James Cagney

Birthday: 17 July 1899, New York City, New York, USA

Birth Name: James Francis Cagney

Height: 169 cm

One of Hollywood's preeminent male stars of all time (eclipsed, perhaps, only by "King" Clark Gable and arguably by Gary Cooper or Spencer Tracy), and the cinema's quintessential "tough guy", James Cagney was also an accomplished--if rather stiff--hoofer and easily played light comedy. James Francis Cagney was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, to Carolyn (Nelson) and James Francis Cagney, Sr., who was a bartender and amateur boxer. Cagney was of Norwegian (from his maternal grandfather) and Irish descent. Ending three decades on the screen, he retired to his farm in Stanfordville, New York (some 77 miles/124 km. north of his New York City birthplace), after starring in Billy Wilder's One, Two, Three (1961). He emerged from retirement to star in the 1981 screen adaptation of E.L. Doctorow's novel "Ragtime" (Ragtime (1981)), in which he was reunited with his frequent co-star of the 1930s, Pat O'Brien, and which was his last theatrical film and O'Brien's as well). Cagney's final performance came in the title role of the made-for-TV movie Terrible Joe Moran (1984), in which he played opposite Art Carney. Show less «

I hate the word "superstar". I have never been able to think in those terms. They are overstatements...Show more »

I hate the word "superstar". I have never been able to think in those terms. They are overstatements. You don't hear them speak of [William Shakespeare] as a superpoet. You don't hear them call Michelangelo a superpainter. They only apply the word to this mundane market. Show less «

When I was younger, if someone had told me I had only two years to live, I'd have gone to an island ...Show more »

When I was younger, if someone had told me I had only two years to live, I'd have gone to an island that was really country--and just rocked it out by myself. But if someone told me the same thing today, I believe I'd probably travel--just to get away from all the noise and nonsense we are surrounded with. Show less «

[in the early 1960s] In this business you need enthusiasm. I don't have enthusiasm for acting anymor...Show more »

[in the early 1960s] In this business you need enthusiasm. I don't have enthusiasm for acting anymore. Acting is not the beginning and end of everything. Show less «

My biggest concern is that doing a rough-and-tumble scene I might hurt someone accidentally.

They need you. Without you, they have an empty screen. So, when you get on there, just do what you t...Show more »

They need you. Without you, they have an empty screen. So, when you get on there, just do what you think is right and stick with it. Show less «

I still think of myself essentially as a vaudevillian, as a song and dance man. The vaudevillians I ...Show more »

I still think of myself essentially as a vaudevillian, as a song and dance man. The vaudevillians I knew by and large were marvelous people. Ninety percent of them had no schooling, but they had a vivid something or other about them that absolutely riveted an audience's attention. Those vaudevillians knew something that ultimately I came to understand and believe - that audiences are the ones who determine material. They buy the tickets. Show less «

The lovers of hate, born in fear - Find no release from tension - They spend their lives in a perman...Show more »

The lovers of hate, born in fear - Find no release from tension - They spend their lives in a permanent state - Of miserable apprehension. Show less «

My father was totally Irish, and so I went to Ireland once. I found it to be very much like New York...Show more »

My father was totally Irish, and so I went to Ireland once. I found it to be very much like New York, for it was a beautiful country, and both the women and men were good-looking. Show less «

There's not much to say about acting but this. Never settle back on your heels. Never relax. If you ...Show more »

There's not much to say about acting but this. Never settle back on your heels. Never relax. If you relax, the audience relaxes. And always mean everything you say. Show less «

The things the world most needs are simplicity, honesty and decency--and you find them more often in...Show more »

The things the world most needs are simplicity, honesty and decency--and you find them more often in the country than in the city. My feeling for the country goes beyond sense. I don't like to be in the cities at all. I like to be where animals are--and thing growing. Show less «

Learn your lines, find your mark, look 'em in the eye and tell 'em the truth.

You know, the period of World War I and the Roaring Twenties were really just about the same as toda...Show more »

You know, the period of World War I and the Roaring Twenties were really just about the same as today. You worked, and you made a living if you could, and you tried to make the best of things. For an actor or a dancer, it was no different then than today. It was a struggle. Show less «

[on his Hollywood arrival] I came out here on a three week guarantee, and I stayed, to my absolute a...Show more »

[on his Hollywood arrival] I came out here on a three week guarantee, and I stayed, to my absolute amazement, for thirty-one years. Show less «

Once a song and dance man, always a song and dance man. Those few words tell as much about me profes...Show more »

Once a song and dance man, always a song and dance man. Those few words tell as much about me professionally as there is to tell. Show less «

[about his most famous misquoted line] I never actually said, "Nnng-you dirty ra-at!" What I actuall...Show more »

[about his most famous misquoted line] I never actually said, "Nnng-you dirty ra-at!" What I actually said was [imitating Cary Grant] "Judy! Judy! Judy!" Show less «

[about The Public Enemy (1931)] What not many people know is that right up to two days before shooti...Show more »

[about The Public Enemy (1931)] What not many people know is that right up to two days before shooting started, I was going to play the good guy, the pal. Edward Woods played it in the end. Show less «

The thing is to try to give the audience something to take away with them. That's what I always want...Show more »

The thing is to try to give the audience something to take away with them. That's what I always wanted to do. Show less «

[Telegram sent to House Ways and Means Committee regarding No Runways on Vacation Isle - 1969] For m...Show more »

[Telegram sent to House Ways and Means Committee regarding No Runways on Vacation Isle - 1969] For more than 30 years I have watched Martha's Vineyard go downhill as a place of natural wonder and peaceful haven. Now they are talking of runways for jets. Is there to be no end to the destruction of all that is natural and worthwhile? Please give it some thought. Show less «

Learn your lines ... plant your feet ... look the other actor in the eye ... say the words ... mean ...Show more »

Learn your lines ... plant your feet ... look the other actor in the eye ... say the words ... mean them. Show less «

With me, a career was the simple matter of putting groceries on the table.

All I try to do is to realise the man I'm playing fully, then put as much into my acting as I know h...Show more »

All I try to do is to realise the man I'm playing fully, then put as much into my acting as I know how. To do it, I draw upon all that I've ever known, heard, seen or remember. Show less «

Where I come from, if there's a buck to be made, you don't ask questions, you go ahead and make it.

[in 1931] I'm sick of guns and beating up women. Movies should be entertaining, not bloodbaths.

James Cagney

James Cagney's FILMOGRAPHY

James Cagney'S roles

Feedback about this page?