| Cary Grant is remembered as one of the most | | | | and his son defies belief. |
| famous actors of Hollywood's Golden Age, the | | | | When he was 14 years old Archie left school, |
| star of such classics as 'Bringing Up Baby', 'The | | | | forged his father's signature on a letter of |
| Philadelphia Story' and 'Charade'. He was suave, | | | | introduction and joined the Bob Pender troupe of |
| debonair, immensely rich and successful and the | | | | touring acrobats and comedians. It was the start |
| very image of imperturbable gentility. What many | | | | of his life in show business and he went with the |
| people don't realize is that he was actually English, | | | | troupe in 1920 to America for an extended run in |
| born into a working class family in a Bristol slum, | | | | New York. When the troupe returned after two |
| and that his mother was incarcerated in a mental | | | | years, he stayed in America and continued his |
| asylum by Grant's father when Cary was 9 and | | | | education in show business and in life. He did it |
| he thought for the next 20 years that she was | | | | very well. In 1929 he changed his name to Cary |
| dead. | | | | Grant, and soon became one of the most famous |
| Cary Grant's birth name was Archibald Alexander | | | | men in the world and immensely rich but he still |
| Leach. His childhood was not happy. His father, | | | | did not know that his mother was alive and living |
| Elias, worked as a presser in a clothing factory. He | | | | in a mental institution in England. |
| was a drinker and a womanizer. Archie's mother, | | | | He did not discover the truth about his mother |
| Elsie, came from a family of laundresses and | | | | until 1935 when his father died and he became his |
| brewery laborers. Elias and Elsie married in 1898 | | | | mother's next of kin. Grant traveled back to |
| and had a son a year later. In 1900 that child died | | | | England and was re-united with Elsie. It must have |
| just short of his first birthday. The effect on Elsie | | | | been an incredibly emotional time for both of |
| was devastating and it left her seriously | | | | them. Poor Elsie was a confused lady and for the |
| depressed. She was advised by her doctor to | | | | rest of her days found it very difficult to work |
| have another child. She did so and Archie Leach, | | | | out the difference between Archie Leach, the son |
| the future Cary Grant, was born on January 18, | | | | she thought she had lost, and Cary Grant the |
| 1904. | | | | debonair and famous Hollywood actor. |
| When he was nine years old he came home from | | | | Grant had her released from the asylum and |
| school and was told by his father that his mother | | | | looked after her well. The doctors recommended |
| had gone to the seaside. He and Elias went to live | | | | she stay in England and indeed Elsie steadfastly |
| with his father's parents who brought Archie up | | | | refused to travel to America despite many |
| for the rest of his time in England. Cary | | | | subsequent invitations from Cary. He set her up in |
| remembered them as 'cold and distant'. Over the | | | | her own household in Bristol and visited her |
| next few years he was led to believe that his | | | | regularly. Elsie was as resilient as her son and she |
| mother was dead. The reality was that she had | | | | lived to the good age of 93, dying in 1973. |
| been declared insane by his father who was | | | | It is a sad story but also uplifting. Cary Grant was |
| having an affair with another woman called Mabel | | | | brought up in a loveless dysfunctional family, yet |
| Alice Johnson. She was pregnant and Elias wanted | | | | he lifted himself up by his own efforts, educated |
| his wife out of the way without the expense of a | | | | himself and became a success at his chosen |
| divorce and this was an excellent way of doing it. | | | | profession. He finally found his mother and was |
| The cruelty of the man towards both his wife | | | | able to look after her. |