James Cagney

James Francis Cagney Jr. (; July 17, 1899 – March 30, 1986)

Cagney is remembered for playing multifaceted tough guys in films such as The Public Enemy (1931), Taxi! (1932), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), The Roaring Twenties (1939), City for Conquest (1940) and White Heat (1949), finding himself typecast in the early years of his career. He was able to negotiate dancing opportunities in his films and ended up winning the Academy Award for his role of George M. Cohan in the musical Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942). In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth on its list of greatest male stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Orson Welles described him as "maybe the greatest actor who ever appeared in front of a camera".

After making his debut in 1919, he spent several years in vaudeville as a dancer and comedian and played his first major acting role in 1925. Al Jolson was sufficiently impressed by his performance in 1929's Penny Arcade that he bought the rights to it, securing Cagney's part in the Warner Bros. adaptation of the play. This marked the beginning of a lengthy, albeit turbulent association with the studio.

Cagney's fifth film, The Public Enemy, became one of the most influential gangster movies of the period. He became one of Hollywood's leading stars and one of Warner Bros.' biggest contracts at the time. In 1938, he received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his subtle portrayal of the tough guy/man-child Rocky Sullivan in Angels with Dirty Faces. He was nominated a third time in 1955 for Love Me or Leave Me with Doris Day. Cagney retired from acting and dancing in 1961. He came out of retirement 20 years later for a part in the movie Ragtime (1981), mainly to aid his recovery from a stroke.

Cagney walked out on Warner Bros. twice over the course of his career, each time returning on much improved personal and artistic terms. In 1935, he sued Warner for breach of contract and signed with Edward L. Alperson's independent company Grand National Pictures. In 1942, he established his own production company, Cagney Productions, before returning to Warner seven years later. In reference to Cagney's refusal to be pushed around, Jack L. Warner called him "the Professional Againster". Cagney also made numerous USO troop tours before and during World War II and served as president of the Screen Actors Guild for two years.

Early life James Francis "Jimmy" Cagney Jr. was born in 1899 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. His biographers disagree as to the actual location: either on the corner of Avenue D and 8th Street, or in a top-floor apartment at 391 East 8th Street, the address that is on his birth certificate. His father, James Francis Cagney Sr. (1875–1918), was of Irish descent. At the time of his son's birth, he was a bartender and amateur boxer, although on Cagney's birth certificate, he is listed as a telegraphist.

Cagney was the second of seven children, two of whom died within months of their births. He was sickly as an infant—so much so that his mother feared he would die before he could be baptized. He later attributed his poor health to the poverty his family endured. The family moved twice while he was still young, first to East 79th Street, and then to East 96th Street. He was confirmed at St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church in Manhattan; his funeral service would eventually be held in the same church. where he intended to major in Art. He also took German and joined the Student Army Training Corps, but he dropped out after one semester, returning home upon the death of his father during the 1918 flu pandemic. He gave all his earnings to his family. While Cagney was working for the New York Public Library, he met Florence James, who helped him into an acting career. Cagney believed in hard work, later stating, "It was good for me. I feel sorry for the kid who has too cushy a time of it. Suddenly he has to come face-to-face with the realities of life without any mama or papa to do his thinking for him." He engaged in amateur boxing, and was a runner-up for the New York state lightweight title. His coaches encouraged him to turn professional, but his mother would not allow it. He also played semi-professional baseball for a local team,

His introduction to films was unusual. When visiting an aunt who lived in Brooklyn, opposite Vitagraph Studios, Cagney would climb over the fence to watch the filming of John Bunny movies.

Career 1919–1930: Early career In 1919, while Cagney was working at Wanamaker's Department Store, a colleague saw him dance and informed him about a role in the upcoming production Every Sailor. It was a wartime play in which the chorus was made up of servicemen dressed as women that was originally titled Ever Sailor. Cagney auditioned for the chorus, although considering it a waste of time, as he knew only one dance step, the complicated Peabody, but he knew it perfectly. This was enough to convince the producers that he could dance, and he copied the other dancers' moves and added them to his repertoire while waiting to go on. He did not find it odd to play a woman, nor was he embarrassed. He later recalled how he was able to shed his own naturally shy persona when he stepped onto the stage: "For there I am not myself. I am not that fellow, Jim Cagney, at all. I certainly lost all consciousness of him when I put on skirts, wig, paint, powder, feathers and spangles."

Had Cagney's mother had her way, his stage career would have ended when he quit Every Sailor after two months; proud as she was of his performance, she preferred that he get an education. Cagney appreciated the $35 a week he was paid, which he later remembered as "a mountain of money for me in those worrisome days." ) So strong was his habit of holding down more than one job at a time, that he also worked as a dresser for one of the leads, portered the casts' luggage, and understudied for the lead.

Pitter Patter was not hugely successful, but it did well enough to run for 32 weeks, making it possible for Cagney to join the vaudeville circuit. He and Vernon toured separately with a number of different troupes, reuniting as "Vernon and Nye" to do simple comedy routines and musical numbers. "Nye" was a rearrangement of the last syllable of Cagney's surname. One of the troupes Cagney joined was Parker, Rand, and Leach, taking over the spot vacated when Archie Leach—who later changed his name to Cary Grant—left.

In 1924, after years of touring and struggling to make money, Cagney and Vernon moved to Hawthorne, California, partly for Cagney to meet his new mother-in-law, who had just moved there from Chicago, and partly to investigate breaking into the movies. Their train fares were paid for by a friend, the press officer of Pitter Patter, who was also desperate to act. They were not successful at first; the dance studio Cagney set up had few clients and folded; Vernon and he toured the studios, but there was no interest. Eventually, they borrowed some money and headed back to New York via Chicago and Milwaukee, enduring failure along the way when they attempted to make money on the stage. Cagney felt that he got the role only because his hair was redder than that of Alan Bunce, the only other red-headed performer in New York. Both the play and Cagney received good reviews; Life magazine wrote, "Mr. Cagney, in a less spectacular role [than his co-star] makes a few minutes silence during his mock-trial scene something that many a more established actor might watch with profit." Burns Mantle wrote that it "...contained the most honest acting now to be seen in New York."

