John Cleese's character in A Fish Called Wanda (1988) was named "Archie Leach" after Grant's real name.
Elton John recalled that one of the highlights of his 1976 tour of the United States was meeting Grant backstage after a concert.
Cary Grant and Charlton Heston attended a dinner at 10 Downing Street honoring the then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, whom they both greatly admired. Afterward Heston said to his wife Lydia, "You know I sat next to Mrs Thatcher." She replied, "That's nothing - I got to sit next to Cary Grant!".
Douglas Fairbanks was his boyhood idol, with Fairbanks' "healthy" tan being the inspiration for Grant's constantly dark skin.
Alfred Hitchcock once toyed with the idea of casting him as Hamlet (in what would have been a modern-dress film version of Shakespeare's play), but he never got around to it.
Alfred Hitchcock originally planned to cast Grant in the role of the publisher and Montgomery Clift as Brandon Rope (1948). However the established homosexual relationship between Leopold and Loeb, and the tacit recognition of a similar tie between Hamilton's killers, persuaded Grant and Clift to steer clear of the project to avoid long term commercial repercussions.
Alfred Hitchcock told 'Francois Truffaut' that Grant, unlike James Stewart, would have been willing to play a villain. Before he was a star, Stewart (unlike Grant) once actually played an out-and-out villain, in After the Thin Man (1936). The closest Grant came was the original version of Suspicion (1941), directed by Hitchcock, in which Grant's character poisoned his wife, but the film was recut so that Grant wouldn't be a bad guy.
Ian Fleming modeled the James Bond character partially with Grant in mind.
According to his will (dated 26th November 1984), his body was to be cremated and no funeral service held. His ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.
After The Howards of Virginia (1940) flopped at the box office, Grant turned down all offers for historical epics until The Pride and the Passion (1957), which was also a failure.
After being widely criticized for playing the romantic lead in To Catch a Thief (1955) opposite the 26-years-younger younger Grace Kelly, Grant resolved never to play such a part again. He turned down Gregory Peck's role in Arabesque (1966) opposite Sophia Loren.
Although fifty when To Catch a Thief (1955) was filmed, Grant was still playing a character of thirty-five.
Although he became a Paramount contract player early in his film career, when the contract was up, he made an unusual decision for the time: he decided to freelance. Because his films were so successful at the box office, he was able to work at any studio he chose for the majority of his career.
Although he had been considered a liberal during his career, after his retirement from acting he emerged as a major supporter of Richard Nixon in the late 1960s.
Always cited his To Catch a Thief (1955) co-star Grace Kelly as his favorite leading lady. He attended her state funeral in 1982 and wept throughout the televised service.
As a child, he had a fear of knives and a fear of heights.
Ashes scattered in California, USA.
At one time, he owned a Sealyham terrier called Archie Leach.
At the time of his death, his estate was valued at $60 million.
Attended the state funeral of his friend Earl Louis Mountbatten of Burma at Westminster Abbey in August 1979, and openly wept during the service.