James Francis Cagney, Jr. (July 17, 1899 – March 30, 1986) was an American film actor who won acclaim for a wide variety of roles and won the Oscar for Best Actor in 1942 for his role in Yankee Doodle Dandy.

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• You don't psych yourself up for these things, you do them...I'm acting for the audience, not for myself, and I do it as directly as I can.
  • Cagney by Cagney, his autobiography (1976)

"James Cagney was catnip for women of all ages."- Robert Osbourne


" Any world that produced the Taj Mahal, William Shakespeare, and striped toothpaste can't be all that bad."- James Cagney in One, Two,Three

" To be afraid, you have to have a heart. I had that cut out a long time ago."- James Cagney in Angels with Dirty Faces
" Good Morning Gentlemen. Nice day for a murder."- James Cagney in Angels with Dirty Faces
" You haven't exactly had any eruptions of brilliance lately."- James Cagney in G-Men

About James Cagney

• Everything he (Cagney) does is big, and yet it's never for a moment unbelievable because it's real. He's a great movie actor.
  • Orson Welles

• Every time I see him work, it looks to me like a bunch of firecrackers going off all at once.
  • Will Rogers