Following the four-month run of Outside Looking In, the Cagneys were financially secure enough for Cagney to return to vaudeville over the next few years, achieving various success. During this period, he met George M. Cohan, whom he later portrayed in Yankee Doodle Dandy, though they never spoke.

Cagney secured the lead role in the 1926–27 season West End production of Broadway by George Abbott. The show's management insisted that he copy Broadway lead Lee Tracy's performance, despite Cagney's discomfort in doing so, but the day before the show sailed for England, they decided to replace him. This was a devastating turn of events for Cagney apart from the logistical difficulties this presented – the couple's luggage was in the hold of the ship and they had given up their apartment. He almost quit show business. As Vernon recalled, "Jimmy said that it was all over. He made up his mind that he would get a job doing something else."

The Cagneys had run-of-the-play contracts, which lasted as long as the play did. Vernon was in the chorus line of the show, and with help from the Actors' Equity Association, Cagney understudied Tracy on the Broadway show, providing them with a desperately needed steady income. Cagney also established a dance school for professionals, and then landed a part in the play Women Go On Forever, directed by John Cromwell, which ran for four months. By the end of the run, Cagney was exhausted from acting and running the dance school.

Cagney had built a reputation as an innovative teacher; when he was cast as the lead in Grand Street Follies of 1928, he was also appointed choreographer. The show received rave reviews and was followed by Grand Street Follies of 1929. These roles led to a part in George Kelly's Maggie the Magnificent, a play the critics disliked, though they liked Cagney's performance. Cagney saw this role (and Women Go on Forever) as significant because of the talented directors he met. He learned "...what a director was for and what a director could do. They were directors who could play all the parts in the play better than the actors cast for them."

1930–1935: Warner Bros.

Sinners' Holiday (1930) and The Doorway to Hell (1930) Playing opposite Cagney in Maggie the Magnificent was Joan Blondell, who starred again with him a few months later in Marie Baumer's new play, Penny Arcade. While the critics panned Penny Arcade, they praised Cagney and Blondell. Al Jolson, sensing film potential, bought the rights for $20,000. He then sold the play to Warner Bros., with the stipulation that they cast Cagney and Blondell in the film version. Retitled Sinners' Holiday, the film was released in 1930, starring Grant Withers and Evalyn Knapp. Cagney was given a $500-a-week, three-week contract with Warner Bros.

In the film, he portrayed Harry Delano, a tough guy who becomes a killer but generates sympathy because of his unfortunate upbringing. This role of the sympathetic "bad" guy was to become a recurring character type for Cagney throughout his career. During filming of Sinners' Holiday, he also demonstrated the stubbornness that characterized his attitude toward the work. He later recalled an argument he had with director John Adolfi about a line: "There was a line in the show where I was supposed to be crying on my mother's breast... [The line] was 'I'm your baby, ain't I?' I refused to say it. Adolfi said 'I'm going to tell Zanuck.' I said 'I don't give a shit what you tell him, I'm not going to say that line. They took the line out.

Despite this outburst, the studio liked him, and before his three-week contract was up—while the film was still shooting —they gave Cagney a three-week extension, which was followed by a full seven-year contract at $400 a week. He made four more movies before his breakthrough role.

The Public Enemy (1931)

Warner Brothers' succession of gangster movie hits, in particular Little Caesar with Edward G. Robinson, culminated in the 1931 film The Public Enemy. Due to the strong reviews he had received in his short film career, Cagney was cast as nice-guy Matt Doyle, opposite Edward Woods as Tom Powers. However, after the initial rushes, the actors switched roles. Years later, Joan Blondell recalled that a few days into the filming, director William Wellman turned to Cagney and said "Now you're the lead, kid!" "Jimmy's charisma was so outstanding", she added.

Cagney received widespread praise for his performance. The New York Herald Tribune described his interpretation as "...the most ruthless, unsentimental appraisal of the meanness of a petty killer the cinema has yet devised." He received top billing after the film, but while he acknowledged the importance of the role to his career, he always disputed the suggestion that it changed the way heroes and leading men were portrayed. He cited Clark Gable's slapping of Barbara Stanwyck six months earlier (in Night Nurse) as more important. Night Nurse was actually released three months after The Public Enemy. Gable's character punched Stanwyck's, knocking the nurse unconscious.

alt=Cagney, in striped pajamas, looks angry as he reaches across a breakfast table with the grapefruit in his hand. Many critics view the scene in which Cagney pushes half a grapefruit into Mae Clarke's face as one of the most famous moments in movie history. The scene itself was a late addition, and the origin of the idea is a matter of debate: producer Darryl Zanuck claimed he thought of it in a script conference, Wellman said the idea came to him when he saw the grapefruit on the table during the shoot, and writers Glasmon and Bright claimed it was based on the real life of gangster Hymie Weiss, who threw an omelet into his girlfriend's face. Joan Blondell recalled that the change was made when Cagney decided the omelet wouldn't work. However, according to Turner Classic Movies (TCM), the grapefruit scene was a practical joke that Cagney and costar Mae Clarke decided to play on the crew while the cameras were rolling. Wellman liked it so much that he left it in. TCM also notes that the scene made Clarke's ex-husband, Lew Brice, very happy. "He saw the film repeatedly just to see that scene, and was often shushed by angry patrons when his delighted laughter got too loud."

