Opie and anthony james cagney biography

Retrieve it. Who was James Cagney? We need you! Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web! Add a New Bio. Powered by CITE. His biographers disagree as to the actual location: either on the corner of Avenue D and 8th Street , [ 2 ] or in a top-floor apartment at East 8th Street, the address that is on his birth certificate.

At the time of his son's birth, he was a bartender [ 12 ] 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 sickly health to the poverty his family endured. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church in Manhattan; his funeral service would eventually be held in the same church. Cagney held a variety of jobs early in his life: junior architect , copy boy for the New York Sun , book custodian at the New York Public Library , bellhop , draughtsman , and night doorkeeper.

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 started tap dance as a boy a skill that eventually contributed to his Academy Award and was nicknamed "Cellar-Door Cagney" after his habit of dancing on slanted cellar doors.

His coaches encouraged him to turn professional, but his mother would not allow it. 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. One night, however, Harry became ill, and although Cagney was not an understudy , his photographic memory of rehearsals enabled him to stand in for his brother without making a single mistake.

In , 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.

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.

The show began Cagney's year association with vaudeville and Broadway. 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.

In , 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.

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 secured his first significant nondancing role in As with Pitter Patter , Cagney went to the audition with little confidence he would get the part. At this point, he had had no experience with drama.

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. 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. 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. 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 , he was also appointed choreographer.

The show received rave reviews [ 44 ] and was followed by Grand Street Follies of 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 " They were directors who could play all the parts in the play better than the actors cast for them.

He then sold the play to 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. 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 Adolfi said 'I'm going to tell Zanuck.

As he did when he was growing up, Cagney shared his income with his family. The film was a financial hit, and helped to cement Cagney's growing reputation. Robinson , [ 53 ] culminated in the 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. Cagney received widespread praise for his performance. The New York Herald Tribune described his interpretation as " Gable's character punched Stanwyck's, knocking the nurse unconscious. 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.

Joan Blondell recalled that the change was made when Cagney decided the omelette wouldn't work. I never dreamed it would be shown in the movie. Director Bill Wellman thought of the idea suddenly. It wasn't even written into the script. Wellman liked it so much that he left it in. 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". Warner Bros. Robinson and Cagney, for the film Smart Money. With the introduction of the Motion Picture Production Code of that placed limits upon on-screen violence, Warner Bros. 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. 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.

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! Blonde Crazy and Taxi! He never said "Mmm, you dirty rat! 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.

Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Cagney announced that he would do his next three pictures for free if they canceled the five years remaining on his contract. He also threatened to quit Hollywood and go back to Columbia University to follow his brothers into medicine. Having learned about the block-booking studio system that virtually guaranteed the studios huge profits, Cagney was determined to spread the wealth.

This experience was an integral reason for his involvement in forming the Screen Actors Guild in Cagney returned to the studio and made Hard to Handle This was followed by a steady stream of crowd-pleasing films, including the highly regarded Footlight Parade , [ 78 ] which gave Cagney the chance to return to his song-and-dance roots.

The film includes show-stopping scenes with Busby Berkeley -choreographed routines. The two would have an enduring friendship. 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.

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 , again against his contract terms, caused him to bring legal proceedings against Warner Bros. 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 spent most of the next year on his farm, and went back to work only when Edward L. He received good reviews for both, [ 86 ] [ 87 ] but overall the production quality was not up to Warner Bros. A third film, Dynamite , was planned, but Grand National ran out of money. Cagney also became involved in political causes, and in , agreed to sponsor the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League.

The courts eventually decided the Warner Bros. He had done what many thought unthinkable: taking on the studios and winning. Cagney also had full say over what films he did and did not make. Cagney had demonstrated the power of the walkout in keeping 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.

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. Many in Hollywood watched the case closely for hints of how future contracts might be handled. Artistically, the Grand National experiment was a success for Cagney, who was able to move away from his traditional Warner Bros.

The former had Cagney in a comedy role, and received mixed reviews. Ironically, the script for Angels was one that Cagney had hoped to do while with Grand National, but the studio had been unable to secure funding. 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. He lost to Spencer Tracy in Boys Town. Cagney had been considered for the role, but lost out on it due to his typecasting.

His earlier insistence on not filming with live ammunition proved to be a good decision. Having been told while filming Angels with Dirty Faces that he would be doing a scene with real machine gun bullets a common practice in the Hollywood of the time , Cagney refused and insisted the shots be added afterwards. As it turned out, a ricocheting bullet passed through exactly where his head would have been.

During his first year back at Warner Bros. Cagney completed his first decade of movie-making in 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". From that point on, violence was attached to mania, as in White Heat. In , 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. Joyce Kilmer. Alan Hale Sr. It was a remarkable performance, probably Cagney's best, and it makes Yankee Doodle a dandy". In , Cagney portrayed George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy , a film Cagney "took great pride in" [ ] and considered his best. 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.

Bryan and another man, later identified as Crazy Cabbie , made gestures at the camera and repeated the show's name. When Chi'en finished his introduction, he loudly asked Bryan, "What the fuck is your problem, man? Chi'en apologized, but was fired later that day. Johnson filed a lawsuit in , alleging that his hearing had been permanently damaged in the incident, listing the fan, the two hosts, and XM in his claim.

