James Francis Cagney, Jr. (July 17, 1899 - March 30, 1986) was an American actor and dancer, both on stage and in film, though he had his greatest impact in film.
Cagney was a fitting choice for the role of Cohan since, like Cohan, he was an Irish-American who had been a song-and-dance man early in his career. The film won an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for James Cagney.
A popular myth about this movie, or at least a stretching of the truth, was that it was written in response to accusations that James Cagney was a Communist. Supposedly, Cagney learned that he was in danger of being blacklisted for having Communist sympathies, so he decided to make the most patriotic movie he possibly could and thus clear his name.
