In January 2024, one of the greatest cinema legends of all time, Archibald Leach, would turn 120 years old. You probably know him better by his stage name Cary Grant. Born in Bristol, England, but reinvented in the United States, where he emigrated as a young man with a group of artists, Cary Grant is still unsurpassed today in his popularity with men and women as one of the most beloved stars of Western culture.

Class, humor, and good acting were his trademarks. He never won an Oscar for a film, but he made sure several of his co-stars did because he brought out the best in everyone when he was acting (he received an honorary honor years later). His childhood marked by pain and poverty only became known after Cary was already a star, and it is the content explored in the miniseries about his life, released close to the date.

He grew up with a reputation as a troublemaker and the nickname “Archie”, the son of an alcoholic father, a depressed mother, and without enough money to survive. He was just eleven years old when his mother was committed to a mental institution by his father, and years later he was expelled from school due to erratic behavior. At age 15 he entered the world of vaudeville, which took him from London to New York. Handsome, an acrobat and a tightrope walker, he left Broadway for Hollywood, where he finally felt at home. Like Cary Grant, the actor quickly became a favorite with directors, actors, and the public alike.

Unsurprisingly, Cary’s personal life has sparked a lot of curiosity and gossip. For some he hid a gay life (and a romance with Randolph Scott), something he hated any mention of, as well as women, after all, he married no less than 5 times in addition to having romances with several famous people. He only had one daughter, Jenniffer, to whom he dedicated all his love and time and who is the producer of the Archie series.

His persona remained intact for many years because he didn’t like giving interviews and yet we know so many secrets, including his use of LSD for therapeutic purposes when he was older and wanted to combat hereditary depression. As he anticipated, after his death all the skeletons would come out of the closet, real or not. He died in 1986, at the age of 82, after a massive brain hemorrhage while leaving the theater where he was rehearsing the show A Conversation with Cary. “The dead cannot defend themselves,” he once wrote. “Even if those closest to them defend them against inventions, the damage remains. I always told my wife and daughter to expect the worst about me.”

Here is a tribute to a true star, unique in the entire history of Cinema.

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