James Cagney

 

Photo of James CagneyPhoto of Gladys George + James CagneyPhoto of Leo Gorcey + James Cagney + Billy Halop

Biography

James Cagney

Photo of James Cagney
They need you. Without you, they have an empty screen

Remarkable:

James pictured on a 33¢ USA commemorative postage stamp in the Legends of Hollywood series, issued 22 July 1999.

Born:

July 17 , 1899

Born as:

James Francis Cagney

Died:

March 30 , 1986

Cagney did a variety of odd jobs to help support his family, including working as a waiter, and a poolroom racker.

He studied at Columbia, and made his Broadway debut in the chorus of the musical revue Pitter Patter in 1920. After 10 years as an actor and dancer in vaudeville, his film performance as the gangster in The Public Enemy (1931) brought him stardom.

His career continued with Smart Money (1931), his only film with Edward G. Robinson, Blonde Crazy (1931), Hard to Handle (1933) and two films with Humphrey Bogart, Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) and The Roaring Twenties (1939).

James displayed equal vigor in sympathetic parts, appearing in numerous comedies and musicals. He won an Oscar playing George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942). He was the president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG, an American labor union) from 1942 to 1944.

In 1974, fifteen years after retiring, Cagney was the first actor to receive the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award. He published his autobiography, -Cagney by Cagney a year later.

James emerged from retirement to star in Ragtime (1981).

Academy awards:

1956 Nominated Best Actor for: Love Me or Leave Me (1955)
1943 Won Best Actor for: Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
1939 Nominated Best Actor for: Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)

Selected movies:

 

Photo of James Cagney + Jean Harlow

Trivia

Cagney assured his place in cinema history with the grapefruit scene in Public Enemy (1931). The scene derives from real life when a Chicago gangster named Hymie Weiss rubbed an omelet in his moll`s face. Source / More (Book)

Cagney was married for 64 years with his wife Frances (ending with his death) ( 1922 - 1986). Source / More (Book)

President Reagan delivered the eulogy at Cagney's funeral in 1986.

James pictured on a 33¢ USA commemorative postage stamp in the Legends of Hollywood series, issued 22 July 1999.

Cagney, although of Irish and Norwegian extraction, had learned to speak Yiddish in order to survive in the ghetto street culture of a Jewish area in New York. Source / More (Book)

Bibliography