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One of the greatest actors that Hollywood has ever seen Cary Grant was born on January 18, 1904 in Horfield, Bristol, U.K. His original birth name was Archibald Alexander Leach. Cary Grant was a tall, handsome and Charismatic person. No wonder why everyone during that era wanted to be like him. The actor had an average lower middle class childhood. It got even tougher after his mother was sent to a mental institution after she fell mentally ill when he was only 9 years old. But this fact had not been told to him until he reached his late twenties. He dropped out from school at the age of fourteen to join Bob Pender's troupe of comedians by lying about his age and forging the signature of his father on the letter he submitted to join the troupe.

The troupe allowed him to learn a lot of skills including acrobatics and pantomime. He toured many English counties with the Pender Troupe. The fate beckoned him and he was chosen to go to the U.S. together with seven other Pender Troupe boys. Cary played in the show called Good Times on Broadway, which ran for good 456 performances. This brought him plenty of opportunity to show his skills and to get used to the country. Then he left the Troupe and gave a screen test at Paramount Pictures in 1931. This is when he altered his name to Cary Grant from Archibald Alexander Leach.

Cary Grant debuted in Hollywood in "This is the Night" which was introduced in 1932. After this movie Cary Grant was the automatic pick for Mae West in her movies "I'm No Angel" and "She Done Him Wrong", both launching in the year 1933. However the actual break got to him in the movie "Sylvia Scarlett" in the year 1935 with the actress Katharine Hepburn, the actress who happened to be his co-star in a lot of his upcoming movies. It's with the help of this movie that Grant proved his mettle and was regarded as an actor to look forward to and expected as the next Hollywood star.

After his contract with Paramount Pictures came to an end in 1937 he decided not to join any Studio, which was standard at that time, and work independently by choosing his own scripts to work for. The move resulted in Grant giving some of the finest and most memorable comedies ever. Some of his famous comedies include "Bringing Up Baby" and "Holiday", both released in the year 1938 with none other actress Katharine Hepburn; "My Favorite Wife" and "The Awful Truth" in the year 1940 with Irene Dunne; "Gunga Din" in 1939 with Victor McLaglen and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.; "His Girl Friday" in 1940 with Rosalind Russell and "The Philadelphia Story" in 1940 with Jimmy Stewart and Katharine Hepburn again.

Grant retired at the age of 62 from movies to take on his new role of a father. Grant had a difficult married life. He was married five times. All his marriages ended in divorce except for his last when he was survived by his wife after his death in 1986. He had only 1 child, a daughter from his fourth wife Dyan Cannon. He had a really close friendship with Randolph Scott for which a lot of thought him as a homosexual, which obviously he was not. Several of the individuals who were close to him say that he shared a brotherly relationship with Scott and this shouldn't be questioned as something else.

Grant was nominated twice for the best actor Oscar but never won any award. But he was honored with a special Oscar in 1969. Though Grant died due to a stroke in November 29, 1986, he left behind a legacy of comedy movies behind for generations to come. The Empire Magazine of U.K. ranked Cary Grant the 7th most popular movie star of all time, which he truly deserves.