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American Masters "Cary Grant: A Class Apart"
Cary Grant Elegant. Witty. Stylish. A totally original talent. "Everyone wants to be Cary Grant ... even I want to be Cary Grant," he was fond of saying. Born 100 years ago into dismal circumstances in Bristol, England, Archibald Leach got his start touring in vaudeville and eventually arrived in New York in 1920. He walked on stilts at Coney Island and sold neckties on mid-town street corners before landing small parts in Hollywood. He hit it big in 1933 as Mae West's leading man in She Done Him Wrong, followed by Sylvia Scarlett and the emergence of his classy on-screen persona - and the invention of that persona off-screen as well. He worked with such directors as George Cukor, Alfred Hitchcock and Howard Hawks in such films as Bringing Up Baby, The Philadelphia Story, His Girl Friday, North by Northwest, Notorious and I Was a Male War Bride - opposite every top Hollywood female star, including Grace Kelly, Katherine Hepburn, Kim Novak, Ingrid Bergman, Sophia Loren and Audrey Hepburn. He remains one of the most adored actors in film history - whose greatest role was probably himself.
Air Date
Friday, 4/28 from 9-10:30 p.m. ET
Website
pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/grant_c.html
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