Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach) was one of the biggest Hollywood stars during the 1940s and '50s.
Born in England, Grant began performing at age six. When he was 16 and on tour in the United States with an acting troupe, he decided to stay. He worked as a successful vaudeville performer in the 1920s and '30s before making his way to Hollywood.
During the late '30s and '40s, he was best known for appearing in comedies like Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Philadelphia Story (1940), and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). He also began to take on more dramatic roles, earning Academy Awards for Best Actor for his performances in Penny Serenade (1941) and None but the Lonely Heart (1944).
During the 1940s and '50s, he became a go-to for director Alfred Hitchcock, starring in many of his films including Suspicion (1941), To Catch A Thief (1955), and North by Northwest (1959).
Grant was known not only for his good looks and charming but for his self-deprecating humor. He was married five times and divorced four. He retired from acting when his daughter with his fourth wife was born in 1966, stating that he wanted to focus on bringing her up and to give her a sense of stability.
At the time, actors were products owned by their studios. Coming out was simply not an option, as their personal lives were a part of what the studios were selling, even if it was an open secret at the time (as with Rock Hudson, for example).
Although Cary Grant never publicly dated men, many of his contemporaries were confident that he had relationships with men. Cary Grant met fellow actor Randolph Scott on the set of Hot Saturday (1932) and they moved in together, sharing a house in Malibu for 12 years. They called it "Bachelor Hall".
In his memoir, Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars (2012), Scotty Bowers claims that he helped Cary Grant hook up with men. Costume designer Orry-Kelly hinted at a romantic relationship with Grant in his memoir Women I've Undressed (2016). And the documentary about Orry-Kelly, Women He's Undressed (2015) makes these claims more explicit.
It seems very likely that in addition to the many women he loved, Cary Grant loved a few men as well.