Cary Grant

"EVERYONE WANTS TO BE CARY GRANT": Cary Grant, 29th Annual Academy Awards, 1957
"Everyone wants to be Cary Grant; even I want to be Cary Grant." That's how cheeky Archie Leach (Grant's real name) summed up the paragon of suave charm and elegance Grant so often incarnated on ... morethe silver screen. He was the model for Ian Fleming's James Bond, and no one was better at screwball comedy and noir suspensers -- though, as a onetime acrobat, he handled action films with equal grace. Starring in an unparalleled number of masterpieces -- especially by Howard Hawks and Alfred Hitchcock -- Grant turned in one superb performance after another, as though excellence was easy as pie. It's a shock to realize he was nominated only twice for Best Actor, in a couple of his gloomier films ("None but the Lonely Heart," "Penny Serenade"). In 1957, impeccably groomed and tuxedoed, Grant was gallantly on hand to accept a Best Actress Oscar on behalf of his "Notorious" co-star Ingrid Bergman (for "Anastasia"). Shamefully, this Hollywood aristocrat had to wait until 1970 to be honored by the Academy of Arts and Sciences, with a Lifetime Achievement Award. (Michael Ochs Archives/Corbis)