FROM CHORUS BOY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 March 1941, Page 9

FROM CHORUS BOY

TO HOLLYWOOD STAR. JAMES CAGNEY'S PROGRESS. Chorus boy to vaudeville to movie stardom is the seven word "success” story by James Cagney, one of the most popular stars of the Hollywood firmament. Jimmy started his career in a New York department store at £2 10s per week, but a £5 job as a chorus boy lured him from a future of merchandising. Young Cagney took his place before the public very seriously-, and soon was known as a versatile actor — so ‘versatile, in fact, that het-filled in for almost every ailing or missing actor at the slightest provocation. He could sing, dance —and act. The vaudeville stage brought to him the first —and present wife—Miss Frances Vernon. They appeared in a dramatic sketch together and finished before the altar. When the Shuborts inaugurated their short-lived vaudeville circuit. Jimmy and wife joined a troupe headed by Lew Fields. From thence to Broadway and finally to Hollywood—where his latest screen appearance is made in "The Roaring Twenties” —briefly completes his eventful career.