Cary Grant, born Jan. 18, 1904, in Bristol, England, as Archibald Leach, was so successful in developing his screen persona that audiences would not accept him as anyone else. Grant worked as an acrobat, juggler and song-and-dance man, before starring in stage plays in Britain, and then coming to Hollywood in 1932. A year later, Mae West invited him to "come up and see" her in "She Done Him Wrong."
He had his greatest success in screwball comedies and in films by Alfred Hitchcock, also honored with a Legends of Hollywood stamp. Grant's first hit was "Topper," in 1937, but "The Awful Truth" that same year is considered the film that made him a star. His other top films included "Bringing Up Baby" (1938), "His Girl Friday," "My Favorite Wife" and "The Philadelphia Story," (all 1940), and, with Hitchcock, "Suspicion" (1941), "Notorious" (1946), "To Catch A Thief" (1955) and "North By Northwest" (1959). The crop duster scene from the latter film will be featured in the margin areas of the stamp sheet. The stamp itself features a painting by Michael Deas based on a studio publicity photograph. Deas' other work includes U.S. stamps for Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and others in the Legends of Hollywood series.