James Francis "Jimmy" Cagney Jr. was born in 1899 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. His … See more

In 1919, while Cagney was working at Wanamaker's Department Store, a colleague saw him dance and informed him about a role in the upcoming production, Every Sailor. It was a wartime play in which the chorus … See more

In 1920, Cagney was a member of the chorus for the show Pitter Patter, where he met Frances Willard "Billie" Vernon. They married on September 28, 1922, and the marriage lasted until his death in 1986. Frances Ca… See more

In his autobiography, Cagney said that as a young man, he had no political views, since he was more concerned with from where his next meal was coming. However, the emerging labor movement of the 1920s and 1930s soo… See more

Cagney died of a heart attack at his Dutchess County farm in Stanford, New York, on Easter Sunday 1986, aged 86. A funeral Mass was held at St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church in Manhattan. The eulogy wa… See more