Dozens of books have been written about Cary Grant, but Scott Eyman's Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise is the definitive biography that finally cracks the actor's elusive and enigmatic façade. In the 1930s, Grant changed his name from Archibald Leach and left behind childhood poverty, an alcoholic father and an institutionalized mother to become the onscreen personification of assurance and sophistication. Years after he retired from films, Grant admitted, "It's a part I've been playing a long time, but no way am I really Cary Grant."
It wasn't until he had failed at four marriages, spent decades in therapy and participated in more than 100 LSD sessions that Grant was able to understand the duality of his personality. At 11, his father told him his mother had died. He didn't know she was still in an asylum until two decades later. Grant learned early, Eyman writes, "to hold himself slightly aloof from intimate relationships, the better to extricate himself when things got unpleasant." Eyman skillfully assesses Grant's films, his business acumen and why he was so deeply unhappy most of his life. As for the eternal question of whether Grant was gay, Eyman provides numerous, conflicting and first-hand testimonies over the decades. His verdict: "There is plausible evidence to place him inside any sexual box you want--gay, bi, straight, or any combination that might be expected from a predominantly solitary street kid with a street kid's sense of expedience."
A Brilliant Disguise is an intelligent, perceptive and haunting portrait of a much-beloved actor who was plagued by demons most of his life. --Kevin Howell, independent reviewer and marketing consultant