At the time, actors usually worked with one of the big studios for their entire careers, but Grant was so successful by the beginning of the 1940s, that he decided not to renew his contract with Paramount and become a free agent. He then began to hand-pick his own parts and became more and more selective over time.
The first role he picked after leaving Paramount was in the 1946 Hitchcock film North by Northwest with Eva Marie Saint. Grant remained a free agent and worked with whichever studio he chose until his retirement.
Mr. Nice Guy
In all his years on screen, Cary Grant never once portrayed a villain. This was an intentional move by the studio to keep audiences from feeling anything remotely negative about the actor. The only somewhat controversial role that Grant ever took was in Alfred Hitchcock’s film 'Suspicion', from 1941.
In the film, he plays a husband whose wife believes that he is going to murder her but, in the end, he is revealed as innocent. Hitchcock claims that the ending was changed at the direction of the studio in order to maintain Grant’s “heroic” image.
Hitchcock Was a Fan
The actor caught the attention of and soon became one of Alfred Hitchcock’s favorites. The legendary director chose Grant to star in some of his most iconic films including 'North by Northwest', 'Notorius' and 'To Catch a Thief' with Grace Kelly. Although, similarly to Hitchcock, Grant never took home an Oscar for any of his movies.
He also never won a Golden Globe even though he was nominated in the Best Actor category five times in six years. Some people claim that Cary Grant was not the kind of actor that wins an Academy Award due to his effortless style of acting.
Quitting the Biz
In 1966, when Cary Grant was 62, his first and only child was born. It was a girl named Jennifer and after her birth, Grant retired from acting, but he was not just a stay-at-home dad. Grant became a businessman and joined the board of directors for the cosmetics company, Fabergé, which is no longer in business.
Despite some opinions that the appointment was just for show, Grant proved that he had a head for business. He later went on to serve on other boards, such as Hollywood Park, which became Pinnacle Entertainment, and Western Airlines, which merged with Delta in 1987. In 1975, he joined the board director for MGM Studios.
Unofficial Retirement
Grant did officially retire after the birth of his daughter, but he unofficially quit appearing in movies more than ten years earlier, in 1952. At that time, he began to believe that his type of acting was old-fashioned and that the method acting being showcased by James Dean and Marlon Brando was the future.
He was also not acting as a form of protest against the shunning of Charlie Chaplin by Hollywood for his liberal point of view. He did agree to appear in 'To Catch A Thief' after Alfred Hitchcock convinced him.