It's a theme that Grant himself often struggled with. Like Thornhill, who in the film morphs into the man he's been mistaken for, in real life Grant transformed himself from a shy, working-class English boy named Archibald Leach into one of Hollywood's most prolific and richest stars - yet he could never reconcile the two. As he once said, "I have spent the greater part of my life fluctuating between Archie Leach and Cary Grant, unsure of either, suspecting each. I pretended to be somebody I wanted to be until, finally, I became that person. Or he became me."
Living with such ambiguity, it's no surprise that Cary Grant was a man of contradictions: married five times yet rumoured to be homosexual; obsessive about his looks yet disliking make-up on women; notoriously frugal, saving the buttons from his cast-off shirts, yet remembered by friends as being incredibly generous; having the capacity to laugh but consumed by periods of despair. Fellow actor David Niven called him "the truly most mysterious friend" he ever had.
Throughout it all, there was one constant in his life - acting. In a career that spanned 34 years, Grant's timeless appeal saw him move seamlessly through his 30s, 40s and 50s as an actor at the top of his game. His versatility meant he could be dark and brooding in films like Hitchcock's 'Suspicion' (1941), the romantic hero in 'To Catch A Thief' (1955) with Grace Kelly, and a comic genius in classics like 'Arsenic And Old Lace'(1944), 'Monkey Business' (1952) and 'Operation Petticoat' (1959). Burt Reynolds summed up Grant's appeal: "Cary was magical. Men liked him as well as women, and that is incredibly rare. Men found him non-threatening. If a woman said, 'I'm in love with Cary Grant', most men couldn't blame her." With his debonair good looks, impeccable dress sense and that unmistakable voice, he was adored by millions.
Born on January 18, 1904, in Bristol, England, Archibald Alexander Leach was the only child of parents Elias, a tailor's presser, and Elsie. Sadly, the couple's first-born son, John, contracted tubercular meningitis, and an exhausted Elsie nursed him for eight months - until one night, after being ordered to rest by her doctor, she slept through - only to wake to the news that her baby had died.
It was a tragedy that was to impact heavily on young Archie's life. From the moment he was born, his mother rarely let him out of her sight, and her overprotectiveness and diminishing mental state began to alienate Elias. The couple argued incessantly, and Elias turned to alcohol - and other women. One day, nine-year-old Archie came home from school to be told that his mother had died of a heart attack. In fact, she'd been committed to a mental asylum, and it would be another 20 years before her son would discover the truth.
Details of Grant's early years are sketchy, as he rarely discussed them in interviews. Refusing to write an autobiography, he once said, "Who tells the truth about themselves anyway?" Aged 14, he joined a theatrical troupe that specialised in stilt-walking and acrobatics. He spent the next two years touring the British music hall circuit, and gradually shed his local pronunciation, adopting a stilted upper-class accent that would become his trademark. Then, in 1920, the troupe was invited to perform in New York and "Archie Leach" was never to return.
Thrilled with his new life in America, the 18-year-old stayed on after the troupe had completed its two-year stint. Little by little, he honed his craft, taking bit parts in a series of musicals and plays on Broadway. To make ends meet, the aspiring thespian took jobs as a tie salesman and waiter. According to biographer Marc Eliot, he also worked as a male escort, offering his "social services" to New York's wealthy women, but gave it up because he feared that it was tarnishing his reputation. It was a long, hard slog but, slowly, despite poor early reviews, the young actor started getting singled out as a face to watch. Finally, in 1931, when he was 27, Hollywood came calling, and he headed to L.A. for a screen test with Paramount Studios. They signed him up and changed his name to Cary Grant, allegedly because it was similar to that of their biggest male star, Gary Cooper.
Legend has it that Mae West discovered Grant, insisting on him as a co-star in the 1933 movie 'She Done Him Wrong' after spotting him in the Paramount lot and quipping, "If that Grant guy can talk, I'll take him." But Grant remembers it differently, saying: "Mae West was never known to tell the truth." In fact, he'd had small roles in eight films already.
Equally obscure is the nature of Grant's 11-year friendship with actor Randolph Scott. In the early days in Hollywood, the two shared a house, with Scott calling Grant "his wife". Rumours started to surface when the pair were rarely seen apart. Their closeness continued even after Grant's marriage to actress Virginia Cherrill, in February 1934. Apparently, Marlene Dietrich, Carole Lombard and Tallulah Bankhead all considered him a homosexual, and twitchy studio bosses responded by promoting Grant as "The Ultimate Ladies' Man" and photographing him with a host of leading actresses. He played along, but professed not to care about the "fag rumour".