Cagney's stubbornness became well known behind the scenes, especially after he refused to join in a 100% participation-free charity drive pushed by Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Cagney did not object to donating money to charity, but he did object to being forced to give. Already he had acquired the nickname "The Professional Againster".

Smart Money (1931), Blonde Crazy (1931), and Taxi! (1932)

Warner Bros. was quick to team its two rising gangster stars, Edward G. Robinson and Cagney, for the 1931 film Smart Money. Eager to follow the success of Robinson's Little Caesar, the studio filmed Smart Money concurrently with The Public Enemy.

With the introduction of the Motion Picture Production Code of 1930 that placed limits upon on-screen violence, Warner Bros. allowed Cagney a change of pace, casting him in the comedy Blonde Crazy, again opposite Blondell.

The Public Enemy was an enormous box-office success, and Cagney began to compare his pay with that of his peers, believing that his contract allowed for salary adjustments based on the success of his films. However, Warner Bros. refused to allow him a pay raise. The studio heads also insisted that Cagney continue promoting their films, even those in which he did not appear, despite his opposition. Cagney returned to New York, leaving his brother Bill to look after his apartment.

While Cagney was in New York, his brother, who had effectively become his agent, sought a substantial pay raise and more personal freedom for him. Following the success of The Public Enemy and Blonde Crazy, Warner Bros. offered Cagney a contract for $1,000 per week. Cagney's first film upon returning from New York was Taxi! (1932), a critical success in which Cagney danced for the first time on screen. It also marked the last time that he permitted live ammunition to be shot at him, a relatively common occurrence at the time, as blank cartridges and squibs were rare and expensive. During filming for Taxi!, he was almost hit by gunfire. In the film's opening scene, Cagney speaks fluent Yiddish, a language that he had learned during childhood in New York City.

The film was swiftly followed by The Crowd Roars and Winner Take All.

Fighting with Warner Bros. alt=Head and shoulders shot of Cagney, looking stern, wearing a suit with a white handkerchief in his pocket. Along with George Raft, Edward G. Robinson, and Humphrey Bogart, all of whom were Warner Bros. actors, Cagney defined what a movie gangster was. In G Men (1935), however, he played a lawyer who joins the FBI.

Despite his success, Cagney remained dissatisfied with his contract. He wanted more money for his successful films, but he also offered to take a smaller salary should his star wane. Warner Bros. refused, so Cagney once again walked out. He held out for $4000 a week,

Having learned about the block-booking studio system that virtually guaranteed the studios huge profits, Cagney was determined to spread the wealth. He regularly sent money and goods to old friends from his neighborhood, though he did not generally make this known. His insistence on no more than four films a year was based on his having witnessed actors—even teenagers—regularly being worked 100 hours a week to turn out more films. This experience was an integral reason for his involvement in forming the Screen Actors Guild in 1933.

Cagney returned to the studio and made Hard to Handle (1933). This was followed by a steady stream of crowd-pleasing films, including the highly regarded Footlight Parade, which gave Cagney the chance to return to his song-and-dance roots. The film includes show-stopping scenes with Busby Berkeley-choreographed routines. In 1934, Here Comes the Navy paired him with Pat O'Brien for the first of nine films together. The two would have an enduring friendship. Also in 1934, Cagney made his first of two raucous comedies with Bette Davis, Jimmy the Gent, for which he had himself heavily made up with thick eyebrows and procured an odd haircut for the period without the studio's permission, shaved on the back and sides. Cagney initially had the make-up department put prominent scars on the back of his head for a close-up but the studio demanded that he remove them. Cagney's and Davis's fast-paced scenes together were particularly energetic.

In 1935 Cagney was listed as one of the Top Ten Moneymakers in Hollywood for the first time, and was cast more frequently in non-gangster roles; he played a lawyer who joins the FBI in G-Men, and he also took on his first, and only, Shakespearean role, as top-billed Nick Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream alongside Joe E. Brown as Francis Flute and Mickey Rooney as Puck.

Cagney's last movie in 1935 was Ceiling Zero, his third film with Pat O'Brien. O'Brien received top billing, which was a clear breach of Cagney's contract. This, combined with the fact that Cagney had made five movies in 1934, again against his contract terms, caused him to bring legal proceedings against Warner Bros. for breach of contract. The dispute dragged on for several months. Cagney received calls from David Selznick and Sam Goldwyn, but neither felt in a position to offer him work while the dispute went on. Cagney made two features for Grand National: the crime drama Great Guy (1936) with Cagney as a federal inspector, and the musical Something to Sing About (1937) with Cagney as a bandleader and dancer. He received good reviews for both.

Cagney might have continued with Grand National but the studio, having spent lavishly on the Cagney films, couldn't recoup the production costs. Grand National usually made low-budget features for small, neighborhood theaters, and the Cagney films proved too expensive for the intended market. Grand National had acquired a promising story property from author Rowland Brown, Angels with Dirty Faces, for $30,000. Cagney was slated to star in the film version but, with the studio in financial trouble, the project went no further. Cagney took the script to Warner Bros., which bought it from Grand National and filmed it in 1938.

Cagney also became involved in political causes, and in 1936, agreed to sponsor the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League. Unknown to Cagney, the League was in fact a front organization for the Communist International (Comintern), which sought to enlist support for the Soviet Union and its foreign policies.

The courts eventually decided the Warner Bros. lawsuit in Cagney's favor. He had done what many thought unthinkable: taking on the studios and winning. Not only did he win, but Warner Bros. also knew that he was still their foremost box office draw and invited him back for a five-year, $150,000-a-film deal, with no more than two pictures a year. Cagney also had full say over what films he did and did not make. Additionally, William Cagney was guaranteed the position of assistant producer for the movies in which his brother starred.

