James Francis Cagney Jr. (; July 17, 1899 – March 30, 1986) was an American actor, dancer and film director. On stage and in film, Cagney was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances. He 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 or limited by this reputation earlier in his career. He was able to negotiate dancing opportunities in his films and ended up winning the Academy Award for his role in the musical Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942). In 1999 the American Film Institute ranked him eighth among its list of greatest male stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Orson Welles described Cagney as "maybe the greatest actor who ever appeared in front of a camera".
You can find people similar to James Cagney by visiting our lists Members of The Lambs Club and Male actors of Irish descent.
Full name at birth | James Francis Cagney Jr.
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Claim to fame | his roles as Matt Doyle in the 1931 all-talking pre-Code gangster film The Public Enemy, George M. Cohan in the 1942 biographical musical film Yankee Doodle Dandy, and Cody Jarrett in the 1949 film noir White Heat
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Date of birth | 17 July 1899
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Place of birth | Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
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Date of death | 30 March 1986
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Age | 86 (age at death)
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Place of death | Stanford, New York, USA
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Cause of death | Heart Attack
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Resting place | Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Hawthorne, New York, USA
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Occupation | Actor, Dancer, Producer
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Height | 5' 4¾" (164 cm)
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Weight | 150 lbs (68 kg)
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Net worth | $20,000,000 USD
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High school | Stuyvesant High School, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States (1918)
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University | Columbia College
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