James Cagney: The Most Memorable Name From Hollywood’s Golden Age
By Nabamita Sinha
09 December, 2022
Celebrity
Last Updated on: December 12th, 2024
Ranking at number eight in the list of “Greatest Male Star of the Golden Age of Hollywood,” James Cagney, as described by Orson Welles was “maybe the greatest actor who ever appeared in front of a camera.”
James Cagney was a performer in the true sense, from acting, dancing, theatre acting, and energetic performance.
Even his comic timing was great. Being multitalented James Cagney won the hearts of the audience.
Today, we are here to know more about this charismatic and quintessential “tough guy” of the Golden era of Hollywood. So, let’s move along to learn more about this incredible actor, James Cagney.
Personal Biography
Here are a few details about James Cagney that should be helpful for you, to understand the man properly.
| Born | James Francis Cagney Jr. July 17, 1899, New York City, U.S. |
| Died | March 30, 1986 (aged) |
| Resting Place | Gate of Heaven Cemetery |
| Occupation | Actor, Director, Dancer |
| Years Active | 1919-1961, 1981, 1984 |
| Spouse | Frances Vernon (m.1922) |
| Children | 2 |
| How tall was James Cagney? | 1.65m |
| Signature |  |
Early Life: Who Is James Cagney Jr?
James Cagney was born in the city of New York. But he had an Irish ancestry.
Cagney’s father worked as a bartender along with a boxer. According to his certificate of birth, he was a telegraphist.
He had seven siblings, although two of them died within a few months after they were born. James Cagney was so sickly when he was born.
His parents were worried that he might die even before he was baptized.
However, the boy grew up to have red hair and blue eyes. He joined Columbia College with German and joined the Student Army Training Corps. However, he had to drop out after the death of his father due to the flu pandemic in 1918.
Cagney worked in diverse roles -as a copy boy at the New York Sun, junior architect, night doorkeeper.
Also, he worked as a book custodian, bellhop, at the public library, and draughtsman. This he did to support his family. That is when he met Florence James, who brought out the actor inside of him.
He used to tap dance ever since he was a kid, and later, people gave him the nickname “Cellar-Door Cagney,” as he used to dance on slanted cellar doors.
Cagney was also good with his hands as a fighter. He was good at fighting and defending his siblings occasionally and was good at sports like baseball as well, even playing semi-professional.
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James Cagney Filmography
James Cagney’s entry into the film industry was rather accidental when his older brother Harry was performing in a Chinese pantomime directed by Florence James.
One day, when Harry was sick, James was able to fill in for his brother, and he had an Eidetic memory; he was able to memorize the whale script without any mistakes. That was when his first acting career began.
A colleague of James saw him dancing once and talked to him about a role in the production of “Every Sailor.” After performing for the producers, he is immediately hired, and when he steps onto the stage, he drops his bashful personality and completely transforms himself.
After working for them for two months, Cagney left and looked for more opportunities. Then landed “Pitter Patter,” a musical by William B. Friedlander. That is where he met his wife, Frances Willard Vernon, a sixteen-year-old dancer.
Cagney joined different troupes to tour the country. And to one of his troops, Leach, Rand, and Parker joined him.
He took Archie Leach’s left, and Leach went ahead and changed his name to Cary Grant.
Along with Pitter Patter, Cagney was looking for other plays when he became a part of “Outside Looking In.”
While acting with them, he met George M. Cohen. Cagney later played the character of Cohen for the musical “Yankee Doodle Dandy.”
James Cagney acted in a film when Warner Bros, turned one of his plays, Penny Arcade, into a film.
Breakthrough Moment
That opened doors for him, like for the movie The Doorway To Hell. There he was cast in a supporting role.
The movie that provided Cagney a breakthrough is “The Public Enemy,”
The director cast him as the nice guy opposite the bad guy played by Edward Woods. But the roles were soon switched, seeing James’s amazing onscreen charisma. The film, which had a budget of $151,000, made over $1 million.
James Cagney received high praise for his acting. Herald Tribune said, “The most ruthless, unsentimental appraisal of the meanness of a petty killer the cinema has yet devised.”
The success of The Public Enemy opened many doors for James Cagney. Besides, he went on to act in movies like Smart Money, Blonde Crazy, Taxi, and later Winner Takes All.
After a brief period of fighting with Warner Bros regarding his contract, Cagney eventually returned to the studio in 1933. He made the film Hard to Handle.
Then came a bunch of films like Here Comes the Navy, Jimmy the Gent, and finally, Footlight Parade.
He soon became the “Top ten Money Makers in Hollywood for the first time,” and was seen in gangster movies frequently, like “G-Men.”
But he changed his character to act in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
From then on, he made highly acclaimed movies like Something to Sing About, Great Guy, Boy Meets Girl, and Angels with Dirty Faces.
Personal Life
James Cagney met his wife in his initial phase in theatre when she was only 16 years old, a dancer who was in her teens.
The couple got married on September 28, 1922, and stayed married until Cagney’s death in 1986.
They adopted two children, a son, James Francis Cagney III, and later a daughter, Cathleen “Casey” Cagney.
Both their children became estranged from them later in life. Cagney’s son died two years prior to his death. His daughter died in 2004. James Cagney lived a very private life, only giving photographers permission to photograph him occasionally.
Since he was young, Cagney has been very much interested in farming and has helped find a farm in Martha’s Vineyard.
He surrounded the property with uncleaned tracks. It was rumored that due to fans, he fired a gunman as a security measure.
Cagney even bought a 120-acre farmland here in Dutchess County in New York and named it after his wife’s maiden name and a part of his surname, Verney Farm.
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Lights, Camera, Action!
James Cagney was an amazing actor and a strong personality who stood his ground even against Warner Bros.
His performance and acting skills cannot be expressed through words; you must see his movies to understand his onscreen charisma in your own way.
So, if you are intrigued by James Cagney and his films then go watch a few of his films and let us know in the comment section which are the ones you like the most.
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