Claim: Cary Grant painted in the film His Girl Friday.

Cary Grant -LRB- born Archibald Alec Leach ; January 18 , 1904 -- November 29 , 1986 -RRB- was a British-American actor , known as one of classic Hollywood 's definitive leading men . He began a career in Hollywood in the early 1930s , and became known for his transatlantic accent , debonair demeanor , and light-hearted approach to acting and sense of comic timing . He became an American citizen in 1942 .   Born in Horfield , Bristol , Grant became attracted to theatre at a young age , and began performing with a troupe known as `` The Penders '' from the age of six . After attending Bishop Road Primary School and Fairfield Grammar School in Bristol , he toured the country as a stage performer , and decided to stay in New York City after a performance there . He established a name for himself in vaudeville in the 1920s and toured the United States before moving to Hollywood in the early 1930s . He initially appeared in crime films or dramas such as Blonde Venus -LRB- 1932 -RRB- and She Done Him Wrong -LRB- 1933 -RRB- , but later gained renown for his appearances in romantic comedy and screwball comedy films such as The Awful Truth -LRB- 1937 -RRB- , Bringing Up Baby -LRB- 1938 -RRB- , His Girl Friday -LRB- 1940 -RRB- and The Philadelphia Story -LRB- 1940 -RRB- . Along with the later Arsenic and Old Lace -LRB- 1944 -RRB- and I Was a Male War Bride -LRB- 1949 -RRB- ; these films are frequently cited as among the all-time great comedy films . Having established himself as a major Hollywood star , he was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Actor , for Penny Serenade -LRB- 1941 -RRB- and None but the Lonely Heart -LRB- 1944 -RRB- .   In the 1940s and 1950s , Grant forged a working relationship with the director Alfred Hitchcock , appearing in films such as Suspicion -LRB- 1941 -RRB- , Notorious -LRB- 1946 -RRB- , To Catch a Thief -LRB- 1955 -RRB- and North by Northwest -LRB- 1959 -RRB- . Hitchcock admired Grant and considered him to have been the only actor that he had ever loved working with . Towards the end of his film career , Grant was praised by critics as a romantic leading man , and received five Golden Globe Award for Best Actor nominations , including Indiscreet -LRB- 1958 -RRB- with Ingrid Bergman , That Touch of Mink -LRB- 1962 -RRB- with Doris Day , and Charade -LRB- 1963 -RRB- with Audrey Hepburn . He is remembered by critics for his unusually broad appeal , as a handsome , suave actor who did not take himself too seriously , possessing the ability to play with his own dignity in comedies without sacrificing it entirely . His comic timing and delivery made Grant what Premiere magazine considers to have been `` quite simply , the funniest actor cinema has ever produced '' .   Grant was married five times ; three of his marriages were elopements with actresses -- Virginia Cherrill -LRB- 1934 -- 1935 -RRB- , Betsy Drake -LRB- 1949 -- 1962 -RRB- and Dyan Cannon -LRB- 1965 -- 1968 -RRB- . He has one daughter with Cannon , Jennifer Grant -LRB- born 1966 -RRB- . After his retirement from film acting in 1966 , Grant pursued numerous business interests , representing cosmetics firm Fabergé , and sitting on the board of MGM and others . He was presented with an Honorary Oscar by his friend Frank Sinatra at the 42nd Academy Awards in 1970 , and in 1981 , he was accorded the Kennedy Center Honors . In 1999 , the American Film Institute named Grant the second greatest male star of Golden Age Hollywood cinema , after Humphrey Bogart .