Inside Cary Grant's Close Bond With the Man Who Helped Launch His Hollywood Career — 'The Perfect Friendship'
Randolph Scott helped mold Cary Grant into a legendary actor.
March 10 2025, Published 3:30 p.m. ET
While Cary Grant is known as a legendary actor from Hollywood's Golden Age, RadarOnline.com can reveal the close bond he shared with the man who helped shape him into the suave star he's known as today – and subsequently launched his career.
Grant, whose real name was Archie Leach, had humble beginnings in Bristol, England, where he was born on January 18, 1904.
Grant had a troubled childhood growing up in poverty in England.
With no culture and an unrefined look, Grant's chances at making it as an actor were slim to none without Randolph Scott's help.
His childhood was troubled with his father, Elias, working in a factory – where the star said he "made no more than a modest living and we had little money."
His mother, Elsie, disappeared in the middle of the night, taken to an asylum, when he was nine-years-old.
He would spend over two decades assuming she had died until he discovered she was alive and well when he was 35-years-old.
Against all odds, Grant made it to Hollywood after performing on Broadway.
He signed a contact with Paramount under his new stage name and soon met Scott, whom he lived with while both men were attempting to make it big in Los Angeles.
They met while making Hot Saturday in 1932. The two men could not have been more different with Scott hailing from a wealthy family in North Carolina, where he attended private schools, participating in swimming and horseback riding.
A writer at the time said: "Cary is temperamental in the sense of being very intense. Randy is calm and quiet."
Grant met Randolph Scott after signing with Paramount following a Broadway stint.
Meanwhile, Grant's first wife, Virginia Cherill, also commented on the men's close friendship.
She said: "Randy was good with Cary, when he was around. But he wasn't always there."
Grant made sure to leave his past behind him when he struck gold as one of the top actors in Hollywood – and he hated any mention of his upbringing.
Scott helped refine Grant's look and introduced him to culture from his wealthy upbringing.
The North by Northwest star was said to often ask Scott to sit with him during interviews too.
Scott recalled: "I've seen Cary actually lose sleep and weight after reading certain items that touched upon his personal life and thoughts."
When they starred together in the 1940 hit My Favorite Wife, Grant had the top billing, but Scott did not harbor any animosity towards his close friend.
He said: "We have been the closest of friends for years, but we never butted into each other's business. We never even had friendly quarrels. It has been the perfect friendship."
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Scott once said he and Grant had a 'perfect' friendship with little quarrels.
Scott passed away in 1987 aged 82, one year after Grant died in 1986 aged 82 after suffering a stroke.
Over his lifetime, Grant was married a total of five times and admitted he struggled with his relationships.
He confessed: "I was punishing (my wives) for what my mother had done to me. I was making the mistake of thinking each of my wives was my mother."