Cagney had demonstrated the power of the walkout in holding the studios to their word. He later explained his reasons, saying, "I walked out because I depended on the studio heads to keep their word on this, that, or other promise, and when the promise was not kept, my only recourse was to deprive them of my services." Cagney himself acknowledged the importance of the walkout for other actors in breaking the dominance of the studio system. Normally, when a star walked out, the time he or she was absent was added onto the end of an already long contract, as happened with Olivia de Havilland and Bette Davis.

1938–1942: Return to Warner Bros. Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)

Cagney's two films of 1938, Boy Meets Girl and Angels with Dirty Faces, both costarred Pat O'Brien. The former was a fast-paced farce with a Hollywood theme, with Cagney and O'Brien playing for laughs, and received mixed reviews. Warner Bros. had allowed Cagney his change of pace, but was anxious to get him back to playing tough guys, which was more lucrative.

Cagney starred as Rocky Sullivan, a gangster fresh out of jail and looking for his former associate, played by Humphrey Bogart, who owes him money. While revisiting his old haunts, he runs into his old friend Jerry Connolly, played by O'Brien, who is now a priest concerned about the Dead End Kids' futures, particularly as they idolize Rocky. After a messy shootout, Sullivan is eventually captured by the police and sentenced to death in the electric chair. Connolly pleads with Rocky to "turn yellow" on his way to the chair so the Kids will lose their admiration for him, and hopefully avoid turning to crime. Sullivan refuses, but on his way to his execution, he breaks down and begs for his life. It is unclear whether this cowardice is real or just feigned for the Kids' benefit. Cagney himself refused to say, insisting he liked the ambiguity. The film is regarded by many as one of Cagney's finest, and garnered him an Academy Award for Best Actor nomination for 1938. He lost to Spencer Tracy in Boys Town. Cagney had been considered for the role, but lost out on it due to his typecasting. (He also lost the role of Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne in Knute Rockne, All American to his friend Pat O'Brien for the same reason.

The Roaring Twenties (1939)

During his first year back at Warner Bros., Cagney became the studio's highest earner, making $324,000. He starred with George Raft in the smash hit Each Dawn I Die, an extremely entertaining prison movie that was so successful at the box office that it prompted the studio to offer Raft an important contract in the wake of his departure from Paramount. In addition, Cagney made The Oklahoma Kid, a memorable Western with Humphrey Bogart as the black-clad villain. Cagney completed his first decade of movie-making in 1939 with The Roaring Twenties, his first film with Raoul Walsh and his last with Bogart. After The Roaring Twenties, it would be a decade before Cagney made another gangster film. Cagney again received good reviews; Graham Greene stated, "Mr. Cagney, of the bull-calf brow, is as always a superb and witty actor". The Roaring Twenties was the last film in which Cagney's character's violence was explained by poor upbringing, or his environment, as was the case in The Public Enemy. From that point on, violence was attached to mania, as in White Heat.

1940–1941: City for Conquest, The Fighting 69th, and The Strawberry Blonde

In 1940, Cagney portrayed a boxer in the epic thriller City for Conquest with Ann Sheridan as Cagney's leading lady, Arthur Kennedy in his first screen role as Cagney's younger brother attempting to compose musical symphonies, Anthony Quinn as a brutish dancer, and Elia Kazan as a flamboyantly dressed young gangster originally from the local neighborhood. The well-received film with its shocking plot twists features one of Cagney's most moving performances. Later the same year, Cagney and Sheridan reunited with Pat O'Brien in Torrid Zone, a turbulent comedy set in a Central American country in which a labor organizer is turning the workers against O'Brien's character's banana company, with Cagney's "Nick Butler" intervening. The supporting cast features Andy Devine and George Reeves.

Cagney's third film in 1940 was The Fighting 69th, a World War I film about a real-life unit with Cagney playing a fictional private, alongside Pat O'Brien as Father Francis P. Duffy, George Brent as future OSS leader Maj. "Wild Bill" Donovan, and Jeffrey Lynn as famous young poet Sgt. Joyce Kilmer. Alan Hale Sr., Frank McHugh and Dick Foran also appear. In 1941, Cagney and Bette Davis reunited for a comedy set in the contemporary West titled The Bride Came C.O.D., followed by a change of pace with the gentle turn-of-the-century romantic comedy The Strawberry Blonde (1941) featuring songs of the period and also starring Olivia de Havilland and rising young phenomenon Rita Hayworth, along with Alan Hale Sr. and Jack Carson.

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) Cagney as George M. Cohan, performing "The Yankee Doodle Boy" from Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

"Smart, alert, hard-headed, Cagney is as typically American as Cohan himself... It was a remarkable performance, probably Cagney's best, and it makes Yankee Doodle a dandy" — Time magazine and considered his best. Producer Hal Wallis said that having seen Cohan in I'd Rather Be Right, he never considered anyone other than Cagney for the part. Cagney, though, insisted that Fred Astaire had been the first choice, but turned it down. Many critics of the time and since have declared it Cagney's best film, drawing parallels between Cohan and Cagney; they both began their careers in vaudeville, struggled for years before reaching the peak of their profession, were surrounded with family and married early, and both had a wife who was happy to sit back while he went on to stardom. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won three, including Cagney's for Best Actor. In his acceptance speech, Cagney said, "I've always maintained that in this business, you're only as good as the other fellow thinks you are. It's nice to know that you people thought I did a good job. And don't forget that it was a good part, too."

Filming began the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the cast and crew worked in a "patriotic frenzy" Cohan was given a private showing of the film shortly before his death, and thanked Cagney "for a wonderful job," exclaiming, "My God, what an act to follow!" A paid première, with seats ranging from $25 to $25,000, raised $5,750,000 for war bonds for the US treasury.

