Cary Grant Read Online Free Page A

When the film ended and the lights came back up, Sinatra finished his introduction by praising Cary Grant for the “sheer brilliance of his acting that makes it all look easy.”
    And then at last the moment was upon him. With tears rolling down his cheeks, Grant emerged from the wings and walked slowly to the microphonewhile the audience rose as one to stand and cheer for him. He nodded appreciatively several times, quickly wiped one eye with a finger, and waved gracefully to the crowd. As the crescendo of their applause began to wane, he slipped on his thick-rimmed black glasses, and in the familiar voice so beloved by his fans all around the world, humbly delivered his carefully prepared words of acceptance and appreciation.
    “I'm very grateful to the Academy's Board of Directors for this happy tribute,” he began, “and to Frank, for coming here especially to give it to me, and to all the fellows who worked so hard in finding and assembling those film clips.”
    He squinted into the audience, looking for those he was about to thank. He spotted Hitchcock, nodded slightly toward him, then once again spoke, departing from his notes and holding up his Oscar. “You know, I may never look at this without remembering the quiet patience of the directors who were so kind to me, who were kind enough to put up with me more than once—some of them even three or four times. There were Howard Hawks, Hitchcock, the late Leo McCarey, George Stevens, George Cukor, and Stanley Donen.
    “And all the writers. There were Philip Barry, Dore Schary, Bob Sherwood, Ben Hecht, Clifford Odets, Sidney Sheldon, and more recently Stanley Shapiro and Peter Stone. Well, I trust they and all the other directors, writers, and producers, and leading women, have all forgiven me what I didn't know.”
    At this point he paused, glanced at his notes, and then looked up again. “I realize it's conventional and usual to praise one's fellow workers on these occasions. But why not? Ours is a collaborative medium; we all need each other. And what better opportunity is there to publicly express one's appreciation and admiration and affection for all those who contribute so much to each of our welfare?”
    A longer pause followed, during which he appeared to be trying to hold back his tears. He softly cleared his throat, then continued, coming closer than he ever would to explaining if not apologizing for his long and rancorous boycott of the Academy: “You know, I've never been a joiner or a member of any—oh, particular—social set, but I've been privileged to be a part of Hollywood's most glorious era. And yet tonight, thinking of all theempty screens that are waiting to be filled with marvelous images, ideologies, points of view, and considering all the students who are studying film techniques in the universities throughout the world, and the astonishing young talents that are coming up in our midst, I think there's an even more glorious era right around the corner.
    “So before I leave you, I want to thank you very much for signifying your approval of this. I shall cherish it until I die, because probably no greater honor can come to any man than the respect of his colleagues. Thank you.”
    As the audience rose once more, he turned slowly and left, out of sight even before the ovation ended. For Cary Grant, these last few steps signaled the end of the long and wondrous journey that had started so long ago, when as little Archie Leach of Bristol, England, the first, sweet dreams of destiny had come to him in the night.
    And the horrid nightmares as well.
    * Grant had made only two appearances since the Oscars became a television show; once in 1957, to accept the Best Actress Oscar won by Ingrid Bergman, another Hollywood outsider, and again in 1958, acting as stand-in for Bergman, to present the Best Actor Oscar to Alec Guinness.
    * She lost to Goldie Hawn, who won for her performance in
Cactus Flower.

Archibald Alec (Alexander) Leach, age 4,