James Cagney

James Francis Cagney, Jr. (born July 17, 1899; died March 30, 1986) was an American film actor of Irish and Norwegian extraction.

Related Topics:
July 17 - 1899 - March 30 - 1986 - American - Film - Actor - Irish - Norwegian

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Born in Yonkers, New York, Cagney graduated from Stuyvesant High School in New York City in 1918.

Related Topics:
Yonkers, New York - Stuyvesant High School - New York City - 1918

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He worked in vaudeville and on Broadway, marrying the dancer Frances Willard (aka: "Billie") Vernon (1899 - 1994) on September 28, 1922 and remained faithfully married for 64 years. They adopted a son James Cagney Jr and a daughter Cathleen "Casey" Cagney. When Warner Brothers bought the film rights to the play Penny Arcade they took Cagney and his co-star Joan Blondell from the stage to the screen in the retitled Sinner's Holiday (1930).

Related Topics:
Vaudeville - Broadway - September 28 - 1922 - James Cagney Jr - Warner Brothers - Joan Blondell - Sinner's Holiday - 1930

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Cagney went on to star in numerous films, making his name as a 'tough guy' in a series of crime films such as The Public Enemy (1931), Blonde Crazy (1931) and Hard to Handle (1933). He went on to better things including Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), an Academy Award-winning role in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), White Heat (1949) ("Made it, Ma! Top of the world!"), and Mister Roberts (1955).

Related Topics:
The Public Enemy - 1931 - Blonde Crazy - Hard to Handle - 1933 - Angels with Dirty Faces - 1938 - Academy Award - Yankee Doodle Dandy - 1942 - White Heat - 1949 - Mister Roberts - 1955

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He was one of the founders of the Screen Actors Guild and president of the Guild from 1942-44.

Related Topics:
Screen Actors Guild - 1942 - 44

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Cagney's final appearance on film was in Ragtime in 1981, capping a career that covered over seventy films, although his last film prior to Ragtime had been 20 years earlier in 1961 with Billy Wilder's One, Two, Three. During this hiatus Cagney rebuffed all film offers, including a substantial one in My Fair Lady, to devote time to learning how to paint (at which he became very accomplished), and tending to his beloved farm in Stanfordville, New York.

Related Topics:
Ragtime - 1981 - 1961 - Billy Wilder - One, Two, Three - My Fair Lady - Stanfordville, New York

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In 1974 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Film Institute and in 1984 his friend Ronald Reagan awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Related Topics:
1974 - American Film Institute - 1984 - Ronald Reagan - Presidential Medal of Freedom

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Cagney's health deteriorated substantially after 1979, and the role in Ragtime, as well as a later television appearance in 1984, was designed to aid in his convalescence.

Related Topics:
1979 - Ragtime - 1984

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James Cagney died aged 86 of a heart attack while ill with diabetes in Stanfordville, New York and is interred in the Cemetery of the Gate of Heaven in Hawthorne, New York. As a tribute to his myriad talents and interests, his pallbearers included boxer Floyd Patterson, ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, actor Ralph Bellamy, and film director Milos Forman.

Related Topics:
Heart attack - Diabetes - Stanfordville, New York - Cemetery of the Gate of Heaven - Hawthorne, New York - Floyd Patterson - Mikhail Baryshnikov - Ralph Bellamy - Milos Forman

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