1942–1948: Independent again Cagney announced in March 1942 that his brother William and he were setting up Cagney Productions to release films through United Artists. Free of Warner Bros. again, Cagney spent some time relaxing on his farm in Martha's Vineyard before volunteering to join the USO. He spent several weeks touring the US, entertaining troops with vaudeville routines and scenes from Yankee Doodle Dandy. In September 1942, he was elected president of the Screen Actors Guild.

Almost a year after its creation, Cagney Productions produced its first film, Johnny Come Lately, in 1943. While the major studios were producing patriotic war movies, Cagney was determined to continue dispelling his tough-guy image, so he produced a movie that was a "complete and exhilarating exposition of the Cagney 'alter-ego' on film". According to Cagney, the film "made money but it was no great winner", and reviews varied from excellent (Time) to poor (New York's PM).

Following the film's completion, Cagney went back to the USO and toured US military bases in the UK. He refused to give interviews to the British press, preferring to concentrate on rehearsals and performances. He gave several performances a day for the Army Signal Corps of The American Cavalcade of Dance, which consisted of a history of American dance, from the earliest days to Fred Astaire, and culminated with dances from Yankee Doodle Dandy.

The second movie Cagney's company produced was Blood on the Sun. Insisting on doing his own stunts, Cagney required judo training from expert Ken Kuniyuki and from Jack Halloran, a former policeman. He continued to study judo for some time after the film was finished. His use of actual judo throws and holds in the movie has been noted as the first appearance of eastern martial arts in Western film. The Cagneys had hoped that an action film would appeal more to audiences, but it fared worse at the box office than Johnny Come Lately. At this time, Cagney heard of young war hero Audie Murphy, who had appeared on the cover of Life magazine. Cagney thought that Murphy had the looks to be a movie star, and suggested that he come to Hollywood. Cagney felt, however, that Murphy could not act, and his contract was loaned out and then sold.

While negotiating the rights for his third independent film, Cagney starred in 20th Century Fox's 13 Rue Madeleine for $300,000 for two months of work. The wartime spy film was a success, and Cagney was keen to begin production of his new project, an adaptation of William Saroyan's Broadway play The Time of Your Life. Saroyan himself loved the film, but it was a commercial disaster, costing the company half a million dollars to make; audiences again struggled to accept Cagney in a nontough-guy role.

Cagney Productions was in serious trouble; poor returns from the produced films, and a legal dispute with Sam Goldwyn Studio over a rental agreement Cinema had changed in the 10 years since Walsh last directed Cagney (in The Strawberry Blonde), and the actor's portrayal of gangsters had also changed. Unlike Tom Powers in The Public Enemy, Jarrett was portrayed as a raging lunatic with few if any sympathetic qualities. In the 18 intervening years, Cagney's hair had begun to gray, and he developed a paunch for the first time. He was no longer a dashing romantic commodity in precisely the same way he obviously was before, and this was reflected in his performance.

Cagney's final lines in the film – "Made it, Ma! Top of the world!" – was voted the 18th-greatest movie line by the American Film Institute. Likewise, Jarrett's explosion of rage in prison on being told of his mother's death is widely hailed as one of Cagney's most memorable performances. Some of the extras on set actually became terrified of the actor because of his violent portrayal. Cagney was still struggling against his gangster typecasting. He said to a journalist, "It's what the people want me to do. Some day, though, I'd like to make another movie that kids could go and see." However, Warner Bros., perhaps searching for another Yankee Doodle Dandy,

His next film, Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye, was another gangster movie, which was the first by Cagney Productions since its acquisition. While compared unfavorably to White Heat by critics, it was fairly successful at the box office, with $500,000 going straight to Cagney Productions' bankers to pay off their losses. Cagney Productions was not a great success, however, and in 1953, after William Cagney produced his last film, A Lion Is in the Streets, a drama loosely based on flamboyant politician Huey Long, the company came to an end. Cagney described the script as "that extremely rare thing, the perfect script". When the film was released, Snyder reportedly asked how Cagney had so accurately copied his limp, but Cagney himself insisted he had not, having based it on personal observation of other people when they limped: "What I did was very simple. I just slapped my foot down as I turned it out while walking. That's all". Day herself was full of praise for Cagney, stating that he was "the most professional actor I've ever known. He was always 'real'. I simply forgot we were making a picture. His eyes would actually fill up when we were working on a tender scene. And you never needed drops to make your eyes shine when Jimmy was on the set." Cagney enjoyed working with the film's superb cast despite the absence of Tracy. Major film star William Powell played a rare supporting role as "Doc" in the film, his final picture before retirement from a stellar career that had spanned 33 years, since his first appearance in Sherlock Holmes with John Barrymore in 1922. Cagney had worked with Ford on What Price Glory? three years earlier, and they had gotten along fairly well. However, as soon as Ford had met Cagney at the airport for that film, the director warned him that they would eventually "tangle asses", which caught Cagney by surprise. He later said, "I would have kicked his brains out. He was so goddamned mean to everybody. He was truly a nasty old man." The next day, Cagney was slightly late on set, incensing Ford. Cagney cut short his imminent tirade, saying "When I started this picture, you said that we would tangle asses before this was over. I'm ready now – are you?" Ford walked away, and they had no more problems, though Cagney never particularly liked Ford.

1955–1961: Later career In 1955 Cagney replaced Spencer Tracy on the Western film Tribute to a Bad Man for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He received praise for his performance, and the studio liked his work enough to offer him These Wilder Years with Barbara Stanwyck. The two stars got on well; they had both previously worked in vaudeville, and they entertained the cast and crew off-screen by singing and dancing.

In 1956 Cagney undertook one of his very rare television roles, starring in Robert Montgomery's Soldiers From the War Returning. This was a favor to Montgomery, who needed a strong fall season opener to stop the network from dropping his series. Cagney's appearance ensured that it was a success. The actor made it clear to reporters afterwards that television was not his medium: "I do enough work in movies. This is a high-tension business. I have tremendous admiration for the people who go through this sort of thing every week, but it's not for me."

