“So, impulsively, I ran to him, threw my arms around him and kissed him. He was stunned, and so happy, returning the kiss. I don”
- #wikipedia
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.nytimes.com
- #corroborated
Figure timeline
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney Jr. was an American actor and dancer. On stage and in film, he 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.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
entertainment · American actor and dancer (1899–1986) · film actor · character actor · stage actor · television actor · trade unionist · film director · dancer · actor · singer · director · also James Cagney, James Francis Cagney, Jr., James Francis Cagney, Jimmy Cagney, Cagney
Born 17 July 1899 · Died 30 March 1986 · Q94041
59 published statements · 0 followers
See & hear
Photos & media
14 photos · 1 video
Video
One Two Three trailer (1961)
Media from Wikimedia Commons, hotlinked at the source under its own licence — see each file for author and terms.
Live now
In the news
Pulling headlines from trusted outlets — this usually takes a few seconds
Checking the wires…
Feed scan
These are live links, not archived citations — they only join the timeline once a collect run verifies and archives them.
Live pulse
Recent highlights
Most recent outstanding titles, awards, and quotes
- Quote
- Quote
It was a cry of agony, and I can still hear it. I used it once in a while in my pictures when I had to portray someone who had fallen into mental disrepair. That was Pa. Sixty shots of rye whiskey a day for years and years had really done their work. He was the most lovable guy who ever lived, but when one of his fits was on him, we learned to stay away and let Mom take over. She usually brought him around.
87%The New York Times
2026· 6 entries
“It was a cry of agony, and I can still hear it. I used it once in a while in my pictures when I had to portray someone who had fallen into mental disrepair. That was Pa. Sixty shots of rye whiskey a day for years and years had really done their work. He was the most lovable guy who ever lived, but when one of his fits was on him, we learned to stay away and let Mom take over. She usually brought him around.”
- #wikipedia
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.nytimes.com
- #corroborated
“What I did was very simple. I just slapped my foot down as I turned it out while walking. That”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
“I would have kicked his brains out. He was so goddamned mean to everybody. He was truly a nasty old man.”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
“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”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
Public attention spiked: 11,095 Wikipedia readers in one day, 6.8× the usual 1,630, with 0 article edits.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #attention
- #spike
- #pageviews
2015· 1 entry
A new musical celebrating Cagney, and dramatizing his relationship with Warner Bros
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2006· 1 entry
Released album “Manhattan Melodies Songs of New York”.
- #musicbrainz
- #release
- #work
1999· 2 entries
The United States Postal Service issued a 33-cent stamp honoring Cagney
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
The American Film Institute ranked him eighth on its list of greatest male stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1986· 1 entry
Died 1986-03-30.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #death
1984· 3 entries
Won Presidential Medal of Freedom presented by Ronald Reagan (1984).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #trophy
- #achievement
Cagney's son died from a heart attack on January 27, 1984, in Washington, D.C., two years before his father's death.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #life
- #personal-life
Ronald Reagan awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1981· 1 entry
Cagney threw out the ceremonial first pitch of the second game of the 1981 World Series
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1980· 1 entry
And a Career Achievement Award from the U
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1977· 1 entry
Cagney had a minor stroke
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1974· 2 entries
Awarded AFI Life Achievement Award (1974).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Cagney received the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1960· 2 entries
With a motion pictures star located at 6504 Hollywood Boulevard
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
The critically acclaimed The Gallant Hours, in which he played Admiral William F
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1959· 1 entry
Cagney played a labor leader in what proved to be his final musical, Never Steal Anything Small, which featured a comical song and dance duet with Cara Williams, who played his girlfriend
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1957· 1 entry
Cagney ventured behind the camera for the first and only time to direct Short Cut to Hell, a remake of the 1941 Alan Ladd film This Gun for Hire, which in turn was based on the Graham Greene novel A Gun for Sale
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1956· 1 entry
Cagney undertook one of his very rare television roles, starring in Robert Montgomery's Soldiers From the War Returning
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1955· 2 entries
Having shot three films, Cagney bought a 120-acre (0
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Cagney replaced Spencer Tracy on the Western film Tribute to a Bad Man for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1953· 1 entry
After William Cagney produced his last film, A Lion Is in the Streets, a drama loosely based on flamboyant politician Huey Long, the company came to an end
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1943· 1 entry
Awarded Academy Award for Best Actor for Yankee Doodle Dandy (1943).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1942· 3 entries
Established his own production company, Cagney Productions, before returning to Warner seven years later
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Career landmark: President of SAG (1942–1944).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #milestone
Cagney portrayed George M
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1941· 1 entry
Cagney and Bette Davis reunited for a comedy set in the contemporary West titled The Bride Came C
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1940· 4 entries
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, An
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Was The Fighting 69th, a World War I film about a real-life unit with Cagney playing a fictional private, alongside Pat O'Brien as Father Francis P
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Adopted a son whom they named James Francis Cagney III, and later a daughter, Cathleen "Casey" Cagney
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
In 1940 they adopted a son whom they named James Francis Cagney III, and later a daughter, Cathleen "Casey" Cagney.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #life
- #personal-life
1939· 2 entries
With The Roaring Twenties, his first film with Raoul Walsh and his last with Bogart
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Cagney was second to only Gary Cooper in the national acting wage stakes, earning $368,333
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1938· 1 entry
Received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his subtle portrayal of the tough guy/man-child Rocky Sullivan in Angels with Dirty Faces
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1936· 1 entry
Agreed to sponsor the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1935· 4 entries
Cagney was listed as one of the Top Ten Moneymakers in Hollywood for the first time, and was cast more frequently in non-gangster roles; he played a lawyer who joins the FBI in G-Men, and he also took on his first, and o
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Was Ceiling Zero, his third film with Pat O'Brien
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
And growing tensions between labor and management fueled the movement
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Sued Warner for breach of contract and signed with Edward L
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1934· 4 entries
Stemmed from a letter that police found from a local communist official that alleged that Cagney would bring other Hollywood stars to meetings
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Here Comes the Navy paired him with Pat O'Brien for the first of nine films together
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Again against his contract terms, caused him to bring legal proceedings against Warner Bros
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Cagney made his first of two raucous comedies with Bette Davis, Jimmy the Gent, for which he had himself heavily made up with thick eyebrows and procured an odd haircut for the period without the studio's permission, sha
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1933· 1 entry
And his involvement in the revolt against the so-called "Merriam tax", a method of funneling studio funds to politicians
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1924· 1 entry
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 bre
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1922· 1 entry
And the marriage lasted until his death in 1986
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1920· 1 entry
Cagney was a member of the chorus for the show Pitter Patter, where he met Frances Willard "Billie" Vernon
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1919· 2 entries
Spent several years in vaudeville as a dancer and comedian and played his first major acting role in 1925
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
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
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1918· 1 entry
And attended Columbia College, where he intended to major in Art
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1899· 4 entries
Born 1899-07-17.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #birth
Cagney was born in 1899 (prior to the widespread use of automobiles) and loved horses from childhood.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #life
- #personal-life
(prior to the widespread use of automobiles) and loved horses from childhood
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
On the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event