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“Archie,” the man who played Cary Grant
For the new TV series “Archie,” out this week on the streaming service BritBox, actor Jason Isaacs is portraying one of the best-known stars of the silver screen, Cary Grant. But it turns out, there was plenty that audiences did not know about this debonair actor.
“I’m not Cary Grant,” said Isaacs. “But he wasn’t Cary Grant, either, that’s the point.”
He was in more than 70 films, yet his biggest role may have been playing Cary Grant, a name and a persona he created. Hollywood’s leading man was, in fact, an Englishman born into poverty, named Archibald Leach. “He invented Cary Grant,” said Isaacs. “Cary Grant was a character to save him from himself, to build a career, and to try and exercise his demons.”
“Sunday Morning” was on set last year in Spain as they were shooting “Archie.” The show’s creator and writer, Jeff Pope, said, “In his early career, Cary Grant was the master of screwball comedies and a light romantic leading man. And then, Alfred Hitchcock spotted something in him and cast him in very dark thrillers. This story explains what it is that Alfred Hitchcock saw. It’s a thriller, a real-life thriller.”
“You don’t think of the life of Cary Grant as being a thriller?” asked Doane.
“No, no, you don’t,” said Pope. “You do think of him, you know, as this incredibly suave [man], who’s my mom’s favorite movie star!”
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Isaacs said it was serious work delving into Grant’s character off-screen: “He was an incredibly private man. In fact, one of the hardest things was trying to work out what he spoke like. You can’t find a recorded interview with him anywhere.”
Archibald Leach was born in Bristol, England. His father was said to be abusive and an alcoholic, and committed his wife to an asylum, telling the young Archie she was dead. Leach made his own way to the U.S. and show business. “When he was a young actor in New York trying to make it, he was told, ‘You’ll never make it with that accent,'” said Isaacs. “And he ended up with this thing that he’s trying to sound American. His speech patterns on screen are almost always exactly the same. They weren’t in life, of course. You know, you spill a hot coffee on someone’s lap, they don’t go, Oh, that is a rather hot coffee! He wasn’t that thing. He worked really hard at being that thing in public, and what we’re showing was who he was when he shut the front door.”
Actress Dyan Cannon was Cary Grant’s fourth wife, and mother of his only child, Jennifer. Both are producers of the series.
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Doane asked Cannon, “Did Cary Grant play Cary Grant at home with you? Did he ever let that facade down?”
“Oh sure, yes, he did, of course,” she replied. “Real people have emotions. He had a very tough boyhood. He was abandoned, felt left alone, unloved, unneeded, unwanted, deprived. Shall I go on? All those things. And of course, who we came to know as Cary was this magnificent, gorgeous, leading man – a personality that never stopped. He was so graceful! And what a gorgeous body. And he never exercised – which really used to really tick me off! And he looked great with no clothes on, I will tell you.”
Doane said, “One of the scenes they were shooting when we were with them in Malaga was the scene where your character – where you – are confronting Cary Grant with the rumors of him being gay. You write about it in your book.”
“I think early on in Palm Springs I said to him, ‘You know, I hear these rumors. Are they true?'” Cannon said. “And I never saw any indication of it. And as far as I know, Cary was faithful to me when we were married. That wasn’t the problem. Fear was.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Fear that he would be abandoned. Fear that he would not be loved.”
Grant was a star by the time he learned his mother was actually alive in England.
But the world only really ever knew him as Cary Grant. He would retire from acting, becoming by all accounts the doting father he never had. He died in 1986 at age 82.
“I enjoyed playing him in his eighties a lot,” said Isaacs. “He’s a very different man. When he stepped away from the limelight he thought was sustaining him, I think he found out how little good it was doing him. It reminds me how complicated we all are, to delve deeply into anyone’s life like this. Even the people who seem to have everything we want.”
To watch a trailer for “Archie” click on the video player below:
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Story produced by Mikaela Bufano. Editor: Emanuele Secci.
Airlines are now required to give customers automatic refunds, under a new Department of Transportation rule that went into effect this week.
While the new regulation won’t make grappling with flight delays and cancellations less hellish, you are at least guaranteed to get your money back when an airline doesn’t transport you from point A to B as promised, without having to file any paperwork. The law is also designed to incentivize airlines to minimize disruptions, Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday when the rule went into effect.
“When an airline knows that all — instead of just a few of the passengers on a canceled flight — are likely to actually get their money back, it gives them a different set of reasons to put in the investment, and the realistic scheduling that makes those cancellations less likely to happen to begin with,” he said. Flight cancellations this year are already below the traditional average of 2%, indicating the initiative is already having an effect, according to the DOT.
Here’s what airline passengers are entitled to under the new rule.
