James Cagney

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

Trivia

• Film and TV actor Michael J. Fox, who idolized Cagney, narrated a TV special called James Cagney: Top of the World, which aired on July 5, 1992. This 60-minute program is included on the Special Editon of the Yankee Doodle Dandy DVD.
• As acting techniques became increasingly studied and taught during his lifetime ("Method Acting", etc.) Cagney was asked during the filming of Mister Roberts about his approach to acting. As co-star Jack Lemmon related in the abovementioned special, Cagney said that the secret to acting is simply this: "Learn your lines... plant your feet... look the other actor in the eye... say the words... and mean them."
• The stereotypical impression of James Cagney involves wearing a trenchcoat and a hat and sneering "You dirty rat!". In his AFI speech, he evoked much laughter by saying that he never said that line; what he really said was, "Judy, Judy, Judy!" (another over-stereotyped line, attributed to Cary Grant). The actual origin of the "dirty rat" phrase is the 1932 film Taxi!, in which Cagney delivered the line "Come out and take it, you dirty, yellow-bellied rat, or I'll give it to you through the door!" often misquoted as "Come out, you dirty rat, or I'll give it to you through the door!".
• In Ragtime he evoked memories of his tough-talking gangster-role heyday, albeit as a Police Commissioner this time, with this comment to a thug, in his one-of-a-kind voice, "They tell me you're a worthless piece of slime!"