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/a/a3/James_Cagney_in_Yankee_Doodle_Dandy_trailer_2up.jpg" border="0" width="200" height="248" />
from his Oscar winning
performance in
Yankee Doodle
Dandy (1942)
James
Francis
Cagney, Jr.
July 17, 1899[1]
New York
City, New York, U.S.
30, 1986 (aged 86)
Stanford, New
York, U.S.
Vernon
(1922–1986; his death)
James Francis Cagney, Jr. (July 17, 1899 – March 30, 1986) was
an
American film actor. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide
variety
of roles,[2] he is best
remembered for playing "tough guys."[3] In 1999, the American
Film Institute ranked him eighth among the Greatest
Male Stars of All
Time.[4]
In his first performing role, he danced dressed as a woman in the
chorus line
of the 1919 revue Every Sailor. He
spent several years in vaudevillehoofer and comedian until
his first major acting role in
1925. He secured several other roles, receiving good reviews before
landing the
lead in the 1929 play Penny Arcade. After rave reviews for his
acting, Warners signed him
for an
initial $500 a week, three-week contract to reprise his role; this was
quickly
extended to a seven year contract. as a
Cagney's seventh film, The Public Enemy,
became one of the most
influential gangster movies of the period. Notable for its famous
grapefruit
scene, the film thrust Cagney into the spotlight, making him one of
Warners' and
Hollywood's
biggest stars. In
1938, he received his first Academy
Award for Best Actor nomination for Angels with
Dirty Faces, before
winning in 1942 for his portrayal of George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle
Dandy.[5] He was
nominated a third time in 1955 for Love
Me or Leave Me. Cagney
retired for 20 years in 1961, spending time on his farm before returning
for a
part in Ragtime mainly to aid his recovery from a stroke.
Cagney walked out on Warners several times over his career, each time
coming
back on improved personal and artistic terms. In 1935, he sued Warners
for
breach of contract and won; this marked one of the first times an actor
had
beaten a studio over a contract issue. He worked for an independent film
company
for a year while the suit was settled, and also established his own
production
company, Cagney Productions, in 1942 before returning to Warners again
four
years later. Jack Warner[6] in reference
to Cagney’s refusal to be pushed around. Cagney also made numerous
morale-boosting troop tours before and during World War II, and
was President of the Screen Actors
Guild for two years. called him "The Professional Againster",