Dyan Cannon Talks Cary Grant's Drug Addiction

One of the greatest movie icons ever, Cary Grant, led a secret life for years, but now his ex-wife Dyan Cannon is talking about her marriage to the legendary actor and his drug-induced quest for enlightenment in her new memoir, Dear Cary.

"He had some very tough things happen to him as a kid. Some very dark secrets that he never really dealt with," Cannon told Jane Hanson and me on the set of "New York Live." "He thought LSD was the gateway to God. He wasn't using it as a party thing; he was using it to get to that inner peace of himself because he was really spiritual, the man was, and he thought when our marriage started to go south that if I took it with him, it would heal us."

Dyan admits do doing drugs with her husband about a dozen times but says it always felt wrong to her -- but she couldn't refuse the dashing Cary Grant.

"If you think he was charming on-screen, you should have met him-off screen," Cannon says. "I have never ever met a presence like that, or power in his being, and charm, and his tenderness. He was the whole package."

Cannon isn't at all concerned that by her divulging Grant's addictions, that his fans love him any less -- in fact, she thinks her telling of their relationship will have the opposite effect.

"I think people love him more for it. He was a wonderful man. A precious, wonderful, good, dear man who had demons he didn't deal with," says Cannon. "He thought the LSD would help him and it did, to a certain point, but he didn't deal with the things. He had a tragic childhood."

Just one of the demons Cannon details in her book is when his father told a 10-year-old Grant that his mother was dead. But 30 years later his father confessed his mother was alive -- he had put her in an insane asylum.

"So many people are walking around with broken hearts. I hope this book will inspire them. Just because you fall into the rabbit hole and get stuck doesn't mean you have to stay there. You can climb out. You can love again."

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Comments

[GaiasChild]

02:03 PM on 10/01/2011

dyan cannon's been a class act herself when it comes to presence, charm and tenderness. glad to hear that cary grant was all that in person.

[bobbyeve]

09:59 AM on 10/01/2011

My favorite Dyan Cannon thing, is when she was on Larry King, talking about her Sat. night
religious parties. She said she hard the power to heal! When King asked why doesn't she do this
at a children's hospital, the look on her face was priceless. Her face contorted into a mess of confusion, since she was caught in a lie. No wonder Freud called religion "a mental illness".

[IntheVillage]

11:10 PM on 09/30/2011

Whatever they said about you Cary, you were lucky to get Dyan Cannon, she's still dreamy even at this age.

[bbmcrae]

04:46 PM on 10/01/2011

Ummmm. Did you look at that picture? She's's like a Botox'ed mummy.

[VirginiaJeff]

01:51 PM on 09/30/2011

This is not new information.

[pakaal]

05:44 PM on 09/29/2011

LSD has been used in psychotherapy for decades, and under those controlled circumstances has produced dramatic results, as Grant claims it did for him.

http://www.laweekly.com/1998-07-09/news/the-trip/

It's a ridiculous oversimplification to say Cary Grant was 'just taking drugs,' and even Cannon admits here that it helped him out with some of the problems he had. Grant himself felt the decade of treatment (100 doses over that time) did tremendous good. Considering he made twelve films in the time he was under therapy including North By Northwest and Charade, the treatment certainly didn't hinder any of his abilities either.

[Connor Alexander]

05:52 PM on 09/29/2011

Thanks for this. I've had some great experiences with LSD and had read back in the 90s about Grant's use of it. People need a lot more education when it comes to drugs.

[olitenup]

04:25 PM on 09/29/2011

It doesn't matter what she said about him and with all due respect of the current male Hollywood stars, none of them can touch Cary Grant.

[NoSillyName]

04:44 PM on 09/29/2011

Yes, Cary Grant was wonderful.

[oldstuff]

03:52 PM on 09/29/2011

I want to hear about the dark childhood not the meanderings of the misguided drug user.

[Angel48Heart]

04:55 PM on 09/29/2011

How heartbreaking for a little boy at the age of 10 to be told by his Father that his Mother was dead ... only to find out 30 years later from his Father that his Mother was alive and in an insane asylum! He probably would have gone to visit her. How angry and hurt he must have felt.

Too bad he took LSD. I realize a lot of people will not go to a therapist. They feel "weak" ... hence his taking the drug. It was his way he dealt with heartbreak ... not to use it to party. People handle heartbreak in different ways. I do not condone drugs. So MANY people have sad and difficult childhoods and each person handles it in different ways. I prefer going to a therapist myself.

