Q&A on the News

We’ve been told that Cary Grant was gay. Was this information known when he was playing romantic parts in Hollywood? — Oliver Welch, Decatur

Former wives, including actress Dyan Cannon, have denied that Grant was gay and that he had a romantic relationship with actor Randolph Scott, among others.

Cannon, who wrote “Dear Cary: My Life with Cary Grant,” a memoir of their relationship in the 1960s, told FoxNews.com in 2011: “I just want to tell you (the intimate) part of our life was very fulfilling, so I don’t know. In Hollywood, they talk about everyone in some form or another. If that was the case, I never saw any indication of it.”

His daughter, Jennifer Grant, wrote about the rumors in “Good Stuff: A Reminiscence of My Father, Cary Grant,” but didn’t address Grant’s relationship with Scott. “Can’t blame men for wanting him, and wouldn’t be surprised if Dad even mildly flirted back,” she wrote. “Dad somewhat enjoyed being called gay. He said it made women want to prove the assertion wrong.”

She added: “Did Dad ever experiment sexually? I don’t know.”

Grant sued actor Chevy Chase for $10 million for slander after he joked Grant was gay on TV in the early 1980s. They settled out of court and Grant told the Washington Post in 1983: “(Chase) felt foolish and stupid.” Grant, who died in 1986, was married five times.