Interred at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Hawthorne, New York, USA.
James Cagney is caricaturized in a Merrie Melodies short cartoon called Hollywood Steps Out directed by Tex Avery (Warner Brothers 1941). The action takes place in the famed Ciro's nightclub where the Hollywood stars are having dinner. Cagney informs Humphrey Bogart and George Raft that they must prepare to do something risky. The trio of "tough guys" get ready, turn start pitching pennies.
James Cagney was originally cast as Robin Hood, but walked out on his contract with Warner brothers, paving the way for Errol Flynn, although filming was postponed three years.
Lived in a Gramercy Park building in New York City that was also occupied by Margaret Hamilton and now boasts Jimmy Fallon as one of its tenants.
Lost the role of Knute Rockne to his friend Pat O'Brien when the administration of Notre Dame - which had approval over all aspects of the filming - nixed Cagney because of his support of the far-left (and anti-Catholic) Spanish Republic in the then-ongoing Spanish Civil War.
Named the #8 greatest Actor on The 50 Greatest Screen Legends List by The American Film Institute
Often left the set early claiming he was too ill to continue filming in order to ensure an extra day of filming so that the extras and the film crew, whom he thought woefully underpaid, could get an additional day's salary.
Often said that he did not understand the method actors like Marlon Brando. Cagney admitted that he used his own personal experiences to help create his performances and encouraged other actors to do so, but he did not understand actors who felt a need to go to the extreme length that method actors went to.
Once worked as a waiter.
Originally a very left-wing Democrat activist during the 1930s, Cagney later switched his viewpoint and became progressively more conservative with age. He supported his friend Ronald Reagan's campaigns for the Governorship of California in 1966 and 1970, as well as his Presidential campaigns in 1980 and 1984. President Reagan delivered the eulogy at Cagney's funeral in 1986.
Part of the first group of major stars to join the Screen Actors Guild in October 1933 as member number 50. Before his Guild presidency, he served nearly a decade on the Board and as First Vice President. Cagney was elected Guild president in September 1942.
Pictured on a 33¢ USA commemorative postage stamp in the Legends of Hollywood series, issued 22 July 1999.
President of Screen Actors Guild (SAG). [1942-1944]
Ranked #45 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]
Though most Cagney imitators use the line "You dirty rat!", Cagney never actually said it in any of his films.
To protest the quality of scripts he was given at Warner Brothers, instead of violating his contract by refusing to appear in a picture he reputedly used his appearance to get even. In Jimmy the Gent (1934) he got an ugly crew-cut to make himself look like the hoodlum Warners wanted him to play. In movies like He Was Her Man (1934) he grew a thin mustache to upset thin-mustachioed studio boss Jack L. Warner.
Turned down Stanley Holloway's role as Eliza's father in My Fair Lady (1964).
Turned down the lead role in The Jolson Story (1946), which went to Larry Parks.
Two grandchildren, from daughter Kathleen, Verniey Lee and Christina May Thomas.
Was best friends with actors Pat O'Brien and Frank McHugh.