James Cagney

Of Irish origin, James Cagney spent his childhood in New York, in a difficult neighborhood where he quickly learned to deal with street violence, as well as his mother's severity. From his teenage years, he worked in several jobs to help his family, and was passionate about various sports activities, including boxing that his father practiced, but that his mother finally pushed him to stop. Not predestined at all for an acting career, the resourceful and brawling young man takes his first steps on stage by the greatest of luck, disguising himself as a woman for the needs of a musical show ... A performance far away gangster characters for whom he will subsequently be immortalized, but which nevertheless testifies to an important and little-known aspect of his career: his passion for the stage,

Love at first sight, the beginner actor occurs - from this key moment - in various cabarets, in which he meets his future wife, the dancer Frances Willard with whom he will remain married until his death. On stage, his talents as a tap dancer fully manifest themselves, and in 1930, he distinguished himself on the stage of Broadway. That same year, the Warner noticed him in the play "Penny Arcade", which she decided to adapt to the cinema under the title Sinners' Holiday. This film thus marks Cagney's first cinematographic performance. The producers of the Warner quickly become aware of the charisma of this "little strike" of 1.70 meters, which is offered the lead role of the violent The Public Enemy (1930),

Several charismatic outlaw roles followed, giving him the image of a bad boy, roles that the public greatly appreciated in a post-crisis context of 1929. James Cagney thus turns - during the 1930s - in Winner Take All (1932), The Tombeur (1933), Les Anges aux figures dirty (1938), At every dawn I die (1939) and The Fantastic Twenties (id.). However, this predisposition to play criminals should not overshadow the fact that he appears with just as much talent in other genres of films. With two of his favorite directors for example: in Taxi! (1932) first of all, he slips into the shoes of a determined trade unionist under the leadership of Roy Del Ruth (the same is true in reality, Cagney founding a union seeking to improve working conditions in Hollywood). Then, a year later, the actor danced in front of Lloyd Bacon's camera - with whom he toured nine times in all - for the needs of the musical Prologues.

If the Warner is slow to realize it, James Cagney likes to prove over and over again that he can play something other than a thug, even if - let's face it - he is very good at it. This is how he is headlining the musical The Glorious Parade by Michael Curtiz, a big success in 1942. This film allows him to obtain the Oscar for Best Actor, and the prize of New York critics, an award he had already obtained with Angels with Dirty Figures four years earlier, also under Curtiz's leadership. Despite his numerous quarrels with the Warner - testifying to his stubborn character - and his desire to diversify, James Cagney played, in 1949, in one of his most famous films: L'Enfer est à lui by Raoul Walsh. His performance of a neurotic gangster and son to his mother will remain forever engraved in the annals. The actor also explains that he was inspired by his own experience to compose this cult character.

Subsequently, James Cagney alternates between the studios by touring with the greatest, from John Ford (What Price Glory, 1952) to Gordon Douglas (Un Fauve en liberté, 1950, Feu sur le gang, 1951), via Nicholas Ray (In the shade of the gallows, 1955). He even took on the director's cap with A deux pas de l'Enfer in 1957, which was unfortunately not a success. Exhausted and more and more affected by his legs, the actor chooses to retire from the cinema after having played in the comedy One, two, three (Billy Wilder, 1961), to devote himself to his wife, his farm and his horses. 'he adores. Twenty years later, the atypical filmmaker Milos Forman offers him the role of a police chief - contrasting with his badass gangster characters - in Ragtime, where he reunites with one of his partners from the years 1930, Pat O'Brien, for whom this is also the last film. At 86, James Cagney finally died of illness. From a difficult childhood to the sets of the greatest gangster films, through his lawsuits against the Warner and his musicals, he leaves behind an exceptional journey, straight out of a Hollywood film.

Author: Laurent Schenck

James Cagney 's estimated Net Worth, Salary, Income, Cars, Lifestyles & many more details have been updated below.

Let's check, How Rich is James Cagney in 2020 ?

James Cagney Net Worth 2021

James Cagney 's revenue is $1.4M in 2021. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is James Cagney and could vary in the range between $529.2K - $1.4M.

James Cagney Net Worth 2020

James Cagney 's revenue is $1.3M in 2020. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is James Cagney and could vary in the range between $880.7K - $1.3M.

James Cagney Net Worth 2019

James Cagney 's revenue is $1.9M in 2019. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is James Cagney and could vary in the range between $796.6K - $1.9M.

James Cagney Net Worth 2018

James Cagney 's revenue is $1.6M in 2018. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is James Cagney and could vary in the range between $551.5K - $2M.

James Cagney Net Worth 2017

James Cagney 's revenue is $1.3M in 2017. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is James Cagney and could vary in the range between $623.3K - $1.3M.

James Cagney Net Worth 2016

James Cagney 's revenue is $1.3M in 2016. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is James Cagney and could vary in the range between $734.3K - $1.4M.

James Cagney Net Worth 2015

James Cagney 's revenue is $1.4M in 2015. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is James Cagney and could vary in the range between $700.7K - $1.1M.

It is an overall forecast for the net worth of James Cagney. The evaluation covers the latest 5 years and an approximation for next year. See above to learn how much money does James Cagney makes a year.

The range above shows an estimation based on evaluation generated by public information about sponsorships or other sources found on the internet. It's summarized data from James Cagney's projects existing in AidWiki's repository. It's an approximation of the revenue compiled by AidWiki and may not correspond with the real amount.