Born
Archibald Alexander Leach in
Bristol,
Gloucestershire,
England in
1904; died
1986 in
Davenport,
Iowa.
Grant had a tragic childhood - his mother was committed to a mental institution when he was nine years old. At age 14 he joined the Pender troupe of traveling comedians, where he learned the acrobatics and tumbling that made him so deft at physical comedy in the movies. The troupe performed on Broadway and when the run was over, Grant stayed in America. His film break came in 1931 with an uncredited role in Singapore Sue.
GQ magazine once referred to Cary Grant as the pinnacle of Western civilized man, and I don't think they were far off.
Note: you'd think the movie Only Angels Have Wings, with Cary Grant as a dashing pilot and Jean Arthur as the spunky love interest couldn't fail, but somehow it does. Don't bother renting it. It is strange and bad.