James Francis Cagney Jr. (/ˈkæɡni/; July , â€" March , ) was an
American actor and dancer on stage and in film. Known for his
consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and
deadpan comic timing, he won acclaim and major awards for a wide
variety of performances. He is remembered for playing multifaceted
tough guys in films such as The Public Enemy (), Taxi! (), Angels with
Dirty Faces (), The Roaring Twenties (), and White Heat (), finding
himself typecast or limited by this reputation earlier in his career.
He was able to negotiate dancing opportunities in his films and ended
up winning the Academy Award for his role in the musical Yankee Doodle
Dandy (). In the American Film Institute ranked him eighth among its
list of greatest male stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Orson
Welles described Cagney as "maybe the greatest actor who ever appeared
in front of a camera".In his first professional acting performance in
, Cagney was costumed as a woman when he danced in the chorus line of
the revue Every Sailor. He spent several years in vaudeville as a
dancer and comedian, until he got his first major acting part in . He
secured several other roles, receiving good notices, before landing
the lead in the play Penny Arcade. Al Jolson saw Cagney in the play
and bought the movie rights, then selling them to Warner Bros. with
the proviso that James Cagney and Joan Blondell be able to reprise
their stage roles in the movie. After rave reviews, Warner Bros.
signed him for an initial $-a-week, three-week contract; when the
executives at the studio saw the first dailies for the film,
Cagney’s contract was immediately extended.Cagney's seventh film,
The Public Enemy, became one of the most influential gangster movies
of the period. Notable for a famous scene in which Cagney pushes a
grapefruit against Mae Clarke's face, the film thrust him into the
spotlight. He became one of Hollywood's leading stars and one of
Warner Bros.' biggest contracts. In he received his first Academy
Award for Best Actor nomination for his subtle portrayal of the tough
guy/man-child Rocky Sullivan in Angels with Dirty Faces. In Cagney
won the Oscar for his energetic portrayal of George M. Cohan in Yankee
Doodle Dandy. He was nominated a third time in for Love Me or Leave
Me. Cagney retired from acting and dancing in to spend time on his
farm with his family. He came out of retirement years later for a
part in the movie Ragtime (), mainly to aid his recovery from a
stroke.
American actor and dancer on stage and in film. Known for his
consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and
deadpan comic timing, he won acclaim and major awards for a wide
variety of performances. He is remembered for playing multifaceted
tough guys in films such as The Public Enemy (), Taxi! (), Angels with
Dirty Faces (), The Roaring Twenties (), and White Heat (), finding
himself typecast or limited by this reputation earlier in his career.
He was able to negotiate dancing opportunities in his films and ended
up winning the Academy Award for his role in the musical Yankee Doodle
Dandy (). In the American Film Institute ranked him eighth among its
list of greatest male stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Orson
Welles described Cagney as "maybe the greatest actor who ever appeared
in front of a camera".In his first professional acting performance in
, Cagney was costumed as a woman when he danced in the chorus line of
the revue Every Sailor. He spent several years in vaudeville as a
dancer and comedian, until he got his first major acting part in . He
secured several other roles, receiving good notices, before landing
the lead in the play Penny Arcade. Al Jolson saw Cagney in the play
and bought the movie rights, then selling them to Warner Bros. with
the proviso that James Cagney and Joan Blondell be able to reprise
their stage roles in the movie. After rave reviews, Warner Bros.
signed him for an initial $-a-week, three-week contract; when the
executives at the studio saw the first dailies for the film,
Cagney’s contract was immediately extended.Cagney's seventh film,
The Public Enemy, became one of the most influential gangster movies
of the period. Notable for a famous scene in which Cagney pushes a
grapefruit against Mae Clarke's face, the film thrust him into the
spotlight. He became one of Hollywood's leading stars and one of
Warner Bros.' biggest contracts. In he received his first Academy
Award for Best Actor nomination for his subtle portrayal of the tough
guy/man-child Rocky Sullivan in Angels with Dirty Faces. In Cagney
won the Oscar for his energetic portrayal of George M. Cohan in Yankee
Doodle Dandy. He was nominated a third time in for Love Me or Leave
Me. Cagney retired from acting and dancing in to spend time on his
farm with his family. He came out of retirement years later for a
part in the movie Ragtime (), mainly to aid his recovery from a
stroke.
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