Frank Vincent

Frank Vincent grew up in Bristol as one of Archibald Leach's boyhood friends, and the two young men left England together in 1920 as members of Bob Pender's troupe of knockabout comedians and acrobats, sailing for New York on a tour that gave the future Cary Grant his first foothold in American show business. Vincent did not pursue performing in the same direction; he moved instead into the business side of entertainment, eventually establishing himself in Hollywood as a talent agent during the studio era. His agency work brought him a client list that included several of the period's more independent-minded performers. His most consequential piece of advice, however, was given to his old friend from Bristol: when Grant's Paramount contract came up for renewal in 1936, Vincent counselled against signing another exclusive studio deal. Grant instead negotiated simultaneous non-exclusive contracts with Columbia and RKO, becoming the first major star of the studio era to work successfully as a freelancer rather than under long-term contract to a single studio. The arrangement gave Grant creative leverage — choice of directors, projects, and billing — that most of his contemporaries did not have until the studio system itself began to break apart in the following decade.