Cary Grant Perhaps the most dashing of all Hollywood film stars, Cary Grant stole the hearts of millions of audience members during his 40 years of acting. Born Archibald Alexander Leach on January 18,1904 in Bristol England, he was the only child of impoverished parents Elsie and Elias. At the age of nine he lost his mother when she was institutionalized at Fishpond’s Country Home for the Mental Defectives. Around that time, he developed a love for the English music hall and began working at odd jobs at the Hippodrome and Empire theaters. At 14, he joined the Bob Pender comedy troupe and honed his dancing, acrobatic, stilt-walking and pantomime skills. The troupe performed