Cary Grant died at age 82 of a ‘massive stroke’ in Davenport, Iowa, in 1986
Cary Grant died at age 82 on Saturday, Nov. 29, 1986, at 11:22 p.m. local time in Davenport, Iowa.
Grant was in Davenport for an event titled “A Conversation With Cary Grant,” in which Grant would share stories about his career and field questions from fans.
The event was scheduled for that Saturday, Nov. 29, 1986, at 8:30 p.m. at Davenport’s Adler Theater. Grant had flown into the Quad-Cities area the day before. On Saturday, shortly after 4 p.m., Grant attended a rehearsal for the show, according to the Dec. 1, 1986, account in The Daily Dispatch by Mike Romkey and Bill McElwain.
According to that account, Grant and his wife, Barbara Harris (a British hotel PR agent, not the American actress), had spent the early part of Saturday afternoon taking a drive around the Quad-Cities area with host couple Doug Miller and his wife, Vickie, who had arranged Grant’s visit. They visited a farm and took a “short stroll” along the Mississippi River. Grant was recognized by some passersby, who exchanged warm greetings. Citing “news accounts,” the article says that during the car ride, “Grant had become ill and vomited.”
But the article quotes Lois Jecklin, an organizer of the event, as saying Grant “was chipper” at the rehearsal: “He made several changes of the microphones, shifted the stool where he was sitting, and made some rearrangements for the screening of some of his old film clips.” Doug Miller said that when he asked Grant during the rehearsal how Grant thought the show would go, and Grant replied, “What happens, happens.”
Jecklin said that Grant asked his wife for support when leaving the stage. Photographer Basil Williams said he saw Grant stagger a couple of times during the rehearsal, according to the Dispatch article.
Grant and Harris went to a dressing room. Harris came out and said Grant was dizzy, complaining of stomach problems and would need help getting back to their room at the Hotel Blackhawk in Davenport, according to the Dispatch account.
At 7 p.m., 90 minutes before the show’s scheduled start time, Harris told organizers that Grant would be unable to perform. Doug Miller said Grant was more concerned about disappointing his fans than with his own health. “A number of times he apologized, just saying he wished he could get on with the show ... His last words to me were very simply, ‘I’m sorry.’ ”
The New York Times obituary said the audience was told at 7 p.m. that the show was delayed, then about half an hour later, the audience was told of the cancellation.
Jecklin said a doctor was called around 8 p.m. An ambulance was sent around 9 p.m. and at 9:15 p.m., Grant was admitted to St. Luke’s Hospital with “symptoms of a massive stroke,” a hospital nursing supervisor said: “He was comatose when admitted. He was treated for 45 minutes in the emergency room and subsequently transferred to intensive care, where he died at 11:22 p.m.”
The New York Times obituary quotes Dr. James Gilson, a cardiologist who treated Grant: “There was nothing that could be done. There’s no intervention when something like this happens.”
An advertisement for the show that was canceled.
Happening so late at night, Grant’s death missed most newspapers of the following day; obituaries appeared Monday, Dec. 1. Also, according to the Romkey-McElwain account, “The announcement of Grant’s death was delayed for an hour so that Harris could call family members, including his 21-year-old daughter, Jennifer.” Grant was married five times. Jennifer Grant is the daughter of Grant and his fourth wife, Dyan Cannon. Grant was also married to Virginia Cherrill, Barbara Hutton and Betsy Drake.
Grant’s show on Nov. 29 was to be “the star attraction of the Festival of Trees, an event apparently in its first year that was a benefit for the Visiting Artists Series,” according to the Dispatch account, which said more than 2,000 people were expected to attend Grant’s show. Ahead of the event, Grant told McElwain of the Dispatch that he did the show about three or four times a year, “when the mood strikes.” He had been scheduled to head to St. Louis after his Davenport appearance. He told McElwain he liked doing the shows in part because Harris “was raised in South Africa and came here from England ... she gets to see a lot of the country.”
McElwain asked Grant what his favorite movie was. Grant said, “It’s an impossible question to answer.”
He had flown in to the Quad-Cities on a private jet from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport with Davenport broadcasting executive Doug Miller and Miller’s wife Vickie, who had paid for Grant’s appearance at the benefit. Ed Hanna, a flight manager at Quad-City Airport, had flown the group to the Quad-City Airport. Hanna told the paper that Grant on Friday “seemed fine” and “seemed to be a real nice person; very gracious and easy to talk to.”
Jecklin, according to the paper, said Grant and Harris on Friday night had dinner in their hotel suite from room service and also stayed in their room Saturday morning.
According to the Dispatch, Hanna arranged early Sunday for a chartered Learjet to take Harris and Grant’s body back to Los Angeles. They left sometime after 2:15 a.m. Nov. 30, local time, and arrived in Los Angeles around 5:30 a.m. Pacific time.
The New York Times obituary said Grant was born Archibald Alexander Leach on Jan. 18, 1904, in England. It said that by 1950, Grant’s price was $300,000 per film and that, “In his later life, Mr. Grant received 10 percent of the gross profits of any film he appeared in and reportedly owned his films outright after seven years.” It said Grant was 6-foot-1 and about 180 pounds.
The Times said President Ronald Reagan issued this statement: “Nancy and I are very saddened by the death of our very dear and longtime friend Cary Grant. He was one of the brightest stars in Hollywood and his elegance, wit and charm will endure forever on film and in our hearts. We will always cherish the memory of his warmth, his loyalty and his friendship and we will miss him deeply.”
In a statement reported by UPI, Frank Sinatra said: “I am saddened by the loss of one of the dearest friends I ever had. ... I shall miss him terribly.”
(November 2026)
