avg. user rating: 4.8 (9 votes)
Born in New York in 1899 to an Irish father and Norwegian mother, Cagney also reputedly spoke Yiddish, having grown up in a Jewish area of town. To support the family young James did various odd jobs, including working in a revue as a female impersonator. From here he graduated to Broadway and then to film, earning instant notoriety for his performance as a gangster in 1931's The Public Enemy, which included a scene where he shoved a grapefruit into a moll's face. The 5'6" Cagney became a huge star by playing trouser-hitching, straight-talking crooks. However he also excelled in A Midsummer Night's Dream, the musical Yankee Doodle Dandy, and his penultimate film, the corporate satire One, Two, Three.