The following year, Cagney appeared in Man of a Thousand Faces, in which he played a fictionalized version of Lon Chaney. He received excellent reviews, with the New York Journal American rating it one of his best performances, and the film, made for Universal, was a box office hit. Cagney's skill at mimicry, combined with a physical similarity to Chaney, helped him generate empathy for his character.

Later in 1957, Cagney ventured behind the camera for the first and only time to direct Short Cut to Hell, a remake of the 1941 Alan Ladd film This Gun for Hire, which in turn was based on the Graham Greene novel A Gun for Sale. Cagney had long been told by friends that he would make an excellent director,

In 1959 Cagney played a labor leader in what proved to be his final musical, Never Steal Anything Small, which featured a comical song and dance duet with Cara Williams, who played his girlfriend.

For Cagney's next film, he traveled to Ireland for Shake Hands with the Devil, directed by Michael Anderson. Cagney had hoped to spend some time tracing his Irish ancestry, but time constraints and poor weather meant that he was unable to do so. The overriding message of violence inevitably leading to more violence attracted Cagney to the role of an Irish Republican Army commander, and resulted in what some critics would regard as the finest performance of his final years.

The Gallant Hours (1960)

Cagney's career began winding down, and he made only one film in 1960, the critically acclaimed The Gallant Hours, in which he played Admiral William F. "Bull" Halsey. The film, although set during the Guadalcanal campaign in the Pacific Theater during World War II, was not a war film, but instead focused on the impact of command. Cagney Productions, which shared the production credit with Robert Montgomery's company, made a brief return, though in name only. The film was a success, and The New York Timess Bosley Crowther singled out its star for praise: "It is Mr. Cagney's performance, controlled to the last detail, that gives life and strong, heroic stature to the principal figure in the film. There is no braggadocio in it, no straining for bold or sharp effects. It is one of the quietest, most reflective, subtlest jobs that Mr. Cagney has ever done."

One, Two, Three (1961)

Cagney's penultimate film was a comedy. He was hand-picked by Billy Wilder to play a hard-driving Coca-Cola executive in the film One, Two, Three. Cagney had concerns with the script, remembering back 23 years to Boy Meets Girl, in which scenes were reshot to try to make them funnier by speeding up the pacing, with the opposite effect. Cagney received assurances from Wilder that the script was balanced. Filming did not go well, though, with one scene requiring 50 takes, something to which Cagney was unaccustomed. In fact, it was one of the worst experiences of his long career. Cagney noted, "I never had the slightest difficulty with a fellow actor. Not until One, Two, Three. In that picture, Horst Buchholz tried all sorts of scene-stealing didoes. I came close to knocking him on his ass." One of the few positive aspects was his friendship with Pamela Tiffin, to whom he gave acting guidance, including the secret that he had learned over his career: "You walk in, plant yourself squarely on both feet, look the other fella in the eye, and tell the truth."

1961–1986: Later years and retirement Cagney remained in retirement for 20 years, conjuring up images of Jack L. Warner every time he was tempted to return, which soon dispelled the notion. After he had turned down an offer to play Alfred Doolittle in My Fair Lady, he found it easier to rebuff others, including a part in The Godfather Part II.

American Film Institute Life Achievement Award (1974) Cagney was diagnosed with glaucoma and began taking eye drops, but continued to have vision problems. On Zimmermann's recommendation, he visited a different doctor, who determined that glaucoma had been a misdiagnosis, and that Cagney was actually diabetic. Zimmermann then took it upon herself to look after Cagney, preparing his meals to reduce his blood triglycerides, which had reached alarming levels. Such was her success that, by the time Cagney made a rare public appearance at his American Film Institute Life Achievement Award ceremony in 1974, he had lost and his vision had improved. Charlton Heston opened the ceremony, and Frank Sinatra introduced Cagney. So many Hollywood stars attended—said to be more than for any event in history—that one columnist wrote at the time that a bomb in the dining room would have ended the movie industry. In his acceptance speech, Cagney lightly chastised the impressionist Frank Gorshin, saying, "Oh, Frankie, just in passing, I never said 'MMMMmmmm, you dirty rat!' What I actually did say was 'Judy, Judy, Judy!'"—a joking reference to a similar misquotation attributed to Cary Grant.

Ragtime (1981)

"I think he's some kind of genius. His instinct, it's just unbelievable. I could just stay at home. One of the qualities of a brilliant actor is that things look better on the screen than the set. Jimmy has that quality." — Director Miloš Forman After the stroke, Cagney was no longer able to undertake many of his favorite pastimes, including horseback riding and dancing, and as he became more depressed, he even gave up painting. Encouraged by his wife and Zimmermann, Cagney accepted an offer from the director Miloš Forman to star in a small but pivotal role in the film Ragtime (1981).

This film was shot mainly at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, England, and on his arrival at Southampton aboard the Queen Elizabeth 2, Cagney was mobbed by hundreds of fans. Cunard officials, who were responsible for security at the dock, said they had never seen anything like it, although they had experienced past visits by Marlon Brando and Robert Redford.

Despite the fact that Ragtime was his first film in 20 years, Cagney was immediately at ease: Flubbed lines and miscues were committed by his co-stars, often simply through sheer awe. Howard Rollins received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his performance.

Cagney's frequent co-star, Pat O'Brien, appeared with him on the British chat show Parkinson in the early 1980s and they both made a surprise appearance at the Queen Mother's command birthday performance at the London Palladium in 1980. His appearance onstage prompted the Queen Mother to rise to her feet, the only time she did so during the whole show, and she later broke protocol to go backstage to speak with Cagney directly.