What’s a “significant” delay?
For the first time, the new rule sets a standard for what constitutes a “significant change” to a flight. Previously, definitions varied from one carrier to another. A significant change to a flight now includes a three-hour or longer delay for domestic flights, and at least a six-hour delay on international flights. If an airline changes a flight’s departure or arrival airport, or adds a connection, that also counts.
Itinerary changes
Additionally, if a passenger is downgraded to a lower class of service, or to a plane that’s less accommodating of passengers with disabilities, they are entitled to an automatic refund, according to the DOT.
Baggage delays
Baggage delays are also covered under the new rule. When passengers’ checked luggage doesn’t arrive within a reasonable amount of time, airlines must refund them any checked bag fees they’ve paid. However, passengers have to first file a mishandled baggage report with an airline. They are entitled to a refund if their luggage is not delivered within 12 hours of a domestic flight arriving at its gate, or within 15-30 hours of an international flight arriving, depending on its length.
Refunds for nonworking Wi-Fi
If you pay to use an airline’s Wi-Fi but it doesn’t work, you’re entitled to a refund to the cost of the service. Same goes if you paid to select a particular seat but were forced to sit elsewhere. These fees are typically far less substantial than the cost of the flight itself, though.
DOT’s final rule also makes it simple and straightforward for passengers to receive the money they are owed. Without this rule, consumers have to navigate a patchwork of cumbersome processes to request and receive a refund — searching through airline websites to figure out how to make the request, filling out extra “digital paperwork, or at times waiting for hours on the phone,” the DOT states on it website. “In addition, passengers would [previously] receive a travel credit or voucher by default from some airlines instead of getting their money back, so they could not use their refund to rebook on another airline when their flight was changed or canceled without navigating a cumbersome request process.”
Under the new rule, customer refunds must be issued automatically, without making them jump through hoops. They must also be issued promptly, in cash or to the original form of payment, and in the full amount of the ticket purchase price.
Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images
It’s been hard to escape the gold price news in 2024. With numerous price records broken so far this year and others likely to be surpassed in the final two months, many investors now find themselves considering the benefits of a gold addition to their portfolio. Priced at just $2,063.73 per ounce on January 1, gold is now closing in on $2,800 for the same amount of the precious metal. And some experts expect that price to hit $3,000 perhaps before the year concludes.
While a rising price can deter some investors, others may want to buy in now while the price is still within reach. But gold doesn’t operate in the same way other asset classes do, so it will require a more nuanced and informed approach. This is particularly true for beginners just starting in the precious metals industry. Although there are important moves to make against this rising price backdrop, there are gold investing mistakes beginners should avoid this November that are equally as important. Below, we’ll detail three of them.
Start exploring your top gold investing options here now.
3 gold investing mistakes beginners should avoid this November
Considering a move into the gold market? Be sure to avoid these three timely (but costly) beginner mistakes:
Waiting for the price to fall
Not only is gold highly unlikely to drop in price (it’s up around 33% year-to-date), but it’s actually more likely to tick up again. With prevalent factors like geopolitical tensions, inflation, interest rates and more, there are plenty of supporters available to drive the price of gold higher.
Waiting, then, would be a mistake. And if you can’t afford to buy in at today’s prices, it may be worth considering a smaller amount of fractional gold. This will allow you to add the protection gold provides to your wider portfolio without having to overpay to get it.
Get started with gold online today.
Investing in a type more suitable for veterans
Gold comes in a variety of investment types and not all — or even most — will be suitable for beginners. Gold mining stocks, for example, require more knowledge of the gold market than gold IRAs often do. Similarly, gold futures could be too risky for beginners not accustomed to the wider trends of the gold investing market. Research all of your options, but be careful with which gold type you ultimately pursue. Not each will be equally beneficial for your unique financial situation.
Overcrowding your portfolio
Gold is a valuable asset in a portfolio, regardless of whether you’re a beginner or a veteran investor. But it’s just one asset in a diversified portfolio that should be made up of a variety of asset classes. So dismiss the temptation to overbuy now that the price is seemingly on a never-ending rise. Instead, keep the traditional gold investing advice of a maximum of 10% of your overall portfolio in mind. By tempering your gold investment, you’ll avoid overcrowding your portfolio, thus allowing more volatile income producers like stocks and bonds to better perform as intended.
The bottom line
Beginners looking to take advantage of gold this November, and in the months to follow, should take a smart approach to the alternative asset. This involves timing it correctly (and not waiting for an ideal drop in price to act). But it also extends to investing in the right type and not overinvesting. By avoiding these simple but easy-to-make mistakes now, beginners can start their gold investing journey off on the right foot, setting themselves up for financial success both in November and in the months that follow.
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