A Filmmaker's Guide to the Best Performances: Cary Grant

Cary Grant was born on the 18th of January, 1904 in Bristol, England. The English Born-American actor was the second child of a tailor and a seamstress (which explains why his clothes were always so good!). Be that as it may, his mother was suffering from clinical depression and his father was an alcoholic. His mother was placed in a mental institution and his father had told him, after some time, that his mother had died. Cary Grant grew up not really being very close to his parents until his father not only remarried and started a new family but he also found out when his father was dying, that his mother was still alive.

Grant had a fairly horrid upbringing, especially where his father's pathological lying was concerned and for years, he was basically robbed of his mother. Subsequently, as he was growing up, Grant would work at Bristol theatres, helping backstage and also trained as a stilt-walker in a circus. He worked at the military docks in Southampton in order to escape the unhappiness of his home life. Finally, Cary Grant purposefully set out to get himself expelled from school so that he could go out to work instead. It worked, he was expelled and he went to go off with the circus.

Whilst travelling, Cary Grant learned about theatre acting in order to broaden his entertainment range. He travelled by ship, performing on the RMS Olympic as a part of the tour. Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks were also aboard the same ship. He then performed in New York after his arrival there and became a permanent part of the vaudevillian circus stage whilst on his way up. He had decided to stay in the USA.

During the 20s, Cary Grant would perform a lot of theatre including acrobatics, circus acts and more. He was fond of the Marx brothers, citing especially Zeppo as an early influence alongside Douglas Fairbanks, whom he met aboard the Olympic. When he became an actor, it was the 30s and America was in the midst of the Wall Street Market Crash aftermath. It was called "The Great Depression".

What we're going to have a look at today are what the greatest performances by Cary Grant are and why. He was a very versatile actor and, coming from absolutely nothing - he really made a great name for himself. He had a very lively and active career with his roles constantly changing, seeming to be a result of not wanting to be typecast. He was a great actor yes, and bar his relationship struggles, his family turmoil and much more - he managed to keep his head above water most of the time. Let's take a look at his best roles then...

The Ten Greatest Film Performances of Cary Grant

10. Philip in A Touch of Mink (1962)

9. Anthony in The Pride and the Passion (1957)

8. Dr. Fulton in Monkey Business (1952)

7. Philip in Indiscreet (1958)

6. Victor in The Grass is Greener (1960)

5. Tom Winters in Houseboat (1958)

4. Cole Porter in Night and Day (1946)

3. Peter in Charade (1963)

2. Roger in North by Northwest (1959)

1. John Robie in To Catch a Thief (1955)

Obviously I was going to put John Robie at number one because of the fact it is exactly like what Cary Grant was in real life. He was a rugged man pretending to be high society, he was a rebel with a lot of know-how and intelligence. And he was a man of incredible and versatile talents. As one of the greatest actors of all time, Cary Grant is definitely up there with people like Humphrey Bogart and Jimmy Stewart, Marlon Brando and Charlie Chaplin. Cary Grant's name is just less known, but if you watch the film "To Catch a Thief" (1955) then you'll definitely know what I'm talking about when I say that he deserves to be recognised as one of the greatest of all time.

So, on this day, we wish Cary Grant a very happy birthday and will spend this day catching up on the films from this list of top ten greatest performances. Of course I've seen them all but how long are we going to pretend like I haven't already vowed to watch "To Catch a Thief" (1955) once more.