Back to Top

The Escape Artist.


The only time I saw           Cary Grant was when he and Fred Astaire went out to Hollywood Park two           years ago to be inducted into the racetrack’s Pavilion of the Stars. Grant was 80 years of age at that time.  He wore a dark           blue suit, black-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, and his hair           shone white.  When he walked into his glitzy new building with his wife           Barbara, I half expected to see a doddering old man in his twilight,           an old star dimming against the clock.  What I saw was something else, something never to be           forgotten.  Grant walked into that building tall, straight as a           redwood, elegant, sure of foot, smiling and radiating a presence I           have never before — or since — experienced.  In the flesh, movie stars have a habit of shrinking back to our           size.  Cary Grant was the only movie star in my experience who           seemed to loom larger than life than his image on the screen.  Women that morning stopped in their tracks.  Men gaped and           stared.  Electricity rippled through the crowd.  Here was an old man being feted like a young matinee idol.  Grant made a brief, little speech.  I don’t remember a           word he said in that distinctive accent because, like everyone else, I           was too engrossed wondering how a man of 80 could look so young,           vigorous and in command.  —Ray Kerrison

The only time I saw Cary Grant was when he and Fred Astaire went out to Hollywood Park two years ago to be inducted into the racetrack’s Pavilion of the Stars. Grant was 80 years of age at that time.  He wore a dark blue suit, black-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, and his hair shone white.  When he walked into his glitzy new building with his wife Barbara, I half expected to see a doddering old man in his twilight, an old star dimming against the clock.  What I saw was something else, something never to be forgotten.  Grant walked into that building tall, straight as a redwood, elegant, sure of foot, smiling and radiating a presence I have never before — or since — experienced.  In the flesh, movie stars have a habit of shrinking back to our size.  Cary Grant was the only movie star in my experience who seemed to loom larger than life than his image on the screen.  Women that morning stopped in their tracks.  Men gaped and stared.  Electricity rippled through the crowd.  Here was an old man being feted like a young matinee idol.  Grant made a brief, little speech.  I don’t remember a word he said in that distinctive accent because, like everyone else, I was too engrossed wondering how a man of 80 could look so young, vigorous and in command.  —Ray Kerrison

(Source: mattybing1025, via istalksnape)

192 notes
  1. baddabing-baddabang reblogged this from mattybing1025
  2. crazyinsane reblogged this from istalksnape
  3. istalksnape reblogged this from thebrigadier
  4. spacediving reblogged this from thethinkingtank
  5. sixtyandfour reblogged this from thethinkingtank
  6. oxfordcommaforever reblogged this from ofshoes-andships-andsealingwax and added:
    This is why Cary Grant is my favorite ever.
  7. ofshoes-andships-andsealingwax reblogged this from theclassmaster
  8. quattroocchi reblogged this from thethinkingtank
  9. cheermeupthankyou reblogged this from thethinkingtank
  10. swoonbaby reblogged this from thethinkingtank
  11. theclassmaster reblogged this from thethinkingtank
  12. thethinkingtank reblogged this from lifeonsundays
  13. thebrigadier reblogged this from devenirgris
  14. redmargret reblogged this from devenirgris
  15. mmmmmhm reblogged this from intoxicatinglyvintageatheart
  16. intoxicatinglyvintageatheart reblogged this from frankiemachines
  17. lordsandladiesofthesilverscreen reblogged this from devenirgris
  18. heyjohnlennon reblogged this from devenirgris
  19. sixdollarsworth reblogged this from devenirgris
  20. deux-moulins reblogged this from devenirgris
  21. stillsparkling reblogged this from devenirgris
  22. devenirgris reblogged this from frankiemachines
  23. gimmecameleon reblogged this from factoseintolerant
  24. jacobmrivedal reblogged this from hellorhighwaters
  25. compulsiveawesomeness reblogged this from hellorhighwaters
  26. hellorhighwaters reblogged this from lifeonsundays
  27. jessica-says-hello reblogged this from factoseintolerant
  28. tearstodiamonds reblogged this from fitzgeraldist and added:
    The only time I saw Cary Grant was when he and Fred Astaire went out to Hollywood Park two years ago to be inducted into...
  29. flutie reblogged this from mattybing1025
  30. loups-garous reblogged this from lifeonsundays
  31. lifeandotherponderings reblogged this from lifeonsundays