James Francis Cagney Jr. James Francis Cagney
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Awards
James Cagney born July 17, 1899 earned fame for his electric performances in gangster films like The Public Enemy 1931. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy 1942. Cagney also danced, directed, and served as Screen Actors Guild president. After retiring in 1961, he returned for Ragtime 1981 and his final role in Terrible Joe Moran 1984.
Names, aliases, and relatives of James Cagney — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
James Cagney by the numbers — life, work, and family.
James Cagney — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
His mother encouraged him to box, and Cagney briefly considered a professional career. Born on July 17, 1899 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan to Carolyn Nelson and James Francis Cagney Sr., a bartender and amateur boxer of Irish and Norwegian descent, he attended Stuyvesant High School and later Columbia University. His first job in entertainment was as a female dancer in a chorus line, earning $55 a week, of which he sent $40 home to his mother.
Cagney’s breakthrough came as Tom Powers in The Public Enemy 1931, where his electric style defined the Warner Bros. gangster. For Yankee Doodle Dandy 1942, he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, performing a tap routine despite a broken rib. He co-starred with Doris Day in Love Me or Leave Me 1955, which he rated among his top five films. After retiring following One, Two, Three 1961, he was lured back for Ragtime 1981 opposite Pat O’Brien. His final performance was the title role in the TV movie Terrible Joe Moran 1984.
Cagney married Frances Bill Vernon on September 28, 1922; their 64-year marriage lasted until his death. He never cheated on her, though he nearly gave in to a seduction attempt by Merle Oberon during a USO tour. They adopted two children: James Jr. born 1939 and Casey born 1940. Cagney was best friends with actors Pat O’Brien and Frank McHugh, forming the Irish Mafia social circle that included Bing Crosby and Spencer Tracy. He was also close to his siblings, brother William and sister Jeanne.
Cagney’s influence is vast: Clint Eastwood and Malcolm McDowell cite him as their primary inspiration. Orson Welles called him maybe the greatest actor who ever appeared in front of a camera. His performance in Yankee Doodle Dandy ranks #6 on Premiere‘s 100 Greatest Performances. The American Film Institute named him the #8 greatest male screen legend. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Cagney is most remembered for his explosive energy and his well-known line—though he never actually said You dirty rat! in any film.
The complete filmography of James Cagney — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by James Cagney — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from James Cagney — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
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.
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.
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 Think Is Right and Stick with It.
Where I Come From, If There’s a Buck to Be Made, You Don’t Ask Questions, You Go Ahead and Make It.
With Me, a Career Was the Simple Matter of Putting Groceries on the Table.
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.
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.
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.
Learn Your Lines, Find Your Mark, Look ‘Em in the Eye and Tell ‘Em the Truth.
Learn Your Lines … Plant Your Feet … Look the Other Actor in the Eye … Say the Words … Mean Them.
The Lovers of Hate, Born in Fear – Find No Release from Tension – They Spend Their Lives in a Permanent State – of Miserable Apprehension.
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.
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.
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.
The Thing Is to Try to Give the Audience Something to Take Away with Them. That’s What I Always Wanted to Do.
I’m Easy to Imitate, but You Never Saw Anyone Imitate Spence Tracy. You Can’t Mimic Reserve and Control Very Well.
Little-known facts about James Cagney — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Often left the set early claiming he was too ill to continue filming to ensure the crew got an extra day’s pay.
In his autobiography, he earned $55 a week in the chorus of Pitter Patter, sending $40 home; for The Public Enemy 1931 he earned $400 a week and sent over $300 home.
His electric acting style influenced Clint Eastwood and Malcolm McDowell, who cite him as their primary inspiration.
Could speak Yiddish from growing up in a heavily Jewish area of New York and conversed in it with Paul Muni, Sylvia Sidney, and John Garfield.
His performance as George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy ranks #6 on Premiere‘s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time 2006.
Cagney, Frank McHugh, and Pat O’Brien were known as the Irish Mafia and socialized with Bing Crosby, Spencer Tracy, and others.
Extraordinarily for Hollywood, he never cheated on his wife Frances, resulting in a marriage that lasted 64 years.
Turned down the role of Hyman Roth in The Godfather Part II 1974, which went to Lee Strasberg.
A Mafia plan to kill him by dropping a klieg light was stopped at the insistence of George Raft.
His first job as an entertainer was as a female dancer in a chorus line.
Earned a black belt in judo.
Broke a rib during the dance scene in Yankee Doodle Dandy but continued dancing until it was completed.
Though imitators use You dirty rat!, Cagney never actually said it in any film.
He convinced decorated war hero Audie Murphy to go into acting.
He refused payment for his cameo in The Seven Little Foys 1955 even after spending ten days learning the tap routine.
Joined the Screen Actors Guild in October 1933 as member number 50 and served as president from 1942 to 1944.
Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan at a White House ceremony on March 26, 1984.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about James Cagney.
Celebrities similar to James Cagney — same craft, ranked by reach.
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