Was best friends with actors Pat O`Brien, and Frank McHugh.

Brother of actor-producer William Cagney, and of actress Jeanne Cagney

Famous for his gangster roles he played in the 1930s and 1940s (which made his only Oscar win as the musical composer/dancer/actor George M.Cohan most ironic).

Turned down the lead role in The Al Jolson Story.

According to James Cagney's autobiography Cagney By Cagney, (Published by Doubleday and Company Inc 1976, and ghost written by show biz biographer Jack McCabe), a Mafia plan to murder Cagney by dropping a several hundred pound klieg light on top of him was stopped at the insistence of George Raft. Cagney at that time was president of the Screen Actors Guild, and was determined not to let the mob infiltrate the industry. Raft used his many mob connections to cancel the hit.

Though most Cagney imitators use the line "You dirty rat!", Cagney never actually said it in any of his films.

According to his authorized biography, Cagney, although of Irish and Norwegian extraction, could speak Yiddish since he had grown up in a heavily Jewish area in New York. He used to converse in Yiddish with Jewish performers like Sylvia Sidney.

Pictured on a 33¢ USA commemorative postage stamp in the Legends of Hollywood series, issued 22 July 1999.

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.

His electric acting style was a huge influence on future generations of actors. Actors as diverse as Clint Eastwood and Malcolm McDowell point to him as their number one influence to become actors.

Inspiration for the Madonna song, "White Heat", from her album, True Blue.

He was voted the 14th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

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 tennants.

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.

Films co-starring James Cagney and 'Pat O'Brien (I)' were these nine: Here Comes the Navy (1934), Devil Dogs of the Air (1935), The Irish in Us (1935), Boy Meets Girl (1938), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), Torrid Zone (1940), The Fighting 69th (1940), Ceiling Zero (1936), as well as their finale together, four decades later, Ragtime (1981).

Ranked #45 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]

Along with Rita Hayworth, is mentioned by name in the Tom Waits' song "Invitation To The Blues".

His performance as Tom Powers in The Public Enemy (1931) is ranked #57 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.

Turned down Stanley Holloway's role as Eliza's father in My Fair Lady (1964).

American Film Institute Life Achievement Award [1974]

Father of actor James Cagney Jr.

Extraordinarily (for Hollywood), he never cheated on his wife Frances, resulting in a marriage that lasted 64 years (ending with his death). The closest he came was nearly giving into a seduction attempt by Merle Oberon while the two stars were on tour to entertain WWII GIs.

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 used his appearance to get even. In Jimmy the Gent (1934) he went and 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 sported a thin mustache to upset thin-mustachioed studio boss Jack Warner.

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) is ranked #88 on the American Film Institute's 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time.

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.

Had two adopted children, Casey and James Jr.

According to his autobiography his brother Bill (who was also his manager) actively pursued the role of Cohan in the ultra-patriotic film Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) as a way of removing the taint of Cagney's radical activities in the 1930s, when he was a strong Roosevelt liberal. When Cohan himself learned about Cagney's background as a song-and-dance man in vaudeville, he okay-ed him for the project.

When filming the remake of "White Heat", special effects had not developed "squibs" yet. Special effects used low velocity bullets to break windows or to show bullets hitting near the characters. Special effects used marksmen. It ended up that Cagney was missed by mere inches in the factory scene.

He once claimed that problems with Horst Buchholz had convinced him to retire from acting.

Despite the common perception that he was full-blooded Irish of origin this was not all-together true. His grandfather was from Norway, but as he told an interviewer shortly before his death in 1986: "My mother's father, my Grandpa Nelson, was a Norwegian sea captain, but when I tried to investigate those roots I didn't get very far, for he had apparently changed his name to another one that made it impossible to identify him within the rest of the population."

Interred at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Hawthorne, New York, USA.

Named the #8 greatest Actor on The 50 Greatest Screen Legends List by The American Film Institute

He was voted the 11th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Premiere Magazine.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986- 1990, pages 149-152. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.

Encouraged by his mother to take up boxing as a hobby. She thought it was a necessary skill to have, especially in the rough Eastside section of New York City where he grew up. She would often show up and watch him take on neighborhood kids in a street fight. However when he wanted to become a professional boxer, she disapproved. She started to put on a pair of boxing gloves and told him "If you want to become a professional fighter, then your first fight will have to be against me". He abandoned the idea of doing boxing professionally from that moment on.

His performance as George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) is ranked #6 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).

His widow Frances (nicknamed 'Bill') outlived Cagney by eight years, dying aged 95 in 1994.

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.

In his autobiography, he mentions when playing a chorus part in Pitter Patter, he earned $55 a week, of which he sent $40 a week back to his mother. As his salary increased, so did the amount he sent back home. While working on The Public Enemy, he earned $400 a week, sending over $300 back home. Until his mother passed, he never kept more than 50% of his earnings.

When filming the remake of "White Heat", special effects had not developed "squibs" yet. Special effects used low velocity bullets to break windows or to show bullets hitting near the characters. Special effects used marksmen. It ended up that Cagney was missed by mere inches in the factory scene.

Turned down the lead role in The Al Jolson Story.

Turned down Stanley Holloway`s role as Eliza`s father in My Fair Lady (1964).

Inspiration for the Madonna song, "White Heat", from her album, True Blue.

Encouraged by his mother to take up boxing as a hobby. She thought it was a necessary skill to have, especially in the rough Eastside section of New York City where he grew up. She would often show up and watch him take on neighborhood kids in a street fight. However when he wanted to become a professional boxer, she disapproved. She started to put on a pair of boxing gloves and told him "If you want to become a professional fighter, then your first fight will have to be against me". He abandoned the idea of doing boxing professionally from that moment on.

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 used his appearance to get even. In Jimmy the Gent (1934) he went and 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 sported a thin mustache to upset thin-mustachioed studio boss Jack Warner.

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.

His performance as George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) is ranked #6 on Premiere Magazine`s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).

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.

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.

His electric acting style was a huge influence on future generations of actors. Actors as diverse as Clint Eastwood and Malcolm McDowell point to him as their number one influence to become actors.

Was best friends with actors Pat O`Brien and Frank McHugh.

His widow Frances (nicknamed `Bill`) outlived Cagney by eight years, dying aged 95 in 1994.

Films co-starring James Cagney and `Pat O`Brien (I)` were these nine: Here Comes the Navy (1934), Devil Dogs of the Air (1935), The Irish in Us (1935), Boy Meets Girl (1938), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), Torrid Zone (1940), The Fighting 69th (1940), Ceiling Zero (1936), as well as their finale together, four decades later, Ragtime (1981).

Ranked #45 in Empire (UK) magazine`s "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]

He used to converse in Yiddish with Jewish performers like Sylvia Sidney

Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan at a ceremony at the White House on 26 March 1984.

Broke a rib while filming the dance scene in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) but continued dancing until it was completed.

Though most Cagney imitators use the line, You dirty rat!, Cagney never actually said it in any of his films.

Was of Irish-Norwegian origin.

Earned a Black Belt in Judo.

Convinced decorated war hero Audie Murphy to go into acting.

President of Screen Actors Guild (SAG). [1942-1944]

Cagney`s first job as an entertainer was as a female dancer in a chorus line.