Terrible Joe Moran (1984) Cagney made a rare TV appearance in the lead role of the movie Terrible Joe Moran in 1984. This was his last role. Cagney's health was fragile and more strokes had confined him to a wheelchair, but the producers worked his real-life mobility problem into the story. They also decided to dub his impaired speech, using the impersonator Rich Little. The film made use of fight clips from Cagney's boxing movie Winner Take All (1932).

Personal life

In 1920, Cagney was a member of the chorus for the show Pitter Patter, where he met Frances Willard "Billie" Vernon. They married on September 28, 1922, and the marriage lasted until his death in 1986. Frances Cagney died in 1994. In 1940 they adopted a son whom they named James Francis Cagney III, and later a daughter, Cathleen "Casey" Cagney. Cagney was a very private man, and while he was willing to give the press opportunities for photographs, he generally spent his personal time out of the public eye.

Cagney's son died from a heart attack on January 27, 1984, in Washington, D.C., two years before his father's death. James III had become estranged from him, and they had not seen or talked to one another since 1982.

As a young man, Cagney became interested in farming – sparked by a soil conservation lecture he had attended Cagney loved that no paved roads surrounded the property, only dirt tracks. The house was rather run-down and ramshackle, and Billie was initially reluctant to move in, but soon came to love the place as well. After being inundated by movie fans, Cagney sent out a rumor that he had hired a gunman for security. The ruse proved so successful that when Spencer Tracy came to visit, his taxi driver refused to drive up to the house, saying, "I hear they shoot!" Tracy had to go the rest of the way on foot. Cagney named it Verney Farm, taking the first syllable from Billie's maiden name and the second from his own surname. He turned it into a working farm, selling some of the dairy cattle and replacing them with beef cattle. He expanded it over the years to . Such was Cagney's enthusiasm for agriculture and farming that his diligence and efforts were rewarded by an honorary degree from Florida's Rollins College. Rather than just "turning up with Ava Gardner on my arm" to accept his honorary degree, Cagney turned the tables upon the college's faculty by writing and submitting a paper on soil conservation.

Cagney was a keen sailor and owned boats that were harbored on both coasts of the U.S., including the Swift of Ipswich. His joy in sailing, however, did not protect him from occasional seasickness—becoming ill, sometimes, on a calm day while weathering rougher, heavier seas at other times. Cagney greatly enjoyed painting, and claimed in his autobiography that he might have been happier, if somewhat poorer, as a painter than a movie star. The renowned painter Sergei Bongart taught Cagney in his later life and owned two of Cagney's works. Cagney often gave away his work but refused to sell his paintings, considering himself an amateur. He signed and sold only one painting, purchased by Johnny Carson to benefit a charity. However, the emerging labor movement of the 1920s and 1930s soon forced him to take sides. The first version of the National Labor Relations Act was passed in 1935, and growing tensions between labor and management fueled the movement. Fanzines in the 1930s, however, described his politics as "radical".

This somewhat exaggerated view was enhanced by Cagney's public contractual wranglings with Warner Bros., his decision to join the Screen Actors Guild in 1933 and his involvement in the revolt against the so-called "Merriam tax", a method of funneling studio funds to politicians. During the 1934 Californian gubernatorial campaign, studio executives would "tax" their actors, automatically taking a day's pay from their biggest earners, ultimately sending nearly half a million dollars to the gubernatorial campaign of Frank Merriam. Cagney (as well as Jean Harlow) publicly refused to pay and Cagney even threatened that, if the studios took a day's pay for Merriam's campaign, he would donate a week's pay to Upton Sinclair, Merriam's opponent in the race.

Cagney supported political activist and labor leader Thomas Mooney's defense fund but was repelled by the behavior of some of Mooney's supporters at a rally.

Cagney was accused of being a communist sympathizer in 1934, and again in 1940. The accusation in 1934 stemmed from a letter that police found from a local communist official that alleged that Cagney would bring other Hollywood stars to meetings. Cagney denied this, and Lincoln Steffens, husband of the letter's writer, supported this denial, asserting that the accusation stemmed solely from Cagney's donation to striking cotton workers in the San Joaquin Valley. William Cagney claimed that the donation was the root of the charges in 1940. Cagney was cleared by U.S. Representative Martin Dies Jr. on the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Cagney became president of the Screen Actors Guild in 1942 for a two-year term. He took a role in the guild's fight against the Mafia and the Chicago Outfit, which had been using the threat of strike action by a mob-controlled labor union to extort protection money from Hollywood studios. His wife Billie Vernon once received a phone call telling her that Cagney had died in an automobile accident. According to Cagney, having failed to intimidate him or the guild, the Chicago Outfit allegedly sent a hitman to kill him by dropping a heavy light onto his head. Upon hearing of the rumor of a hit, George Raft supposedly made a call that canceled the contract.

During World War II, Cagney raised money for war bonds at racing exhibitions at the Roosevelt Raceway and by selling seats for the premiere of Yankee Doodle Dandy. He also permitted the United States Army to conduct practice maneuvers at his Martha's Vineyard estate.

After the war, Cagney's politics began to change. He had worked on Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidential campaigns, including the 1940 presidential election against Wendell Willkie. However, by the time of the 1948 election, Cagney had become disillusioned with Harry S. Truman, and he voted for Thomas E. Dewey, his first non-Democratic vote. He would also support Reagan in the 1966 California gubernatorial election.

By 1980, Cagney was contributing financially to the Republican Party, supporting his friend Reagan's bid for the presidency in the 1980 election. Cagney labeled himself as "arch-conservative" in his autobiography. He regarded his move away from Marxism as "a totally natural reaction once I began to see undisciplined elements in our country stimulating a breakdown of our system ... Those functionless creatures, the hippies ... just didn't appear out of a vacuum".

