a
curiously potent device. Which is to say, to women he is Hollywood's
lone example of the Sexy Gentleman. And to men and women, he is
Hollywood's lone example of a figure America, like most of the West,
has needed all along: a Romantic Bourgeois Hero . . . Even at age
59, the man still has the flawless squared-off face of a comic-strip
hero, a large muscular neck and an athletic physique . . . Every
good American girl wants to marry a doctor. But a Dr. Dreamboat? Is
it too much to hope for? Well, that is what Cary Grant is there
for."
Born Archibald Alexander Leach in Bristol,
England, in 1904, the future Cary Grant came to the United States in
1920 as part of the Bob Pender company of acrobats, tumblers and
clowns. Young Leach elected to remain in America and was signed by
Paramount in 1932. It was then he took the name Cary Grant. He
appeared in seven features during his first year in Hollywood and
six the following year, getting a key break when Mae West selected
him as her leading man in her best movie vehicles, "She Done
Him Wrong" and "I'm No Angel."
It's generally believed that Grant began to
emerge as a distinctive star presence in George Cukor's whimsical,
haunting 1935 romance about a troupe of strolling players,
"Sylvia Scarlett," in which Katharine Hepburn starred as a
young woman who disguised herself as a boy. Two years later Grant
appeared to hit his stride triumphantly in "The Awful
Truth," playing the estranged, lovesick spouse of Irene Dunne.
It began a fabulous winning streak: "Topper,"
"Bringing Up Baby," "Holiday," "Gunga
Din," "Only Angels Have Wings," "In Name
Only," "His Girl Friday," "My Favorite
Wife," "The Philadelphia Story," "Penny
Serenade," "Suspicion," "The Talk of the
Town."
In the postwar period Grant's most satisfying
vehicles tended to be romantic thrillers directed by Alfred
Hitchcock -- "Notorious," "To Catch a Thief" and
"North by Northwest" -- or obviously inspired by
Hitchcock, in the case of the delightful "Charade."
However, it was a pair of popular romantic farces made under
extremely advantageous contracts at Universal -- "Operation
Petticoat" in 1959 and "That Touch of Mink" three
years later -- that evidently transformed Grant into a millionaire.
The last of Grant's 72 features was "Walk,
Don't Run," an engaging 1966 remake of one of the last good
screwball comedies, "The More the Merrier," which was set
in congested Washington in 1942. Although he played a kind of
valedictory role as an elderly Cupid, Grant claims there was nothing
premeditated about his retirement. "That film coincided with
the birth of my daughter," he said, "and I wanted to stay
as close to her as possible."
Grant has resisted a number of requests to come
out of retirement, including an offer by Warren Beatty to play the
Mr. Jordan role in "Heaven Can Wait." He speculates about
a comeback in terms so safely vague and impractical that they appear
to preclude all potential offers. "If I were to go back,"
Grant said, "I'd like to do something entertaining and amusing,
yet unfictional. Something informative that would appeal to both
children and grown-ups. And there's no such thing. It can't be
found."
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