The Cary Grant We Knew Was a Carefully Crafted Façade

A Star Is Born

Archibald Alexander Leach was welcomed into the world on January 18, 1904. Life growing up wasn’t ideal. Archie wasn’t raised with siblings as he was the only surviving child of an alcoholic father and an overbearing mother.

Cary Grant and Grace Kelly are in a promotional shot for a film.

Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images

It was a really hard time in a very different world. The family lived in abject poverty but managed to stay afloat, thanks to his father’s job at a clothing factory… at least until Archibald turned 11. Then, everything changed. The little stability the future actor had disappeared.

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