Daddy's Girl or Daddy's Obsession?

"Good Stuff, A Reminiscence of My Father Cary Grant" by Jennifer Grant. Alfred A. Knopf 177 pages $24.95

Cary Grant married five times, but his only child, Jennifer, was born in 1966 during his marriage to Dyan Cannon. Cary was 62, Dyan 29 when Jennifer was born. Two years after the birth, they were divorced but Jennifer writes their shared custody was amiable. (Despite the fact that custody wars ran along for years according to other sources. ) Cannon was often on location and Jennifer thus spent a lot of time with Dad, who lived only a couple of blocks away. Cary retired from acting to devote himself full-time to being a Dad.

Because all of his records and memorabilia had been lost in a fire during WW2 and because he wanted to make sure she had hers, he had a room in his house turned into a bank-quality safe (complete with big steel door) to house his meticulously-filed collection - all of his notes to her; hers to him, photos, tape recordings of ordinary conversations, home movies.

The book is a selection from this material, whose collection began the day of her birth and continued until Grant's death, at age 83, when she was 20.

According to Jennifer, she handled the transition from adored only child to one who must now share Daddy with another woman with aplomb, simply because Barbara was such a delight.

Cary met Barbara Harris in 1976 when Jennifer was 10, but wasn't able to persuade her to marry him until 1981. There was a considerable age gap of 46 years. Cary was 77 and Barbara was 31. When Cary was 80 and she 34, they began trying for an artificial insemination baby, but were unsuccessful. Jennifer thinks this was quite unselfish of Dad at an age when he could expect to be the star attraction, not a squalling baby. The marriage ended in 1986 with Grant's death.

This book struck me as weird -- when Jennifer's mother was home and had custody, Grant used to get in his car and drive to the corner to wave to Jennifer as her school bus passed by. the room-into-a-safe for everything from baby shoes, childhood books and toys... either Cary was REALLY sincere about saving her childhood for her or crazier than betting a NASCAR race. You decide!