Happy birthday, Cary Grant [by DL]

Born Archie Leach January 18, 1904
Birthplace: Bristol (England)
Versatile actor in comic, dramatic, and romantic roles. Strong contender as handsomest leading man in the movies.
Other distinction: greatest identity crisis in Hollywood history
Origin of name: Boring Hollywood legend has it that "Cary" came from his stage role as a guy named Cary in a musical with Fay Wray, and "Grant" was assigned to him by the studio. You and I can do better
Marital status: five times, with wife #3 (Betsy Drake) the marriage that lasted longest
Comedies with Katharine Hepburn: The Philadelphia Story, Bringing Up Baby, Holiday
Comedy with Irene Dunne: The Awful Truth
Comedy with Rosalind Russell: His Girl Friday
Frank Capra comedy: Arsenic and Old Lace
Tear-jerker deluxe with Deborah Kerr: An Affair to Remember
Hitchcock movies: Suspicion (Joan Fontaine), Notorious (Ingrid Bergman), To Catch a Thief (Grace Kelly), North by Northwest (Eva Marie Saint)
Best Hitchcock antagonist: James Mason in North by Northwest with Claudr Rains a close second (Notorious)
Last romantic hurrah: Charade (Audrey Hepburn)
Other leading ladies of note: Jean Arthur, Marlene Dietrich, Mae West, Doris Day
Unusual fact: took LSD more than 100 times; was introduced to the narcotic by Betsy Drake
Best quote: "Everyone wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant."
A rose is just a rose: "I never had so much fun since Archie Leach died," he says in His Girl Friday
Grave of Archie Leach: It's in Arsenic and Old Lace
Scandalous posthumous fact that doesn't shock anyone anymore: bi-sexual (Randoph Scott)
Dodger Fan Info: Shared exclusive box seats with Frank Sinatra and Gregory Peck at Dodgers stadium.
Retirement job: Became a director of the Fabergé company and promoted the fragrance firm's products. Vital stats: Rising sign Libra, moon in Aquarius; Water Cat (Chinese astrology); six feet one and a half inches tall. -- DL