Our next outing with Cary Grant will take us to two and one-half years later, Thursday, February to listen to an episode of the Burns and Allen Show. Well-known for his comic acting, Grant was a perfect guest for this comedy show.
Grant developed a close working relationship with the director Alfred Hitchcock in the 1940s and 1950s. Hitchcock cast Grant in four of films, Suspicion in 1941, Notorious in 1946, To Catch a Thief in 1955 and North By Northwest in 1959. In Suspicion and Notorious, he played darker, more morally ambiguous characters, much against the type he usually played in films.
I am resetting he time portal’s radio dial to Thursday, February 13, 1947 for the “Marrying Cary Grant to Gracie’s Cousin” episode of the Burns and Allen Show.
Toward the end of his career, Grant was praised by critics as a romantic leading man. He received five nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, including for Indiscreet (1958), That Touch of Mink (1962) and Charade (1963). He is remembered by critics for his unusually broad appeal as a handsome, suave actor who did not take himself too seriously. Grant was able to play with his own dignity in comedies without sacrificing it entirely.
Grant was married five times. Three of the marriages were to actresses with whom he eloped: Virginia Cherrill (1934–1935), Betsy Drake (1949–1962), and Dyan Cannon (1965–1968). He had a daughter, Jennifer Grant, with Cannon. Grant retired from film acting in 1966 and pursued numerous business interests. He represented cosmetics firm Fabergé and sat on the board of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In 1970, he was presented with an Honorary Oscar by his friend Frank Sinatra at the 42nd Academy Awards. He was accorded the Kennedy Center Honors in 1981. Grant died of a stroke on November 29, 1986, in Davenport, Iowa at age 82. In 1999, the American Film Institute named him the second greatest male star of Golden Age Hollywood cinema. Can you give me the name of the actor who was named number one? I’ll have the answer for you before next week’s journey begins.
Sorry to say that our journey for this week has ended. But don’t fret. I‘ll be back next week at this same time for another journey back to The Golden Age of Radio. Do you have a favorite program you would like to hear. If so, drop me an email at radiotheater@wbnj.org; and give me the name of the show so I can schedule it for a future journey. Even if you have no special request, email me the answer to the question I just asked at the end of this journey.
This is Mike Alexander for The Unforgettable Radio Theater asking you to join me next week for another trip back to the Golden Age of Radio. I’ll be right here waiting to set your radio dial and guide you through the time portal.