Death

Cagney died of a heart attack at his Dutchess County farm in Stanford, New York on Easter Sunday 1986 at the age of 86. The eulogy was delivered by his close friend President Ronald Reagan. His pallbearers included boxer Floyd Patterson, dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov (who had hoped to play Cagney on Broadway), actor Ralph Bellamy and director Miloš Forman. Governor Mario M. Cuomo and mayor Edward I. Koch also attended the service.

Cagney was interred in a crypt in the Garden Mausoleum at Cemetery of the Gate of Heaven in Hawthorne, New York.

Honors and legacy Cagney won the Academy Award in 1943 for his performance as George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy.

For his contributions to the film industry, Cagney was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 with a motion pictures star located at 6504 Hollywood Boulevard.

In 1974, Cagney received the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award. Charlton Heston, in announcing that Cagney was to be honored, called him "one of the most significant figures of a generation when American film was dominant, Cagney, that most American of actors, somehow communicated eloquently to audiences all over the world ... and to actors as well."

He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1980, and a Career Achievement Award from the U.S. National Board of Review in 1981. In 1984, Ronald Reagan awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

On October 21, 1981, Cagney threw out the ceremonial first pitch of the second game of the 1981 World Series.

In 1999, the United States Postal Service issued a 33-cent stamp honoring Cagney.

Cagney was among the most favored actors for director Stanley Kubrick and actor Marlon Brando, and was considered by Orson Welles to be "maybe the greatest actor to ever appear in front of a camera."

On May 19, 2015, a new musical celebrating Cagney, and dramatizing his relationship with Warner Bros., opened off-Broadway in New York City at the York Theatre. Cagney, The Musical then moved to the Westside Theatre until May 28, 2017.

Filmography Year Film Role Notes1930Sinners' HolidayHarry DelanoFilm debut The Doorway to HellSteve Mileaway 1931Blonde CrazyBert HarrisSmart MoneyJackThe only film starring both Edward G. Robinson and Cagney The MillionaireSchofield, Insurance Salesman The Public EnemyTom PowersThe film, along with Cagney's character and voice, were used in The Great Movie Ride at Disney's Hollywood StudiosOther Men's WomenEd "Eddie" BaileyOriginally titled The Steel Highway1932 Winner Take AllJim "Jimmy" KaneBoxing film The Crowd RoarsJoe GreerAutomobile-racing film Taxi!Matt NolanContains the often-misquoted line "Come out and take it, you dirty yellow-bellied rat, or I'll give it to you through the door!" 1933 Lady KillerDan Quigley Footlight ParadeChester KentMusical film with dancing; as with The Public Enemy, this film was featured in The Great Movie Ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios The Mayor of HellRichard "Patsy" Gargan Picture SnatcherDanny KeanNewspaper photographer Hard to HandleMyron C. "Lefty" Merrill 1934 The St. Louis KidEddie Kennedy Here Comes the NavyChester "Chesty" J. O'Conner He Was Her ManFlicker Hayes, a.k.a. Jerry Allen Jimmy the Gent"Jimmy" CorriganThe first of two films with Bette Davis 1935 A Midsummer Night's DreamNick Bottom The Irish in UsDanny O'Hara G Men"Brick" Davis Devil Dogs of the AirThomas Jefferson "Tommy" O'TooleMutiny on the BountyAble Seaman (uncredited) Frisco KidBat Morgan 1936 Great GuyJohnny "Red" Cave Ceiling ZeroDizzy Davis 1937 Something to Sing AboutTerrence "Terry" RooneyStage name of Thadeus McGillicuddy 1938 Angels with Dirty FacesRocky SullivanNew York Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActorNominated – Academy Award for Best Actor Boy Meets GirlRobert Law 1939 The Roaring TwentiesEddie Bartlett Each Dawn I DieFrank Ross The Oklahoma KidJim Kincaid 1940 City for ConquestDanny Kenny (Young Samson) Torrid ZoneNick "Nicky" Butler The Fighting 69thJerry Plunkett 1941 The Strawberry BlondeT.L "Biff" Grimes The Bride Came C.O.D.Steve Collins 1942 Captains of the CloudsBrian Maclean Yankee Doodle DandyGeorge M. CohanAcademy Award for Best ActorNew York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor 1943 Johnny Come LatelyTom Richards 1945 Blood on the SunNick Condon 194713 Rue MadeleineRobert Emmett "Bob" Sharkey a.k.a. Gabriel Chavat 1948 The Time of Your LifeJoseph T. (who observes people) 1949 White HeatArthur "Cody" Jarrett 1950 The West Point StoryElwin "Bix" Bixby Kiss Tomorrow GoodbyeRalph Cotter 1951 Come Fill the CupLew Marsh 1952 What Price Glory?Capt. Flagg 1953 A Lion Is in the StreetsHank Martin 1955 Mister RobertsCapt. Morton The Seven Little FoysGeorge M. Cohan Love Me or Leave MeMartin SnyderNominated – Academy Award for Best Actor Run for CoverMatt Dow 1956 These Wilder YearsSteve Bradford Tribute to a Bad ManJeremy Rodock 1957 Man of a Thousand FacesLon Chaney Short Cut to HellHimself in the Pre-Credit Scene (Uncredited)Director only 1959 Never Steal Anything SmallJake MacIllaney Shake Hands with the DevilSean Lenihan 1960 The Gallant HoursAdmiral William F. "Bull" Halsey 1961 One, Two, ThreeC.R. MacNamaraNominated — Laurel Award for Top Male Comedy PerformanceNominated — New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor 1968 Arizona BushwhackersNarrator 1981RagtimeCommissioner Rhinelander Waldo

Television

Radio appearances Year Program Episode/source 1942 Screen Guild Players Yankee Doodle Dandy 1948 Suspense Love's Lovely Counterfeit 1948 Suspense No Escape 1952 Family Theater The Red Head