Cary Grant, 82, Romantic Film Comedian, Dies

Actor Cary Grant, forced by illness to cancel an evening performance here, died late Saturday in a hospital emergency room, his long-time attorney and adviser told a reporter early today.

“Mr. Grant did not survive the night,” Beverly Hills attorney Stanley Fox told a radio reporter here.

Grant, 82, who in a career that spanned more than three decades became the epitome of the sophisticated Hollywood leading man and comedian, had canceled a Saturday night performance and was rushed to St. Luke’s Hospital by ambulance.

“He was going to put on a program at our River Center called ‘A Conversation With Cary Grant,’ an evening where he got up on stage and talked about his experiences and career and then would respond to questions from the audience,” James Stuhler, administrator of the hospital, said.

Grant’s fifth wife, Barbara, also was in Davenport for the performance, and accompanied the actor to the hospital.

Grant, a native of Great Britain who starred in 72 movies, had been retired for two decades and last appeared in a movie in 1966, when he made a film called “Walk, Don’t Run.”

His first major film was “Blonde Venus” with Marlene Dietrich in 1932 and by 1937 Grant was considered film’s top romantic comedian, a distinction he held for more three decades.

He starred with some of the screen’s most beautiful actresses in such hits as “She Done Him Wrong,” with Mae West, “Notorious,” with Ingrid Bergman, “The Philadelphia Story,” with Katharine Hepburn, and “North by Northwest,” with Eva Marie Saint.

Some of his other films included “Topper,” “Gunga Din,” “An Affair to Remember,” “His Girl Friday,” “The Awful Truth,” and “Bringing Up Baby.”

Born Archibald Leach in Bristol, England, Grant managed his own production company, Granox Productions.

Since his retirement, Grant had spent much of his time at his 4-acre Beverly Hills estate with his wife, Barbara, and his only child, 19-year-old Jennifer (by actress Dyan Cannon).