Home > James Cagney

Born in Yonkers, New York, Cagney graduated from Stuyvesant High School in New York City in 1918.

He worked in vaudeville and on Broadway, marrying the dancer Frances Willard (aka: "Billie") Vernon on September 28, 1922. When Warner Brothers bought the film rights to the play Penny Arcade they took Cagney and his co-star Joan BlondellRose Joan Blondell ( August 30, 1906 December 25, 1979) was an American actress. Born into a vaudeville family in New York City, Blondell was a sexy, wisecracking, blonde pre- Hays Code staple of Warner Brothers who appeared in more than 100 movies and te from the stage to the screen in Sinner's Holiday ( 19301930 is the common year starting on Wednesday. see link for calendar) Events January-February January 6 The first diesel-engine automobile trip is completed ( Indianapolis, Indiana, to New York City). January 27 Miguel Primo de Rivera resigns January 30 G).

Cagney went on to star in numerous films, making his name as a 'tough guy' in a series of crime films such as The Public EnemySee Public Enemy for the music group. See An Enemy of the People for the Ibsen's drama. The Public Enemy is a 1931 film noir crime drama in which a good brother tries to turn his bad brother back onto the good path. It stars James Cagney, Edward Woods, Je ( 19311931 is the common year starting on Thursday. see link for calendar) Events January January 4 Female aviator Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa January 6 Thomas Edison submits his last patent application. January 22 Sir Isaac Isaacs sworn in as the), Blonde Crazy ( 19311931 is the common year starting on Thursday. see link for calendar) Events January January 4 Female aviator Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa January 6 Thomas Edison submits his last patent application. January 22 Sir Isaac Isaacs sworn in as the) and Hard to Handle ( 1933Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s Years: 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 See also 1933 in aviation 1933 in film 1933 in literature 1933 in mu). He went on to better things including Angels with Dirty FacesAngels with Dirty Faces is a 1938 film which tells the story of two boys, growing up in the slums of New York City, who take different paths one becomes a gangster, one a priest. When they meet again as adults, the priest must keep his former friend from ( 1938Events January -June January 3 The March of Dimes is established by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. January 11 Frances Moulton is the first woman to become president of a US national bank. January 20 Wedding of king Farouk I of Egypt and Farida Zulficar in Cai), a Academy Award winning role in Yankee Doodle Dandy ( 1942), White Heat ( 1949, "Made it, Ma! Top of the world!"), and Mister Roberts ( 1955).

He was one of the founders of the Screen Actors Guild and president of the Guild from 1942- 44.

Cagney's final appearance on film was in Ragtime in 1981, capping a career that covered over seventy films, although his film prior to Ragtime had been in 1961 with One, Two, Three. During this hiatus Cagney rebuffed all film offers, including a substantial one in "My Fair Lady", to devote time to learning how to paint (at which he became very accomplished), and tending to his beloved farm in Stanfordville, New York.

In 1974 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Film Institute and in 1984 his friend Ronald Reagan awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Cagney's health deteriorated substantially after 1979, and the role in Ragtime, as well as a later television appearance in 1984, was designed to aid in his convalescence.

As a tribute to the myriad talents and interests James Cagney had in life, his pallbearers included boxer Floyd Patterson, dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, actor Ralph Bellamy, and film director Milos Forman.

The stereotypical impression of James Cagney involves wearing a trenchcoat and a hat and sneering "You dirty rat!", a line he never said. The origin of this is from the 1931 film Taxi! where Cagney delivered the line "Come out and take it, you dirty, yellow-bellied rat, or I'll give it to you through the door!" often misquoted as "Come out, you dirty rat, or I'll give it to you through the door!".

James Cagney died of a heart attack while ill with diabetes in Stanfordville, New York at the age of 86 and is interred in the Cemetery of the Gate of Heaven in Hawthorne, New York.