[pakaal]

05:46 PM on 09/29/2011

He was given LSD under the guidance of a therapist.

[legalaid]

03:21 PM on 09/29/2011

She sure doesn't look like Dyan Cannon anymore.

[NoSillyName]

04:48 PM on 09/29/2011

Too much "work". Saw her on some show being interviewed. She seemed like she was drugged, stumbling over her words, not completing her thoughts, looking all flustered. And, of course, bearing little resemblance to herself.

[deborahjoybrat]

02:46 PM on 09/29/2011

Oh barf. I read this on Wikipedia, which I believe ia a reliable source.

"He eloped with Dyan Cannon on July 22, 1965, in Las Vegas. Their daughter, Jennifer Grant, was born prematurely on February 26, 1966. He frequently called her his "best production" and regretted that he had not had children sooner. The marriage was troubled from the beginning, and Cannon left him in December 1966, claiming that Grant flew into frequent rages and spanked her when she "disobeyed" him. The divorce, finalized in 1968, was bitter and public, and custody fights over their daughter went on for nearly ten years."

And now she says, "I have never ever met a presence like that, or power in his being, and charm, and his tenderness. He was the whole package."

Running out of money, Dyan? Guess so. Time to write a memoir and trash your ex husband with his "dark secrets" and LSD use. Nice.

[NoSillyName]

04:49 PM on 09/29/2011

Which she turned him on to.

[sageast]

10:23 PM on 09/29/2011

It was Betsy Drake that introduce Cary to LSD not Dyan.

[Ron Russo]

02:33 PM on 09/29/2011

It's not good to bring down the dead especially a great actor like Cary Grant leave the man rest in peace people lill do anything today to get some publisity.

[am10]

01:39 PM on 09/29/2011

Plastic surgery was not necessary for this woman. Why? Why? Why?

[oldstuff]

03:49 PM on 09/29/2011

ego, ego, ego.

[nermz345]

01:29 PM on 09/29/2011

what i don't get is if she is going to right a book, why doesn't she write it about her self? i understand that he is her ex husband. but they were married for like three years, and i think lived together for like three years first (at least that is the time line of their relationship according to wiki). reading the article, i was surprised. well mostly because i didn't know they were married. but it wasn't like they were married 30 or 40 years. i am sure her own personal experiences are just as interesting.

[cafebeege]

01:50 PM on 09/29/2011

Her personal experiences are probably NOT as interesting, nor was she as admired or famous. That is why she wrote about Cary. I hate it when "users" exploit any connection they have/had to another .......You're right. Six years of her life and she uses him to exploit.

[monilove42]

12:00 PM on 09/29/2011

I remember reading about Cary Grant and him using LSD a long time ago. It wasn't always illegal and if I am not mistaken I read that it was used in conjunction with therapy.

[NoSillyName]

05:05 PM on 09/29/2011

Yes, you are right, monilove42. It wasn't illegal for several decades after it was discovered. It was used in conjunction with therapy as well as for evil purposes by the CIA.

[Angel48Heart]

12:58 AM on 09/30/2011

NoSillyName ... You said "It was used in conjunction with therapy as well as for evil purposes by the CIA."

Sounds like a "truth serum" if it was used for evil purposes by the CIA.

I'll have to investigate more into this drug. Not interested at all in using it! Just want to see what it did to the "mind".

[Lightwins]

11:30 AM on 09/29/2011

LSD is not an addictive drug. The title is misleading. Cary Grant used this drug for his healing and spiritual development.

[Elleni]

09:37 AM on 09/29/2011

This poor woman looks like a mess. Why do women do this? Botoxed to the point of no return, a once whimsical face has the wrinkles ironed out but still doesn't look young, nor anything like her real self. A ton of messy hair down to her knees doesn't take away ther years. This is a sad reflection on our obsession with youth, especially now, when there are so many boomers her age. When I'm 70 I'll look 70, and maybe I'll be "invisible," but at least I won't be pathetic.

[NoSillyName]

05:08 PM on 09/29/2011

Yes, she's a hugh mess. I'm 60 and look like the early 40s, but it's natural. I couldn't get anything done even if I wanted to... no money. Not everyone looks their age.