James Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. (July 17, 1899 – March 30, 1986) was an American film star who won acclaim for a wide variety of roles, including the career-launching The Public Enemy. He was an accomplished vaudeville performer, but is still best known for his 'tough guy' roles. Like James Stewart, Cagney became so familiar to audiences that they usually referred to him as "Jimmy" Cagney — a billing never found on any of his films. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Cagney eighth among the Greatest Male Stars of All Time.
Cagney first started tap-dancing for fun as a child, before his first performing role, in 1919, dancing dressed as a woman in the chorus line of Every Sailor on stage. After several years on the vaudeville tour, including taking over from Cary Grant in one troupe, Cagney continued as a hoofer and doing comedy routines until his first major acting role in the 1925. Cagney secured several other roles, getting good reviews before landing the lead role in 1929's Penny Arcade. After great reviews for his acting, Al Jolson bought the film right and sold them to Warner Brothers with the stipulation that Cagney retain his role. Warners signed him on an initial $500 a week, 3 week contract, which was quickly extended to a seven year contract.
Cagney's seventh film would become one of the most influential gangster movies of the period. Cagney's shoving of a grapefruit into Mae Clarke's face would become one of the most famous movie scenes of all time, and thrust Cagney into the spotlight. After this film, Cagney became one of Warners', and Hollywood's biggest stars, producing a string of hit movies. 1938 saw Cagney receive his first Academy Award for Best Actor nomination for Angels with Dirty Faces, a feat he would repeat in 1955 for Love Me or Leave Me. He won the award in 1942 for his portrayal of George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy. Cagney retired for 20 years in 1961, returning for a part in Ragtime mainly to aid his recovery from a stroke.
Cagney walked out on Warners several times over his career, each time coming back on improved personal and artistic terms. He sued Warners for breach of contract, and Hollywood watched as he won, one of the first times an actor had beaten the studios on a contract issue. He worked for an independent film company for a year, and also set-up his own production company, Cagney Productions before returning to Warners again. Jack Warner called him The Professional Againster, but Cagney also made numerous morale-boosting tours of troops before and during World War II, and was President of the Screen Actors Guild for two years. He was a farmer in his private life, with a love of horses and cattle, sailing and painting. His politics moved from liberal to 'arch-conservative' by the end of his life, and he contributed either time or funds to campaigns for both Democrats and Republicans.
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