Rowlf, Cagney, behind bars they look the same
James Cagney (1899-1986) was an actor who established himself as a star in a string of gangster movies such as White Heat and Angels with Dirty Faces. With a background dancing in vaudeville, he pivoted to musicals in Yankee Doodle Dandy and won an Academy Award for Best Actor. Later films, outside either category, include Mister Roberts and the Berlin-set comedy One, Two, Three (with Liselotte Pulver and Peter Capell).
References[]
- The January 21, 1966 broadcast of The Jimmy Dean Show had Jimmy Dean saying he had a bad dream after watching an old Cagney prison movie (referencing White Heat). Rowlf in prison clothes does a Cagney impression but claims it's Lawrence Welk.
- The Muppet Show episode 107, Fozzie Bear does an imitation of Cagney in Mister Roberts, not changing his voice at all but paraphrasing a line, "Who took my palm tree?"
- The Sesame Street "Monsterpiece Theater" sketch "Monsters with Dirty Faces" spoofs Angels with Dirty Faces, Rocky is named after Cagney's character in the movie.
- In a 2017 Vanity Fair video, Grover recites Cagney's "My mother thanks you" speech from Yankee Doodle Dandy.