“As a rule, I have tended to avoid these events. I rarely go because…”

VerifiedTraced to a dated primary source.

“As a rule, I have tended to avoid these events. I rarely go because I’m terrible at making speeches. The thought of that duty leaves me feeling helpless.”

Cary Grant · 1981 · press · The Washington Post

On his discomfort with public tributes, ahead of the 1981 Kennedy Center Honors.

Gary Arnold, "The Kennedy Center Honors", The Washington Post, 6 December 1981.

press wit

On the same subject.

“Old Cary Grant fine. How you?”
Cary Grant · 1959
“I refuse to discuss my private life and my friendships and my family, present, past and future.”
Cary Grant · 1961
“It took time to be accepted; it almost took twenty years until I got to be like a well-advertised brand of tea. Housewives bought that kind rather than take a chance on a brand they are not familiar with.”
Cary Grant · 1961
“Because I just went GAY all of a sudden!”
Cary Grant as David Huxley · 1938