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Cary Grant Quotes

Cary Grant was a British-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. After attending Bishop Road Primary School and Fairfield Grammar School in Bristol, he toured the country as a stage performer, and decided to stay in New York City after a performance there. He established a name for himself in vaudeville in the 1920s and toured the United States before moving to Hollywood in the early 1930s. He initially appeared in crime films or dramas such as Blonde Venus and She Done Him Wrong , but later gained renown for his appearances in romantic comedy and screwball comedy films such as The Awful Truth , Bringing Up Baby , His Girl Friday and The Philadelphia Story . Along with the later Arsenic and Old Lace and I Was a Male War Bride ; these films are frequently cited as among the all-time great comedy films. Having established himself as a major Hollywood star, he was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Actor, for Penny Serenade and None but the Lonely Heart .

In the 1940s and 1950s, Grant forged a working relationship with the director Alfred Hitchcock, appearing in films such as Suspicion , Notorious , To Catch a Thief and North by Northwest . Hitchcock admired Grant and considered him to have been the only actor that he had ever loved working with. Towards the end of his film career, Grant was praised by critics as a romantic leading man, and received five Golden Globe Award for Best Actor nominations, including Indiscreet with Ingrid Bergman, That Touch of Mink with Doris Day, and Charade with Audrey Hepburn. He is remembered by critics for his unusually broad appeal, as a handsome, suave actor who did not take himself too seriously, possessing the ability to play with his own dignity in comedies without sacrificing it entirely. His comic timing and delivery made Grant what Premiere magazine considers to have been "quite simply, the funniest actor cinema has ever produced".

Grant was married five times; three of his marriages were elopements with actresses—Virginia Cherrill , Betsy Drake and Dyan Cannon . He has one daughter with Cannon, Jennifer Grant . After his retirement from film acting in 1966, Grant pursued numerous business interests, representing cosmetics firm Fabergé, and sitting on the board of MGM and others. He was presented with an Honorary Oscar by his friend Frank Sinatra at the 42nd Academy Awards in 1970, and in 1981, he was accorded the Kennedy Center Honors. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Grant the second greatest male star of Golden Age Hollywood cinema, after Humphrey Bogart.

✵ 18. January 1904 – 29. November 1986
Cary Grant photo
Cary Grant: 22   quotes 0   likes

Famous Cary Grant Quotes

“Insanity runs in my family, it practically gallops”

Cary Grant

“My formula for living is quite simple. I get up in the morning and I go to bed at night. In between, I occupy myself as best I can.”

Cary Grant

As quoted in "Quotable Cary" at American Masters (25 May 2005)
Source: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33680672/the-los-angeles-times/ "Cary Grant: Doing What Comes naturally,"

“I pretended to be somebody I wanted to be until finally I became that person. Or he became me.”

Cary Grant

As quoted in "Quotable Cary" at American Masters (25 May 2005) http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/cary-grant/quotable-cary/618/

“Everyone wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant.”

Cary Grant

As quoted in "Even I want to be Cary Grant" by John Preston in The Telegraph (6 March 2005)]

“It is the law of life that if you are kind to someone you feel happy. If you are cruel you are unhappy. And if you hurt someone, you will be hurt back.”

Cary Grant

Love – That’s All Cary Grant Ever Thinks About (1964)

Cary Grant Quotes

“Now I know how it can change, just like that. They can be applauding you one moment, and booing you the next. The thing to know is that you have done a good job, then it doesn’t hurt to be criticized.”

Cary Grant

Love – That’s All Cary Grant Ever Thinks About (1964)
Context: I used to hide behind the façade that was Cary Grant … I didn’t know if I were Archie Leach, or Cary Grant, and I wasn’t taking any chances. … Another thing I had to cure myself of was the desire for adulation, and the approbation of my fellow man. It started when I was a small boy and played football at school. If I did well they cheered me. If I fumbled I was booed. It became very important to me to be liked. It’s the same in the theater, the applause and the laughter give you courage and the excitement to go on. I thought it was absolutely necessary in order to be happy. Now I know how it can change, just like that. They can be applauding you one moment, and booing you the next. The thing to know is that you have done a good job, then it doesn’t hurt to be criticized. My press agent was very indignant over something written about me not too long ago. “Look,” I told him. “I’ve known this character for many years, and the faults he sees in me are really the faults in himself that he hates.”

Change , Hurt

“Do not blame others for your own mistakes. … YOU are Mother Nature.”

Cary Grant

Love – That’s All Cary Grant Ever Thinks About (1964)
Context: Do not blame others for your own mistakes. … YOU are Mother Nature. You have the power within you to be thin or fat, as you desire. … God is within you, and you can do and have anything you want. You must love yourself more. … and then … you can love your fellow man.

Nature

“Don’t go to extremes. Don’t hate too much and don’t love too much. Try to live somewhere in the middle.”

Cary Grant

Love – That’s All Cary Grant Ever Thinks About (1964)
Context: Don’t go to extremes. Don’t hate too much and don’t love too much. Try to live somewhere in the middle. Hate destroys the hater. And if you love too much you get too involved and you cannot see too clearly. Love and hate are like night and day. They do exist together and you must accept them both, but you must also understand them and be in control of both emotions. It is peaceful in the middle. You won’t be hurt in the middle.