Whatever the truth, it was clear that Grant's first marriage wasn't working. In what was to become a pattern throughout the star's relationships, a combination of possessiveness and a lack of commitment tore the marriage apart. Although he and Scott were still inseparable, Grant couldn't bear to see other men flirting with Cherrill, and he once hired a private detective to spy on her. According to Cherrill, he also "drank excessively, choked and beat her, and threatened to kill her". The couple divorced after seven months, leaving Grant desolate and depressed.
It had been a time of immense upheaval for the actor. Having had no contact with his father since he left England, he had returned, aged 30, for a visit with Cherrill. It was there that Elias, looking haggard from drinking, delivered an incredible announcement: Elsie was alive. He explained that, all those years ago, she had suffered a nervous breakdown. As she wasn't expected to recover, he'd thought it best that his son believed she was dead.
This stupefying revelation, both of his mother's resurrection and his father's duplicity, must have been almost impossible for Grant to comprehend. While he never spoke publicly about that day, years later he would seek therapy to help put those demons to rest.
Inwardly, Grant may have been reeling, but in front of the camera his smile continued to dazzle. With his mischievous brown eyes, perfectly parted hair and distinctive chin, he was the ideal leading man. He was fastidious about his looks, brushing his teeth several times a day, especially after smoking, eschewing make-up at work in favour of his trademark tan (inspired by childhood idol Douglas Fairbanks), and insisting on only being photographed in close-up from the right side. He always wore immaculate tailor-made suits that complemented his long, lean frame.
Similarly, on set, he was a perfectionist. He obsessed over the tiniest details, altering camera angles, adjusting lighting and tweaking dialogue, which both enthralled and irritated his colleagues. He was a consummate performer, always on time and well prepared.
So it was bombshell news when in 1953, aged 49, Grant announced his retirement. Having been through another failed marriage, to Woolworths heiress Barbara Hutton, Grant said he wanted to spend more time with his third wife, actress Betsy Drake, 19 years his junior. But, once again, his enthusiasm waned, and he threw himself back into his career - and an affair with Sophia Loren, his co-star in the 1957 hit 'The Pride And The Passion'. The marriage limped on until Drake finally filed for divorce, saying, "I left Cary, but physically he'd left me long ago."
Grant was box-office magic and could pick and choose his projects. Ian Fleming allegedly partly based his James Bond character on Grant, who was offered, but refused, the 007 movie role. He also turned down 'Roman Holiday' and 'Sabrina', not playing against Audrey Hepburn until 'Charade' in 1963.
With a third marriage unravelling, Grant went into therapy, taking LSD under medical supervision to analyse his childhood, the relationship with his parents, and his attitude towards women. While doctors determined that he was suffering from "prolonged emotional detachment", Grant's own conclusion was that "I was my own worst enemy, that no-one else was keeping me unhappy but me".
Contentment continued to elude him. A fourth marriage to actress Dyan Cannon, who was 35 years younger than him, ended in a bitter divorce. In court, Cannon painted an ugly picture of Grant as a controlling, abusive husband who would shout at her and hit her. The one good thing to come out of the marriage was their daughter, Jennifer, who was born in 1966 and whom he referred to as "my best production".
It was in the same year, after making 75 films and despite numerous lucrative offers, that Grant, aged 62, left the Hollywood scene for good, saying that he didn't want to grow old on screen. Instead, he went into business, working for fragrance company Faberge and sitting on the boards of various companies. He kept a low profile, spending time with Jennifer and playing the piano.
At 77, Grant married Barbara Harris, and despite a 46-year age gap, he finally appeared to have found peace. The couple led a quiet life at their Beverly Hills home, watching TV, playing cards and occasionally entertaining friends like actor Tony Curtis.
Harris was by his side when Grant, then aged 80, began touring American cities with his one-man show, 'A Conversation With Cary Grant', in which he would regale his audiences with reminiscences of his past. On the eve of one such performance, on November 29, 1986, in Davenport, Iowa, he died of a stroke, aged 82. A few months earlier, the couple had re-affirmed their love for each other in a church blessing in Devon, England.
In an interview, the actor once said, "Everybody wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant." It had been a long journey but, in the end, when he finally stopped running, that's who he really was.
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