James Cagney, the hoofer who did good.
Jul 17, 2019 8:37:56 GMT
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Post by teleadm on Jul 17, 2019 8:37:56 GMT
Little James Francis Cagney Jr. was born 120 years ago in New York, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Better known as just James Cagney, he would become one of old Hollywood's legendary actors.
After graduating, Cagney held a variety of jobs early in his life, giving all his earnings to his family: junior architect, copy boy for the New York Sun, book custodian at the New York Public Library, bellhop, draughtsman, and night doorkeeper.
He started tap dancing as a boy (a skill that eventually contributed to his Academy Award) and was nicknamed "Cellar-Door Cagney" after his habit of dancing on slanted cellar doors. He was a good street fighter, defending his older brother Harry, a medical student, when necessary. He engaged in amateur boxing, and was a runner-up for the New York state lightweight title. His coaches encouraged him to turn professional, but his mother would not allow it. He also played semiprofessional baseball for a local team, and entertained dreams of playing in the Major Leagues.
His introduction to films was unusual. When visiting an aunt who lived in Brooklyn opposite Vitagraph Studios, Cagney would climb over the fence to watch the filming of John Bunny movies. He became involved in amateur dramatics, starting as a scenery boy for a Chinese pantomime at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, one of the first settlement houses in the nation.
While working at Wanamaker's Department Store in 1919, Cagney learned, from a colleague who had seen him dance, of a role in the upcoming production Every Sailor. A wartime play in which the chorus was made up of servicemen dressed as women, it was originally titled Every Woman. Cagney auditioned for the role of a chorus girl, despite considering it a waste of time; he knew only one dance step, the complicated Peabody, but he knew it perfectly. This was enough to convince the producers that he could dance, and he copied the other dancers' moves while waiting to go on. He did not find it odd to play a woman, nor was he embarrassed.
Had Cagney's mother had her way, his stage career would have ended when he quit Every Sailor after two months; proud as she was of his performance, she preferred that he get an education. Cagney appreciated the $35 a week he was paid, which he called "a mountain of money for me in those worrisome days".
While acting in the chorus in the play Pitter Patter he had met a girl named Frances Vernon, whom he married in 1922, a marriage that would last until his death in 1986.
He spent several years in vaudeville as a dancer and comedian, until he got his first major acting part in 1925. He secured several other roles, receiving good notices, before landing the lead in the 1929 play Penny Arcade. After rave reviews, Warner Bros. signed him for an initial $500-a-week, three-week contract to reprise his role; this was quickly extended to a seven-year contract, and the rest is movie history.
Jack Warner would later dub him as "The Againster Actor", because of his demands and even winning a case against Warner Bros.
An uncomplete reminder of some of Cagney's movies:
Smart Money 1931
The Public Enemy 1931
Footlight Parade 1933
Lady Killer 1933
Jimmy the Gent 1934
G Men 1935
A Midsummer Night's Dream 1935
Angels with Dirty Faces 1938
Each Dawn I Die 1939
The Roaring Twenties 1939
The Oklahoma Kid 1939
City for Conquest 1940
The Fighting 69th 1940
The Strawberry Blonde 1941
The Bride Came C.O.D. 1941
Yankee Doodle Dandy 1942
Blood on the Sun 1945
13 Rue Madeleine 1946
White Heat 1949
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye 1950
Love Me or Leave Me 1955
Mister Roberts 1955
The Man of a Thousand Faces 1957
One, Two, Three 1961
Ragtime 1981
First published in 1976
Thanks for watching!
Comments, lists, favorites and anything else Cagney are as always very welcome!
After graduating, Cagney held a variety of jobs early in his life, giving all his earnings to his family: junior architect, copy boy for the New York Sun, book custodian at the New York Public Library, bellhop, draughtsman, and night doorkeeper.
He started tap dancing as a boy (a skill that eventually contributed to his Academy Award) and was nicknamed "Cellar-Door Cagney" after his habit of dancing on slanted cellar doors. He was a good street fighter, defending his older brother Harry, a medical student, when necessary. He engaged in amateur boxing, and was a runner-up for the New York state lightweight title. His coaches encouraged him to turn professional, but his mother would not allow it. He also played semiprofessional baseball for a local team, and entertained dreams of playing in the Major Leagues.
His introduction to films was unusual. When visiting an aunt who lived in Brooklyn opposite Vitagraph Studios, Cagney would climb over the fence to watch the filming of John Bunny movies. He became involved in amateur dramatics, starting as a scenery boy for a Chinese pantomime at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, one of the first settlement houses in the nation.
While working at Wanamaker's Department Store in 1919, Cagney learned, from a colleague who had seen him dance, of a role in the upcoming production Every Sailor. A wartime play in which the chorus was made up of servicemen dressed as women, it was originally titled Every Woman. Cagney auditioned for the role of a chorus girl, despite considering it a waste of time; he knew only one dance step, the complicated Peabody, but he knew it perfectly. This was enough to convince the producers that he could dance, and he copied the other dancers' moves while waiting to go on. He did not find it odd to play a woman, nor was he embarrassed.
Had Cagney's mother had her way, his stage career would have ended when he quit Every Sailor after two months; proud as she was of his performance, she preferred that he get an education. Cagney appreciated the $35 a week he was paid, which he called "a mountain of money for me in those worrisome days".
While acting in the chorus in the play Pitter Patter he had met a girl named Frances Vernon, whom he married in 1922, a marriage that would last until his death in 1986.
He spent several years in vaudeville as a dancer and comedian, until he got his first major acting part in 1925. He secured several other roles, receiving good notices, before landing the lead in the 1929 play Penny Arcade. After rave reviews, Warner Bros. signed him for an initial $500-a-week, three-week contract to reprise his role; this was quickly extended to a seven-year contract, and the rest is movie history.
Jack Warner would later dub him as "The Againster Actor", because of his demands and even winning a case against Warner Bros.
An uncomplete reminder of some of Cagney's movies:
Smart Money 1931
The Public Enemy 1931
Footlight Parade 1933
Lady Killer 1933
Jimmy the Gent 1934
G Men 1935
A Midsummer Night's Dream 1935
Angels with Dirty Faces 1938
Each Dawn I Die 1939
The Roaring Twenties 1939
The Oklahoma Kid 1939
City for Conquest 1940
The Fighting 69th 1940
The Strawberry Blonde 1941
The Bride Came C.O.D. 1941
Yankee Doodle Dandy 1942
Blood on the Sun 1945
13 Rue Madeleine 1946
White Heat 1949
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye 1950
Love Me or Leave Me 1955
Mister Roberts 1955
The Man of a Thousand Faces 1957
One, Two, Three 1961
Ragtime 1981
First published in 1976
Thanks for watching!
Comments, lists, favorites and anything else Cagney are as always very welcome!
