The manuscript series of the Cary Grant papers span the years 1918-1988 (bulk 1960s-1980s) and encompass 32.3 linear feet. The collection consists of production files, stage files, correspondence files, subject files, scrapbooks, artifacts, sheet music, and disc recordings. The production files include bound scripts for ten films, including AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER (1957), DESTINATION TOKYO (1943), MR. LUCKY (1943), THE TALK OF THE TOWN (1942), and WALK, DON'T RUN (1966). Other scripts include those for CHARADE (1963), FATHER GOOSE (1964), THE GRASS IS GREENER (1960), HOUSEBOAT (1958), PEOPLE WILL TALK (1951), and THAT TOUCH OF MINK (1962). The production files also include primarily clippings and publicity, with some correspondence. Titles represented include INDISCREET (1958), KISS THEM FOR ME (1957), NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959), NOTORIOUS (1946), OPERATION PETTICOAT (1959), THE PRIDE AND THE PASSION (1957), and TO CATCH A THIEF (1955). The stage files contain several playscripts by various writers and information about Grant’s stage career.

Among the correspondence files are individual letters from personalities ranging from Woody Allen to Franco Zeffirelli. Of note are handwritten and typed letters from Clifford Odets and handwritten notes from Rouben Mamoulian including “‘What’s in a Name?’—CARY GRANT as I see it”—a “portrait” of Grant based on the letters in his name. Correspondence from Grant, primarily in the form of telegrams and copies of dictated letters, is scattered over many years.

The subject files contain general correspondence, voluminous clippings and magazine articles on Grant, and personal material. Included is a 1918 diary; material on Grant's early career, including correspondence and signed contracts with Bob Pender and contracts for Grant as Archie Leach; family correspondence; documents concerning automobiles, bank accounts, and income tax records; genealogical papers for the Leach family lineage; naturalization papers and correspondence; passports and passport records; and quotations, poems, and sonnets collected by Grant. There is correspondence from and regarding organizations such as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Actors Fund, the American Film Institute, Fabergé, and the Friars Club. Other areas of general correspondence cover Grant's art collection; investments and properties; invitations from British royalty and the royal family of Monaco; and requests for books, articles, interviews, and personal appearances. There is also four volumes of "Anthony's Almanac," a self-published, humorous newsletter from Tony Curtis; programs for film retrospectives; a television script by Clifford Odets; passenger lists for various transatlantic ocean liner crossings and cruises from 1933 to 1947; and extensive clippings and correspondence covering the establishment of the Cary Grant Theatre at MGM in 1984.

Of interest in the subject files are contracts and agreements including a 1949 memo from attorney Morton Garbus regarding Grant's continuing earnings (on a percentage basis) from various films; correspondence, itineraries, and other documents relating to a 1953 tour of U.S. Army hospitals in Japan and British army hospitals in Hong Kong made by Grant and Betsy Drake; World War II-related documents including correspondence, Selective Service notifications, draft cards, and other documents related primarily to Grant’s draft status during 1942 and 1943; and Grant’s personal 1942 Hollywood Victory Caravan scrapbook.

Other material include awards, miscellaneous disc recordings, and sheet music. The latter includes sheet music used in the movie "Night and Day"; the song "Lazy," inscribed by Irving Berlin; and a vocal score for "Words and Music" inscribed by Noël Coward.

Twenty-three scrapbooks document Grant’s career from 1927 to 1964, including his stage work and his films from THIS IS THE NIGHT (1932) through CHARADE (1963). Artifacts include monogrammed cufflinks and eyeglasses.

The photograph series of the Cary Grant papers spans the years 1904-1986 and encompasses approximately 6.5 linear feet. The series consists of 2,681 individual items. The photographs are grouped into motion picture production photographs and biography photographs.

The motion picture production photographs are arranged alphabetically by film title and cover 55 of the 73 films in which Grant appeared, two films in which he did not appear but where he was visiting the set, and two unidentified productions. Coverage varies, but the majority of the titles have fewer than ten photographs, while only a few titles have more than 30.

The biography photographs span the years 1904-1986 (bulk post-1960). Of special interest are those from his childhood, from his early career in vaudeville and the theater, and at William Randolph Hearst’s San Simeon castle in the 1930s. There are also numerous autographed and inscribed photographs, notably from political figures such as Nancy Reagan, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, and Ted Kennedy, and from film personalities including Virginia Cherrill, Marion Davies, Marlene Dietrich, Irene Dunne, Barbara Hutton, Myrna Loy, and Mae West. Black and white studio portraits, color transparencies, and portraits of Grant in his later years round out the collection.

Cary Grant (1904-1986) was born Archibald Alexander Leach in Bristol, England. As a young man Grant ran away from home and joined an acrobatic vaudeville troupe that eventually made its way to New York. When the troupe moved on, Grant stayed in New York. After appearing in a number of stage musicals and operettas, he made his way to Hollywood. In 1931 he was signed by Paramount, and the studio changed his name to Cary Grant. Supporting roles were followed by leads in romantic films and screwball comedies. Credits include THE BACHELOR AND THE BOBBY-SOXER (1947), CHARADE (1963), NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959), THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940), and TO CATCH A THIEF (1955). Married multiple times, to actress Virginia Cherrill, heiress Barbara Hutton, actress Betsy Drake, actress Dyan Cannon, and Barbara Harris, Grant has a daughter, actress Jennifer Grant, with Cannon. Grant was nominated for a best actor Academy Award for PENNY SERENADE (1941) and NONE BUT THE LONELY HEART (1944). His last film was WALK, DON'T RUN (1966). Grant received a 1969 Honorary Award from the Academy.