Cagney, James (Francis, Jr) (1899-1986)

US actor. His physical dynamism and staccato vocal delivery made him one of the first stars of talking pictures. Often associated with gangster roles, as in The Public Enemy (1931) and White Heat (1949), he was equally adept at playing comedy, singing, and dancing, as in Blonde Crazy (1931), Footlight Parade (1933), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), and Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942).

Cagney also starred in Mr Roberts (1955). One, Two, Three (1961) was his last film before retirement, although in 1981 he made a brief comeback for Ragtime. He received the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award in 1974. He published an autobiography, Cagney by Cagney, in 1975.