American Experience: Cary Grant: A Class Apart

Elegant. Witty. Stylish. A totally original talent. “Everyone wants to be Cary Grant … even I want to be Cary Grant,” he was fond of saying. Born 100 years ago into dismal circumstances in Bristol, England, Archibald Leach got his start touring in vaudeville and eventually arrived in New York in 1920. He walked on stilts at Coney Island and sold neckties on mid-town street corners before landing small parts in Hollywood. He hit it big in 1933 as Mae West’s leading man in She Done Him Wrong, followed by Sylvia Scarlett and the emergence of his classy on-screen persona — and the invention of that persona off-screen as well.

Cary Grant: A Class Apart is the first comprehensive look at the life and career of a Hollywood icon. Featuring frank interviews with friends and co-stars, the film sheds light on the man who never felt he lived up to the persona he portrayed on-screen. The program includes interviews with Eva Marie Saint, Ralph Lauren, Peter Bogdanovich, Jill St. John and Martin Landau, along with film critics and Grant biographers, ex-wife Betsy Drake and widow Barbara Grant. The film also includes vintage interviews with two of Grant’s most influential directors: Alfred Hitchcock (Suspicion, 1941; Notorious, 1946; North by Northwest, 1959) and George Cukor (Holiday, 1938; The Philadelphia Story, 1941). Academy Award-nominated actress Helen Mirren narrates, and acclaimed British actor Jeremy Northam is featured as Grant’s voice.

Airs Sunday, November 13 at 9 pm.