Beginning July 1 and continuing through July 8, Movie Addict Headquarters is featuring an On Demand tribute to James Cagney, one of Hollywood’s legendary actors. Film critics Diana Saenger, James Colt Harrison and A.J. Hakari join this salute to Cagney’s remarkable movie career, including his Oscar-winning performance in YANKEE DOODLE DANDY plus many of his other films. What a great way to celebrate the Fourth of July!

Listen to this vintage episode any time during the week by clicking on the link at the end of this article.   

Although known primarily for his many “tough-guy” roles, Cagney started out in show biz as a dancer. For his first stage performance, he danced dressed as a woman in the chorus line of Every Sailor, a 1919 revue. In later years, he even opened a dance studio for professionals and served as a choreographer. But he only danced in a small number of movies, including Footlight Parade, Taxi, The Seven Little Foys and Yankee Doodle Dandy.

Cagney earned numerous honors for his on-screen work. In addition to his Best Actor Academy Award, he garnered two other Oscar nominations. One for Angels with Dirty Faces, the other for Love Me or Leave Me. He also received the AFI Life Achievement Award, a Kennedy Center Honor and the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award.

It’s interesting to note that after Cagney’s breakthrough gangster part in The Public Enemy back in the 1930s, many moviegoers had a hard time accepting him in “good-guy” roles, but it’s still not surprising that in 1999 the AFI ranked him EIGHTH among the 50 Greatest American Screen Legends.  

The list of other films that prove Cagney’s versatility as an actor includes: White Heat, Mr. Roberts, Ragtime, One Two Three, Strawberry Blonde, The Roaring Twenties, Tribute to a Bad Man, Man of a Thousand Faces, The Oklahoma Kid, and A Lion Is in the Street.

HOST: Betty Jo Tucker

PRODUCER: Nikki Starr

LINK TO LISTEN: Click here.