Celebrities You Didn’t Know Were Spies on the Side

Actor Cary Grant Sought to Expose Nazi Sympathizers in Hollywood

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Photo by Maureen Donaldson/Getty Images

Cary Grant (North by Northwest, To Catch a Thief) was a heartthrob in 1940s Hollywood, but he was also spying on fellow actors. During World War II he kept his eyes on stars such as Errol Flynn and Gary Cooper, who was suspected of being Nazi sympathizers. Grant worked as a British intelligence operative and donated his paychecks from two of his films to British Forces. The FBI also reportedly hired him to spy on his second wife, Woolworth’s heiress Barbara Hutton, who was suspected of financially supporting the Nazis. Grant’s work didn’t go unnoticed. In 1947 he received the Kings Medal for Services in the Cause of Freedom.

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