James Cagney

One of his first gigs was female impersonator.

The Cagneys adopted two children, Jim Jr. and Kathleen (Casey); they grew up with nannies in a separate house from their parents. As the Cagneys aged, they saw less and less of their adult children and their four grandchildren, and there were eventually disputes over property. Jim Jr. died in 1984, two years before his father, who did not attend the funeral, and 10 years before his mother. Casey died in 2004.

I loved him in Cagney and Lacey.

R2 that's very strange. They adopted and then raised their kids with nannies in a different house?!

Adopting children to advance your career is just so wrong.

There’s a good article about Cagney, which also discusses the children.

Cagney's best film: Yankee Doddle Dandy. He was a great gangster and a surprisingly good dancer.

r6 makes no sense what happened to make the children estranged from their family

Because he continually addressed them as "You dirty rats..."

I avoid movies about gangsters and psychopaths but he was fun in Wilder's——

The only gossip I remember hearing is the story from an old book, about the time he and another actress, I believe Merle Oberon, were traveling by train to a studio event, and she sneaked into his cabin and hid naked in his bed. He took her up on the offer. However, early in the session, she apparently squealed, "I can't believe I'm sleeping with James Cagney!" or something to that effect, which was, sadly, a literal boner killer for him.

Cute kids.

I love the scene in Lady Killer where he plays a Regency fop in knee britches. He looks fantastic and is very funny.