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Cary Grant was born Archibald Alexander Leach in Horfield, Bristol back in 1904. He grew up in a middle class family and was considered to have a fairly average childhood. While he would not learn about it until he reached his twenties, his mother was institutionalized when he was 9 for a mental illness. By the time he turned 14, he decided to leave his home and school, faked his age and father’s signature and joined Bob Pender’s comedic troupe.

He was able to learn many talents while touring with Bob Pender’s troupe including acrobatics and pantomime. While he was with this troupe, he was able to see the vast majority of England but in his heart he knew that he was destined for something greater that could only lay in America. He was chosen along with 6 others from the troupe - 7 boys in total - to perform in the Broadway musical, Good Times.

Tired of the Broadway scene and wanting something more, he left the troupe and made his way out to California. After changing his name to Cary Grant, he got himself a screen test with the Paramount studios and was chosen for a part in the movie This is the Night. The movie was released a year later in 1932.

Mae West fell in love with Cary grant and his on-screen charm made him the perfect choice for her movies. Within a year, Cary Grant was in the movie ‘I’m No Angel’ as well as ‘She Done Him Wrong’. However it would not be until 1935 that he was to appear in the movie ‘Sylvia Scarlett’ and finally get his big break along side his co-star, Katherine Hepburn.

Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn made a perfect duo so it was no coincidence that many of his future movies featured the two of them together. In 1937 his Paramount Pictures contract had expired and he chose to be independent rather then under a contract allowing him to chose the movies he would play in. Thanks to this move, he was able to create some of the best comedy movies ever, along side of Katherine.

It was when Cary turned 62 that he chose to retire from the films. He left the industry to live his life and to be a father as well as a husband. Although on screen he was definitely a charmer, off screen was a different story as he was married 5 times. The memories of his classical comedies live on in the hearts of many people today even after his death. It was November of 1986 that Cary Grant would pass away from a stroke leaving his only daughter and 5th wife behind.