Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904 - November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor, known as one of classic Hollywood's definitive leading men. He began a career in Hollywood in the early 1930s, and became known for his transatlantic accent, debonair demeanor, and light-hearted approach to acting and sense of comic timing. He became an American citizen in 1942. Born in Horfield, Bristol, Grant became attracted to theatre at a young age, and began performing with a troupe known as "The Penders" from the age of six.

Biographers Morecambe and Stirling believe that Cary Grant was the "greatest leading man Hollywood had ever known". Schickel stated that there are "very few stars who achieve the magnitude of Cary Grant, art of a very high and subtle order", and thought that he was the "best star actor there ever was in the movies". David Thomson and directors Stanley Donen and Howard Hawks concurred that Grant was the greatest and most important actor in the history of the cinema. He was a favorite of Hitchcock, who admired him and called him "the only actor I ever loved in my whole life", and remained one of Hollywood's top box-office attractions for almost 30 years. Wansell wrote: "To millions of movie-goers around the world, Cary Grant will forever epitomize the glamour, and the style, of Hollywood in its golden years. With his dark hair, and even darker eyes, mischievous smile and effortless elegance, he was, is, and always will be indelibly one of the great movie stars. Since his death in 1986, the incandescence of his screen image has not dimmed for a single moment". Kael stated that the world still thinks of him affectionately, because he "embodies what seems a happier time-a time when we had a simpler relationship to a performer."  Grant was nominated for two Academy Awards, for Penny Serenade (1941) and None But the Lonely Heart (1944), but never won a competitive Oscar; he received a special Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1970. The inscription on his statuette read "To Cary Grant, for his unique mastery of the art of screen acting with respect and affection of his colleagues". On being presented with the award, his friend Frank Sinatra announced: "It was made for the sheer brilliance of acting ... No one has brought more pleasure to more people for so many years than Cary has, and nobody has done so many things so well".  At the Straw Hat Awards in New York in May 1975, Grant was awarded a special plaque which recognized the city's appreciation of him as a "star and superstar in entertainment". The following August, he was invited by Betty Ford to give a speech at the Republican National Convention in Kansas City and to attend the Bicentenary dinner for Queen Elizabeth II at the White House that same year. He was later invited in 1978 to attend a royal charity gala at the London Palladium. In 1979, Grant hosted the American Film Institute's tribute to Alfred Hitchcock, and presented Laurence Olivier with his honorary Oscar.  In 1981, Grant was accorded the Kennedy Center Honors. Three years later, a theatre on the MGM lot was renamed the "Cary Grant Theatre". In 1995, when over a hundred leading film directors were asked to reveal their favorite actor of all time in a Time Out poll, Grant came second only to Marlon Brando. On December 7, 2001, a statue of Grant was unveiled in Millennium Square, a regenerated area next to Bristol Harbour, Bristol, in the city where he was born. In November 2005, Grant again came first in Premiere magazine's list of "The 50 Greatest Movie Stars of All Time". According to McCann, ten years earlier they had declared that Grant was "quite simply, the funniest actor cinema has ever produced".

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In 1981, Grant was accorded the Kennedy Center Honors.