Happy 100th Birthday!

Today, January 18, 2004 we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Archibald Alec Leach. “Who?!” you may ask. Young Mr. Leach or “Archie” as he was known was the only child born to lower-middle class parents in Bristol, England. Though his family’s resources were meager, young Archie’s mother treated him like a prince, always dressing him in the finest clothes and sending him to piano lessons and a private preparatory school. Archie soon learned to be independent, however, when his parents’ strained marriage hit its breaking point and Archie’s mother abandoned the family. Although Archie was told that his mother had gone away to a seaside resort to rest, in fact she had been institutionalized and Archie would neither know the truth nor see his mother again for the next twenty years.

Archie’s morose, alcoholic father withdrew from the boy and Archie was left to fend for himself, making his own meals and getting himself to school on time, though he was often sent to the headmaster’s office for his relentless prankishness. A kindhearted school mentor helped Archie land a job as an assistant at a local theater and Archie immediately fell in love with the stage. The homeless boy had now found a home and because of his good looks and athletic build the 13-year-old soon joined Bob Pender’s Troupe of acrobatic boys as a tumbler, stilt-walker, and mime. When the Pender troupe toured America in the early 1920s, Archie Leach became fascinated by the land of opportunity and stayed behind in New York instead of returning home to England.

Archie found work in the vaudeville circuit as a juggler, a unicycle rider, and as a straight man for comedians. He tried to be a singer and auditioned for the new operetta being produced by Broadway’s legendary Hammerstein family. This success led to more work on Broadway and after several years, Archie had a promising career in theater, earning between $300 and $450 per week! However, the allure of Hollywood soon caught the attention of the young actor and he decided to take his chances in the land of sunny beaches and blue skies.

A few screen tests later, with mixed results, and Archie Leach had a contract with Paramount Pictures. There was only one problem: his name. “Archie Leach” was fine for a comic or best-friend type, but the producers at Paramount saw leading man material in the handsome 27-year-old. Archie chose his new first name from a character he had played on Broadway, and his new last name came from a list provided by the studio.

The former Archie Leach made seven films in 1932, his first year under contract, but it was a year later in the film She Done Him Wrong that co-star Mae West uttered to him that famous line “Why don’t you come up sometime and see me,” and Cary Grant had his first taste of stardom.

And now you know the rest of the story…!