Cary Grant ITV series: release date of Archie on ITVX, cast with Jason Isaacs, and who was Archie Leach?

ITVX four-part drama Archie stars Harry Potter alum Jason Isaacs as the silver screen legend. The series is executive produced and written by Jeff Pope, who has helmed previous biopics including The Reckoning, Cilla, Stan & Ollie, and The Lost King. 

The series follows the life of Cary Grant, a Hollywood leading man during Hollywood’s golden age. He was known for iconic roles in His Girl Friday, Arsenic and Old Lace, North by Northwest, and Charade.

Grant was born and raised in Bristol, but moved to the US when he was a teenager and became a naturalised citizen in 1942, by which time he had been working in the film industry for a decade and had established himself as a huge name.

The actor had many relationships over his life, marrying five times, and had his daughter Jennifer, his only child, with his fourth wife Dyan Cannon, who he was married to for three years. He had lived on and off with fellow actor Randolph Scott over a period of 12 years, and there were rumours that they were in a secret gay relationship, though Grant, and his daughter denied that this was the case.

Archie delves into the private life of the man behind the stardom, exploring how Cary Grant suffered anxiety and addiction issues, how this destroyed his first four marriages, and how the actor concealed his insecurities from the rest of the world.

Who was Archie Leach?

Cary Grant was born Archibald Leach, but when studio executives didn’t think the name suited a leading man, he took on the stage name Cary Grant in 1932, the same year that he appeared in his first feature film, This is the Night.

Grant legally changed his name in 1941 - an inside joke featured in his film His Girl Friday in which Grant’s character says “The last man who said that to me was Archie Leach, just a week before he cut his throat”.

Who is in the cast of Archie?

• Jason Isaacs as Cary Grant
• Laura Aikman as Dyan Cannon
• Kara Tointon as younger Elsie Leach
• Harriet Walter as Elsie Leach
• Calam Lynch as young adult Archie Leach
• Oaklee Pendergast as teenage Archie Leach
• Dainton Anderson as child Archie Leach
• Henry Lloyd-Hughes as Elias
• Ian Puleston-Davies as Pender
• Jason Watkins as Stanley Fox
• Christian Lees as George Burns
• Ainy Medina as Rose
• Peter Ellis as older Elias
• Samantha Colley as Barbara Harris
• Olivia Brody as young Jennifer Grant
• Ellie MacDowall as Jennifer Grant

When is the release date of Archie?

Archie is a four episode limited series, and will be released in one go on ITVX on Thursday November 23. Episodes are expected to air on ITV1 at a later date.