Love , Hate

“Also, people seek targets for whatever hurts them, especially their own lack of success. Personally, I regard every knock as a boost.”

Cary Grant

Love – That’s All Cary Grant Ever Thinks About (1964)
Context: It always amazes me that those who fight for the luxuries of life, are the first to resent those who have them. Also, people seek targets for whatever hurts them, especially their own lack of success. Personally, I regard every knock as a boost.

People , Success , Hurt , Personality

“God is within you, and you can do and have anything you want. You must love yourself more. … and then … you can love your fellow man.”

Cary Grant

Love – That’s All Cary Grant Ever Thinks About (1964)
Context: Do not blame others for your own mistakes. … YOU are Mother Nature. You have the power within you to be thin or fat, as you desire. … God is within you, and you can do and have anything you want. You must love yourself more. … and then … you can love your fellow man.

Love , God

“I never dwell on past mistakes… There is too much to plan for the future to waste time complaining.”

Cary Grant

Love – That’s All Cary Grant Ever Thinks About (1964)
Context: I never dwell on past mistakes… There is too much to plan for the future to waste time complaining.  Elsie Mendl was a great friend of mine for many, many years. And I remember the creed by which she lived: Never complain, never explain. Just think of the people you know who are always explaining their mistakes. It merely rubs the whole thing in. You’re reminded again of the mistake. And no one believes the explanation anyway.

Time , Past , Future

“Another thing I had to cure myself of was the desire for adulation, and the approbation of my fellow man.”

Cary Grant

Love – That’s All Cary Grant Ever Thinks About (1964)
Context: I used to hide behind the façade that was Cary Grant … I didn’t know if I were Archie Leach, or Cary Grant, and I wasn’t taking any chances. … Another thing I had to cure myself of was the desire for adulation, and the approbation of my fellow man. It started when I was a small boy and played football at school. If I did well they cheered me. If I fumbled I was booed. It became very important to me to be liked. It’s the same in the theater, the applause and the laughter give you courage and the excitement to go on. I thought it was absolutely necessary in order to be happy. Now I know how it can change, just like that. They can be applauding you one moment, and booing you the next. The thing to know is that you have done a good job, then it doesn’t hurt to be criticized. My press agent was very indignant over something written about me not too long ago. “Look,” I told him. “I’ve known this character for many years, and the faults he sees in me are really the faults in himself that he hates.”

“And no one believes the explanation anyway.”

Cary Grant

Love – That’s All Cary Grant Ever Thinks About (1964)
Context: I never dwell on past mistakes… There is too much to plan for the future to waste time complaining.  Elsie Mendl was a great friend of mine for many, many years. And I remember the creed by which she lived: Never complain, never explain. Just think of the people you know who are always explaining their mistakes. It merely rubs the whole thing in. You’re reminded again of the mistake. And no one believes the explanation anyway.

“When I’m married I want to be single, and when I’m single I want to be married.”

Cary Grant

Love – That’s All Cary Grant Ever Thinks About (1964)

“I really am a happy, amusing fellow at heart. Trouble is I seem the only one left.”

Cary Grant

As quoted in "Cary Grant is puzzled because you have No Time for Laughs" by Robert Ottaway in Picturegoer magazine (4 January 1958)

Heart , Happiness

“Anyone can do well … It’s all out there waiting for you to take. But first you must reach out and get it. You must work for your riches. You cannot expect it to fall into your lap.”

Cary Grant

Love – That’s All Cary Grant Ever Thinks About (1964)

Waiting

“I’m prepared. I have a gun and I know how to shoot, and whoever comes calling without an invitation will get it in the rear end.”

Cary Grant

Love – That’s All Cary Grant Ever Thinks About (1964)

“You must learn to live within yourself … You must establish the values by which you live. You must first recognize the need, and if it is right you will be amazed at how things will open up.”

Cary Grant

Love – That’s All Cary Grant Ever Thinks About (1964)

Learning

“I suppose you might call me the sophisticated type. I like to act with dialogue. Not with grunts.”

Cary Grant

As quoted in "Cary Grant is puzzled because you have No Time for Laughs" by Robert Ottaway in Picturegoer magazine;; (4 January 1958) http://freespace.virgin.net/donna.moore/Cary_grant_articles5.htm

“Everybody wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant. 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.”

Cary Grant

Source: Quoted in "Cary Grant: A Biography" by Marc Eliot

Personality , Life , Parting

“I often think my life has been a failure. But whenever I drop into a theater and hear women laugh at one of my films, I think, well, if I brightened their day before they went home and did the dishes, maybe my life wasn't wasted, after all.”

Cary Grant

Source: As quoted in "They Changed Their Careers and Became Famous; Cary a Failure?" https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87358421/the-boston-globe/ by Jack Harrison Pollack, Parade (November 16, 1969), p. 7; and The Filmgoer's Book of Quotes (1978) by Leslie Halliwell, p.229

Home , Failure , Thinking , Life

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