Codey addressed the seriousness of the situation in a statement, [ ] which prompted Hughes and Cumia to end the contest. Between and , the Pests appeared at several gatherings organized by Howard Stern. A handful of Pests did make it through, but were promptly removed from the crowd upon revealing their signs and banners. In , the Pests were involved in the show's feuds with Scott Ferrall and Whoopi Goldberg , calling into the respective shows.

Goldberg made a surprise visit to the show which led to a truce in the Pest onslaught. In , the show began an annual segment named Jocktober, where clips from other radio shows across the country were mocked and criticised during the month of October, particularly those of the morning zoo format in small radio markets. The final Jocktober segments aired in The Traveling Virus was a comedy tour headlined by Hughes and Cumia, as well as friends of the show, that began in In its first year, it spanned several locations in the eastern United States during the summer.

In , it visited eight cities through the spring and summer. It was an event they had discussed for many years, but were never able to bring it to fruition until they made their deal with CBS radio. On the morning of March 26, , Opie and Anthony revealed they had taped a pilot for Comedy Central. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history.

Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. American radio show. History [ edit ]. Rise in popularity and Norton's debut [ edit ]. Stern feud, XFL show, and syndication [ edit ]. FCC fines, Sex for Sam 3 incident, and cancellation [ edit ]. Return to air and Homeless Charlie incident [ edit ].

Terrestrial radio simulcast [ edit ]. Final years [ edit ]. Aftermath [ edit ]. Content [ edit ]. Comedians [ edit ]. The Pests [ edit ]. Jocktober [ edit ]. Other enterprises [ edit ]. Demented World [ edit ]. Main article: Demented World. Opie and Anthony Traveling Virus [ edit ]. Search and Destroy [ edit ]. Other appearances [ edit ].

References [ edit ]. Retrieved August 22, Rolling Stone. The Morning Mouth. Radio Online. February Retrieved September 10, The Boston Globe. Retrieved November 6, Archived from the original on October 8, Retrieved September 11, Your Guide to Radio. Archived from the original on Retrieved Archived from the original on November 7, Retrieved September 18, June 19, The Record.

Bergen County, New Jersey. ProQuest Retrieved December 8, — via ProQuest. The New York Times. South Coast Today. April 9, The Boston Herald. Episode 3: Bob Kelly and Dave Attell. Compound Media. The Artie and Anthony Show. Event occurs at 27 minutes in. New York Daily News. September 10, May 15, The film's success was a testament to Cagney's compelling screen presence and acting skills.

Influence on the Gangster Genre : Cagney's performance in "The Public Enemy" had a lasting impact on the gangster genre. He brought a certain realism and depth to his character that set a new standard for portrayal of criminals in cinema. This film, along with others like "Little Caesar" and "Scarface," defined the early s gangster film era.

Controversy and Censorship : The film was controversial for its time, depicting violence and criminal activities in a stark, realistic manner.

Opie and anthony james cagney biography

This led to increased censorship in Hollywood, but it also showed the power of film to provoke public discourse, and it established Cagney as a daring actor willing to take on edgy roles. Typecasting Challenges : While the success of "The Public Enemy" made Cagney a star, it also typecast him as a gangster in the public eye. Despite this, he later demonstrated his range by excelling in other genres, including musicals and comedies.

Legacy and Influence : The role of Tom Powers remains one of Cagney's most memorable performances and is often referenced in discussions about classic Hollywood cinema. It contributed significantly to his legacy as one of the greatest actors of the 20th century. In summary, James Cagney's role in "The Public Enemy" was a turning point that not only launched him into stardom but also had a lasting influence on the gangster genre and Hollywood cinema in general.

James Cagney The Professional Againster James Cagney was a renowned American actor, celebrated for his dynamic and versatile performances in the golden era of Hollywood. Related Mister Roberts - Yankee Doodle Dandy - Career Beginnings Cagney started his acting career in vaudeville and Broadway. Hollywood Stardom Cagney became one of Hollywood's leading actors in the s and s, known for his energetic and often brash portrayals.

Later Career and Retirement In the s, Cagney's career slowed down, but he still delivered powerful performances, notably in "White Heat" as the psychotic gangster Cody Jarrett. Energetic Physicality : Cagney was known for his dynamic physical presence on screen. He moved with a distinctive briskness and often incorporated vigorous gestures and rapid movements.

This physicality was especially evident in his dance sequences, where he displayed surprising agility and rhythm, despite his tough-guy image. Tough-Guy Persona : One of Cagney's most iconic contributions to film was his portrayal of tough, streetwise characters. He often played gangsters or hard-edged individuals with a no-nonsense attitude.

His characters typically displayed a blend of toughness and charm, a combination that made them both formidable and likable. Emotional Range and Depth : Cagney had the ability to convey a wide range of emotions effectively. He could transition seamlessly from charming and lighthearted to intense and menacing. This emotional versatility allowed him to excel in various genres, from gangster films to musicals and comedies.

Naturalistic Approach : Cagney's acting was grounded in realism.