All About Cary Grant and Dyan Cannon's Daughter Jennifer Grant

Cary Grant and Dyan Cannon welcomed their daughter Jennifer Grant in 1966

Cary Grant was one of the most famous actors in Old Hollywood, but his priorities shifted when his daughter Jennifer was born.

The Golden Age star found fame through Alfred Hitchcock movies, including North by Northwest and To Catch a Thief, but after his daughter's birth in 1966, he never made another movie again. During his time in the spotlight, Grant was married five times and welcomed Jennifer with his then-wife Dyan Cannon.

The former couple married in Las Vegas on July 22, 1965, and their daughter was born on Feb. 26, 1966. Grant and Cannon separated just over a year later. Despite being private about his love life, The Philadelphia Story actor was vocal about his devotion to his child.

“My daughter Jennifer, she is by far my best production,” the actor often said. The line was recreated in the 2023 limited series about Grant's life Archie, which was based in part on Cannon’s book about her ex-husband, Dear Cary: My Life with Cary Grant.

Shortly before Grant’s death in 1986, when Jennifer was attending Stanford University, he said, “I hope she’s majoring in happiness.” She also recalled his affection for her in her 2011 memoir, Good Stuff: A Reminiscence of My Father, Cary Grant.

Here is everything to know about Cary Grant and Dyan Cannon's daughter, Jennifer Grant.

She was born in 1966

Jennifer was born on Feb. 26, 1966. After her birth, Grant stopped making movies in order to devote himself to being a father.

When Grant and Cannon's divorce was finalized in 1968, she requested that he only be allowed to see Jennifer sparingly. Despite the tense divorce proceedings, the actors eventually reconciled and came to a more equitable custody arrangement.

“My private scars are no longer open for inspection,” Cannon told PEOPLE in 1977. “Cary and I went through our own hell. Now we’ve become good friends.”

Grant opened up about his love for Jennifer before his 1986 death. “She’s the most winsome, captivating girl I’ve ever known, and I’ve known quite a few. We have an honest relationship. We level with each other," he said.

Grant’s own childhood inspired him as a father

Grant, who was born Archibald Alec Leach in England, had a very difficult childhood. He grew up in poverty, and when he was young, his mother was committed to a mental institution, while Archie, as he was known then, was told that she had died. Grant's father left him with his grandmother to start another family, and the way Grant felt abandoned by his parents left marks that stayed with him through his adult life.

Those childhood experiences, Jennifer told The Guardian in 2023, made him an even better parent. “He rarely spoke to me of his mum and dad, particularly his father,” she said. “Occasionally, he would say something kind about the way he taught him to dress. And he spoke of Elsie, my grandma, once in a while."

She continued, "Given the pain of his upbringing, which forced him to push down a lot of it, he could have self-immolated, right? But it motivated him. And I think he wanted to be sure not to repeat the pattern. So the pendulum swung the other way. All the neglect he suffered meant he made sure that that was not my life.”

Jennifer recalled moments like a Halloween when Grant rented a house in the neighborhood where she’d be trick or treating so that he could see her on the holiday.

"At the time ... I was embarrassed, I think, by the extent of his love and devotion to me,” she told NPR in 2011. “So I just sort of ran up and got the candy and gave him a hug and left. It's moments like that that I look back on — and I regret those moments. I wish I'd just sat down and said, 'Oh, thank you Dad!' "

Grant kept a meticulous archive of Jennifer’s childhood

When writing her book, Jennifer relied on careful records that Grant kept of her growing up. He recorded conversations and kept every drawing she made for him.

"He wanted me to have accurate records of my life growing up with him because his own records were burned in the bombings of Bristol in World War II," she told NPR. "So he made all of these tapes and Super 8 films, and took slides and photographs. And every note I wrote him, every note he wrote me — and letter — he saved in boxes. And he put them in a fireproof vault in our house to ensure the safety of these archives for me."

Her father passed down his sense of fashion

Jennifer told Women's Wear Daily in 2011 that she was a tomboy growing up, living in jeans and tees, but that Grant, who was “not a believer in trends,” instilled the basics of classic fashion in her.

“If you see a picture of him now, you couldn’t tell [what year it was from],” she said. “He could walk in today in any of the clothes he wore and be perfectly in style. He actually taught me how to tie a tie when I was quite young. He would put a chair in his bathroom, tie the tie from behind him so that I learned how.”

Grant also had his cufflinks made into earrings for Jennifer.

She has acted in a few films

Jennifer was only 20 when Grant died, and was majoring in American studies at Stanford at the time. After graduation, she worked at a law firm and as a chef — but she also started acting.

In 1993, Jennifer took her first acting roles, including a recurring role in Beverly Hills, 90210. She went on to appear in movies like The Evening Star with Shirley MacLaine and Babylon with Brad Pitt, and on shows like Friends and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Along with her mother, Jennifer was an executive producer on Archie.

She’s carrying on the family legacy with her two children

Jennifer has two children who are carrying on her famous father’s name. Her son, Cary Benjamin Grant, was born in 2008, and her daughter, Davian Grant, followed in 2011.

The author opened up to The Guardian about the connection between her kids and her late father. "I wish he could have met them," she said. "Occasionally a teacher will say to my son: 'Oh, Cary Grant, your mother must’ve loved that actor!' And he’ll say that was my grandfather."

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